1987 Acoustic Emission Technology and Economics Applied to Pressure Vessels and Storage Tanks

ABSTRACT The most significant development in acoustic emission (AE) testing of pressure vessels and storage tanks recently has been the introduction of systems and software developed specifically for the task, rather than general purpose AE systems being used, which has been the practice to date. This change resulted from Monsanto's vast experience in testing metal vessels with AE and their development of standard procedures and severity analysis methods. The resulting MONPACTM technology removes much of the operator dependence and, more importantly, standardises test and analysis methods, which now require significantly less experienced operators. The author (who has been running an AE test service for seven years) has been introducing MONPAC TM technology to his petrochemical customers and discusses the implication, and cost savings that can be made, in this field of condition monitoring for static plant.