How to Monitor Leak Detection Under Insulation in a continuous manner?

Process Leaks pose a significant operational loss, safety hazard and economic cost.

Leak detection is a permanent priority for the process industry. Indeed, leaks in industrial pipe equipment are a major cause for hazardous maintenance challenges.

  • Major leaks are usually detected immediately by the sudden drop in pipeline pressure.
  • Small leaks however are very hard to detect. Small leaks can lead to long-term damage and especially corrosion under insulation if not discovered and fixed rapidly.

What makes the iSensPro leak detection system (LDS) so unique? The patented iSensPro external sensor is easy to install on the outside of the cladding without the need to remove the insulation. The unique iSensPro leak detection system (LDS) monitors humidity and moisture under the insulation on a continuous basis.

As such both small and major leaks are detected on an immediate basis. This then drives direct repair action on the short term and pro-active mitigation for long term maintenance.

 

 

leak detection under insulation

When do process leaks under insulation occur?

Process pipe equipment transports oil, gases and other fluid products within a production environment. Often pipes need to be maintained at specific temperatures to enable process flows. For this purpose often thermal insulation is applied. Also often this is combined with steam tracing or electric tracing.

If properly maintained, pipelines can last indefinitely without leaks. Most significant leaks that occur during operation are caused by corrosion. If a pipe equipment is not properly maintained, it can corrode, particularly under insulation. Corrosion under insulation (CUI) needs to be detected and repaired before the corrosion progresses to a leak.

In order for corrosion under insulation to occur, a number of factors must be present. These are:

  • Water: Must be present and can be introduced during insulation storage or installation; by internal leaks, ineffective waterproofing, or improper maintenance.
    • If the insulation cladding is damaged, the risk for water ingress is increased, which accelerates CUI.
    • Steam traced systems can experience tracing leaks, especially at tubing fittings beneath the insulation.
    • Cold service equipment can suffer from condensation especially when consistently operating below the atmospheric dew point.
  • Chemical content: Acidity is a big component in the development of CUI. If the pH level drops below 4, corrosion increases rapidly. Acidic corrosion is commonly associated with carbon steel. With stainless steel, the primary chemical concern is free chloride content in combination with mechanical stress.
  • Temperature: Service temperatures between zero to 100 degrees Celsius allow water to exist as a liquid. Corrosion under insulation can occur on cold process lines because condensation can occur. Cooling lines below 15 degrees Celsius often suffer from condensation issues. For hot lines above 50 degrees Celsius, the corrosion rate doubles for every 15 to 20 degrees Celsius in temperature increase.

How to detect ?

However, corrosion under insulation is not easy to detect with traditional inspection tools. Indeed, corrosion under insulation is often invisible to the outside of the cladding.

Compared to other technologies, iSensPro is a unique non-intrusive leak detection system for piping systems. The sensors are installed external on the outside of the cladding. So now ‘data under insulation’ becomes available for pro-active and predictive repair and maintenance.

iSensPro is a unique and innovative 24/7 real-time leak detection system

iSensPro is an innovative and patented external sensor system for leak detection. The unique measuring feature enables installation of the sensors ON THE OUTSIDE of the cladding. As such the non-destructive and non-intrusive system can easily be retro-fitted on existing installations. The leak detection system can of course also be installed from the start on new installations.

The patented iSensPro is a stand-alone external leak detection system. The sensors are easy to install on the outside of the cladding (non-intrusive installation) without the need to remove the existing insulation. Also the sensors can detect and monitor leaks under the insulation on pipes, tanks, and valves on a real-time basis. At the same time, the sensors also monitor temperature, movement, noise and leaks.

The Leak Detection System (LDS) continuously 24/7 monitors the presence of moisture and leaks without the involvement of trained personnel. So the sensor system frees up valuable ad-hoc inpsection time, and enables your personnel to focus on mitigation tasks where needed.

iSensPro sensors provide time-based data to enable data-based (rather than risk-based) mitigation plans for the management of industrial assets. And this reduces the costs associated with down time, lost productivity, or even total facility shutdown.

isenspro sensor corrosion under insulation leak detection

Predict & Mitigate

Pro-active leak detection in stead of ad-hoc inspection is possible thanks to the iSensPro sensor solution. Because the system provides 24/7 time-based data there is no more need for ad-hoc inspection rounds by personnel. Now switch from risk-based to data-based mitigation and resolution plans for the management of industrial assets.

Data > Knowledge > Action

Compared to other technologies, iSensPro is a unique non-intrusive external leak detection system for piping systems. So now ‘data under insulation’ become available for pro-active and predictive repair and maintenance. Upgrade the tasks of your team from inspection to mitigation. The ultimate resolution of process leaks problems is now possible.

No more fire-fighting!

Start to master the ‘data under insulation’, Drive your maintenance team to work on pro-active value added tasks.

 

 

Ask for your Demo system

Do you want to try out how easy it is to install the unique iSensPro leak detection sensor system?

Simply go to our webform and send us the details of your piping installation. Then we can evaluate if your application can be monitored 24/7 with the iSensPro CUI sensor solution.  Of course all information you share with us will be treated confidential, and if required, protected by NDA.

1/ Send your information

Send us the details about your piping application as outlined in the webform. 

  1. Problem you want to solve
    1. Increased safety: Leak Detection 24/7
    2. Increased safety: Monitor Corrosion under insulation
    3. Energy efficiency: Avoid energy loss due to wet insulation
    4. Reduced maintenance: pro-active mitigation only where needed
    5. Increased production time: time based maintenance reduces downtime
  2. Insulation Material
    1. Mineral Wool
    2. PUR
    3. Other
  3. Pipe Material
    1. Carbon Steel
    2. Stainless Steel
    3. Synthetic
  4. Condition
    1. HOT Heat Loss
    2. COLD condensation prevention
    3. SAFETY Personnel Protection

Simply go to our webform and send us the details of your piping installation. Of course, you can also just contact us by mail.

2/ We evaluate

We perform a quick review of your application. If we think iSensPro can solve your application, we will ask you to send us some additional info (technical details, photo’s if possible,…) to help you configure the CUI and leak detection sensors.

3/ We send your demo kit

The Demo kit includes 3 leak detection & CUI sensors, a gateway and a link to download our iSensPro Cockpit App on your smartphone.

4/ We review together after 3 months

The iSensPro demo unit will monitor humidity and corrosion under insulation 24/7 for a test period of 3 months

Thanks to the iSensPro leak detection system it is now easy to detect leaks and monitor corrosion under insulation!

leak detection cui corrosion under insulation