Methods and Systems for High-temperature Strain Measurement of the Main Steam Pipe of a Boiler of a Power Plant While in Service

Abstract

It has been a challenge for researchers to accurately measure high temperature creep strain online without damaging the mechanical properties of the pipe surface. To this end, a noncontact method for measuring high temperature strain of a main steam pipe based on digital image correlation was proposed, and a system for monitoring of high temperature strain was designed and developed. Wavelet thresholding was used for denoising measurement data. The sub-pixel displacement search algorithm with curved surface fitting was improved to increase measurement accuracy. A field test was carried out to investigate the designed monitoring system of high temperature strain. The measuring error was less than 0.4 ppm/ºC, which meets actual measurement requirements for engineering. Our findings provide a new way to monitor creep damage of the main steam pipe of a boiler of an ultra-supercritical power plant in service.