Remote inspection of steam turbine blades

During the past five years Reinhart and Associates, Inc. has been involved in remote examination of L-0 and L-1 steam turbine blade rows of in-place LP turbines using visual and eddy current techniques. These tests have concentrated on the trailing edge and blade-to-rotor attachment (Christmas tree) areas. These remote nondestructive examinations were performed through hand access ports of the inner shell. Since the remote scanning system was in a prototype configuration, the inspection was highly operator-dependent. Refinement of the scanning equipment would considerably improve the efficiency of the test; however, the feasibility of remote in-place inspection of turbine blades was established. To further improve this technology, and to provide for remote inspection of other areas of the blade and additional turbine designs, EPRI is funding a one-year project with Reinhart and Associates, Inc. This project will develop a new system that employs state-of-the-art multifrequency eddy current techniques, a miniature charged coupled device (CCD) television camera, and remote positioning equipment. Project results from the first six months are presented