Reformer tubes are vital components in refining and petrochemicals industry. They are utilized in the functioning of the hydrogen generation units in refineries. Due to the high operating temperature of hydrogen reformer furnaces, these tubes experience internal stresses leading to creep damage within the tube walls. Over time, the creep damage mechanisms degrade the structural condition of the tubes eventually leading to rupture.If there is a suddenrupture, there is a likelihood of an unscheduled shutdown of the hydrogen generation unit. When it comes to determining creep damage for reformer tubes, there is an increasing need for operators to use periodicconditional based assessments.

NDE inspection systems are increasingly utilizedin multiple industries as it allowsthem to conductperiodic inspections or continuous monitoring of components to identify defects such as cracks or voids. Despite this, each NDT technique has certain limitations.

Center for Non Destructive Evaluation, IIT MADRAS (CNDE) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) are developing an inspection system which utilizes multiple NDT techniques to perform conditional assessments of reformer tubes. A tube crawler unit was constructed with laser sensors, ultrasonic probes, and inertial measurement unit to inspect reformer tubes.

I worked on this project involving various sensor technologies, including ultrasonic sensors, lasers, and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors. My role was focused on the signal processing aspect, where I was responsible for analysing, extracting meaningful information, and plotting the data signals from these sensors.