How to reduce downtime by retooling the tightness testing phase
Commissioning and Turnarounds are critical phases in the life of industrial assets. While ensuring tightness—to safeguard safety and reliability and avoid unexpected emissions—none escapes the pressure to move quickly.
Before operations can resume or even start, the operations team must confirm the absence of leaks across the entire system—including in hard-to-reach, non-obvious spots.
Seamless commissioning and turnaround with Distran acoustic camera
How to reduce downtime by retooling the tightness testing phase
Commissioning and Turnarounds are critical phases in the life of industrial assets. While ensuring tightness—to safeguard safety and reliability and avoid unexpected emissions—none escapes the pressure to move quickly.
Before operations can resume or even start, the operations team must confirm the absence of leaks across the entire system—including in hard-to-reach, non-obvious spots.
Why use Ultra Pro for commissioning and turnaround?
Move fast
Detect leaks without scaffolding. In two hours, one operator with an Ultra Pro can cover areas usually covered over two shifts by several operators.
A unique device for all gases
The highly sensitive ultrasonic microphones can pick up leaks of any gas type, based on the ultrasound any leaks emit, thus eliminating the need for tracing gases.
Detect leaks in unexpected locations
The Distran camera has a 180-degree detection range, allowing an operator to detect leaks anywhere, even where he is not looking.
Detect leaks in any setting
Windy, hot, or cramped conditions don’t negatively impact the quality of results from the Distran device.
Operate safely
The Ultra Pro also comes in an Ex-proof version. Versatile, it can also be used during normal operating conditions, not only during commissioning and turnaround.
INDUSTRY LEADER USES THE ULTRA PRO TO SAVE TIME
Shell carefully inspects its new facilities without wasting time
During the commissioning phase of Vito, Shell’s most efficient oil and gas platform ever built, Shell teams used the latest technology to check every pipe and joint for leaks.
“During commissioning, we pressurize the system with air. The Distran camera finds and locates leaks quickly.
It is extremely sensitive. With this, we can pick up the smallest of sounds. It saves our teams a lot of time while making sure the system is safe and leak-tight.”
Chris Anderson
– Subsea Project Engineer, Shell
Time-sensitive phase
The moment tightness testing starts, time is running out, whether for new facilities to connect to the grid and start producing or downtime for turnaround. Once all works, maintenance, and upgrades are complete, the pressure is on to get the facility online as quickly as possible.
But if the system goes online with an undetected leak, it could counteract all the work done on the turnaround. Worse, it could create major safety, costly, or environmental issues.
The challenge brought by your existing toolkit
Traditional methods for tightness testing get the job done, yet each has its drawbacks:
SOAP SPRAY
Soap spray is an efficient approach to confirming a leak. However, it is impractical to use it on vast areas to cover 100% of the surface and all potentially leaky components that may be at heights or very wide pieces of equipment. The larger the site, the less feasible it is.
SNIFFERS
Sniffers easily detect leaks in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately, they are tricky to use on kilometers of pipes and thousands of flanges. Also, the human factor plays a role in the effectiveness of the detection.
OGI CAMERAS
OGI cameras, which are ubiquitous in Petrochemical facilities, can’t be deployed for commissioning and turnarounds, as this technology doesn’t detect air and nitrogen leaks, which are commonly used during such phases.
Due to the vastness of the premises, and the quantity of equipment to control almost centimeter by centimeter, it is easy to miss leaks with these methods.
Gas leak indication at a distance
For frictionless tightness testing, the Ultra Pro is the right tool for the job
Distran’s Ultra Pro acoustic camera is designed to perform tightness testing quickly and comprehensively over large areas for leaks of any gas type.
With this intuitive handheld device, a single operator can detect leaks from air, nitrogen, or any other gas under pressure from a long-range in any direction.
You can cut on mobilized human resources for such tasks while ensuring the job is done correctly.
For frictionless tightness testing, the Ultra Pro is the right tool for the job
Gas leak indication at a distance
Distran’s Ultra Pro acoustic camera is designed to perform tightness testing quickly and comprehensively over large areas for leaks of any gas type.
With this intuitive handheld device, a single operator can detect leaks from air, nitrogen, or any other gas under pressure from a long-range in any direction.
You can cut on mobilized human resources for such tasks while ensuring the job is done correctly.
DOWNLOAD OUR BROCHURE: BOOST EFFICIENCY WITH DISTRAN ULTRA PRO
Speed up tightness testing, cut downtime costs, and enhance safety
INDUSTRY LEADER SPOTLIGHT: USING THE ULTRA PRO FOR TURNAROUND
TotalEnergies has zero tolerance for leaks
TotalEnergies relies on Distran to exercise total control over its systems and maintain a zero-leaks requirement before any unit is restarted. The inspection team guarantees a rapid service return while keeping in line with TotalEnergies’ “zero tolerance for leak” criteria.
INDUSTRY LEADER SPOTLIGHT: USING THE ULTRA PRO FOR TURNAROUNDS
TotalEnergies has zero tolerance for leaks
TotalEnergies relies on Distran to exercise total control over its systems and maintain a zero-leaks requirement before any unit is restarted. The inspection team guarantees a rapid service return while keeping in line with TotalEnergies’ “zero tolerance for leak” criteria.
Used by
Distran cameras are used every day by many of the biggest industrial companies in the world to ensure the highest safety standard,
to improve their reliability and to reduce their gas emissions.
Contact us
We will be more than happy to advise you on the best solution for your gas leak detection challenges!