Remote measurement of corrosion using ultrasonic techniques

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) technology has the potential of meeting the US Department of Energy's treatment requirements for mixed radioactive waste. A major technical constraint of the SCWO process is corrosion. Safe operation of a pilot plant requires monitoring of the corrosion rate of the materials of construction. A method is needed for measurement of the corrosion rate taking place during operation. One approach is to directly measure the change in wall thickness or growth of oxide layer at critical points in the SCWO process. In FY-93, a brief survey of the industry was performed to evaluate nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods for remote corrosion monitoring in supercritical vessels. As a result of this survey, it was determined that ultrasonic testing (UT) methods would be the most cost-effective and suitable method of achieving this. Therefore, the objective for FY-94 was to prove the feasibility of using UT to monitor corrosion of supercritical vessels remotely during operation without removal of the insulation