• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2006

In-service diagnoses of pipeline facilities are important for a systematic maintenance of them. Field applications by using sealed gamma-ray sources $(^{60}Co,\;^{137}Cs)$ were performed to identify the heterogeneous zone in the pipelines of a distillation tower and a flare stack respectively. From the results, the heterogeneous zones in the pipelines were successfully identified. In the case of the pipeline connected to the distillation tower, a vapor pocket was detected in the fluid under hydrodynamic conditions, which could explain the reason for a decrease of the flow rate. In another case, an area with some amount of catalyst deposits was found at the bottom of the gas pipeline which was connected to the flare stack. And these findings provided important information for the process operators. Diagnosis technique by using gamma radiation sources has been proven to be an effective and reliable method for providing information on a media distribution in a facility.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.794-799
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• 2005

With the quantitative growth of the petroleum industry, the pipe facilities that connect each process increased significantly and the corresponding maintenance and repair costs of the pipe facilities increased as well. The diagnosis techniques to check a pipe efficiency while in operation are few in Korea, but in the advanced countries the pipe diagnosis using gramma-ray source was on-going research since 1960's. In this study, field experiments were performed to analyze the reasons for abnormal operation of the pipe connected to a distillation tower, and the degree of abnormality was estimated using a sealed gamma-ray source ($^{137}Cs$). Gamma radiation counts were measured by a detector (NaI) positioned outside the pipe-wall diametrically opposite to the gamma source. The results showed that a gas zone section's distribution pattern was different from the pattern of nearby fluid in a pipe. Th diagnosis technique using a gamma radiation source was proved to be an effective and reliable method, offering the information on the fluid distribution in pipe.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2008

A distillation tower is one of the important facilities which separates and refines a crude oil stream according to certain boiling points. Its operation efficiency can affect the productivity of a refinery substantially. The objective of this study is to elucidate some operational information on the internal conditions of a distillation tower from a measurement of density profile by using a sealed gamma-ray source and a radiation detector. Gamma radiation counts were measured by a BGO detector positioned diametrically outside the tower-wall, opposite to the gamma source(Co-60) as the detector and the source were lowered concurrently. From the results, structural abnormality of the trays was not found inside the tower. Considering the flow distribution patterns, however, a vapor phase was dominantly formed at the upper part of the tower and a liquid phase at the lower part. From the gamma scanning of the distillation tower, it is anticipated that the gamma absorption technique can be used as an important tool for confirming the structural soundness of trays and investigating flow distribution in refinery facilities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

The flow rate measurements in a multi-phase flow pipeline were evaluated quantitatively by means of a clamp-on sealed radioisotope based on a cross correlation signal processing technique. The flow rates were calculated by a determination of the transit time between two sealed gamma sources by using a cross correlation function following FFT filtering, then corrected with vapor fraction in the pipeline which was measured by the ${\gamma}$-ray attenuation method. The pipeline model was manufactured by acrylic resin(ID. 8 cm, L=3.5 m, t=10 mm), and the multi-phase flow patterns were realized by an injection of compressed $N_2$ gas. Two sealed gamma sources of $^{137}Cs$ (E=0.662 MeV, ${\Gamma}$ $factor=0.326\;R{\cdot}h^{-1}{\cdot}m^2{\cdot}Ci^{-1}$) of 20 mCi and 17 mCi, and radiation detectors of $2"{\times}2"$ NaI(Tl) scintillation counter (Eberline, SP-3) were used for this study. Under the given conditions(the distance between two sources: 4D(D; inner diameter), N/S ratio: $0.12{\sim}0.15$, sampling time ${\Delta}t$: 4msec), the measured flow rates showed the maximum. relative error of 1.7 % when compared to the real ones through the vapor content corrections($6.1\;%{\sim}9.2\;%$). From a subsequent experiment, it was proven that the closer the distance between the two sealed sources is, the more precise the measured flow rates are. Provided additional studies related to the selection of radioisotopes their activity, and an optimization of the experimental geometry are carried out, it is anticipated that a radioisotope application for flow rate measurements can be used as an important tool for monitoring multi-phase facilities belonging to petrochemical and refinery industries and contributes economically in the light of maintenance and control of them.