Borescopes allow people to see into hard-to-reach places, such as to inspect engines. These devices have become important in the manufacturing sector for helping achieve various vital tasks.
Maintain Corrosion-Free Assets
Manufacturing facilities often have numerous vital pieces of equipment that are instrumental for smooth, profitable operations. Even relatively small amounts of downtime can be catastrophic for manufacturers due to the costliness of the outages and the likelihood of missing important deadlines when equipment is temporarily out of commission.
Water tube boilers are excellent examples. Many manufacturers have them due to their suitability for industrial operations. However, corrosion on these assets can cause issues ranging from efficiency decreases to leaks, depending on the severity. Some of these problems can immediately shut down a system, making it much more preferable to detect the corrosion before the matter gets to that point.
Free oxygen and dissolved salts in the feedwater are the most common corrosion culprits for these types of boilers. Once a technician uses a borescope to identify a corrosion issue with a manufacturing plant’s boiler, they should focus on the feedwater treatment system, ensuring it’s working as it should and will help prevent future corrosion.
Common Types of Boiler Corrosion Identified By Borescopes
The borescope inspection may reveal isolated spots of shallow, non-active pitting. This type of corrosion is not a serious problem, but it’s important to keep an eye on it during future checks to verify the matter has not escalated. Conversely, when the corrosion is severe and present over large areas of the boiler, technicians should use ultrasonic or drilling tests to determine the thickness of the non-corroded metal.
Some corrosion types can exacerbate other kinds of surface damage on the boiler. For example, some parts of the boiler surface may start to form grooves, and this happens due to localized corrosion. If the borescope inspection detects any grooving, check to see if the affected area impacts the boiler’s safety or performance. If so, the next step is determining the most feasible way to get it back into working condition or replace the asset.
Improve Inspection and Quality Control of Critical Parts
Some manufacturers are also interested in how they could improve quality control methods. Borescopes can often find problems not identifiable through visual or audible inspection. In one case, a borescope technician determined a gearbox’s drivetrain may have roller damage. After talking with the client and expressing concerns, the technician conducted a more thorough check. This additional check confirmed a problem that could have caused a failure if not found in time.
Some manufacturing professionals also enhance their quality control programs using high-tech borescopes. For example, General Electric’s aerospace division recently partnered with Waygate Technologies, a non-destructive testing specialist.
The technology company combines traditional borescope inspections with artificial intelligence and machine learning. It’s too early to say what will result from the pairing, but Waygate has previously gotten good results elsewhere.
When the company collaborated with another company to improve jet engine borescope inspections with its technology, that approach showed 150% more pertinent details than humans could detect, and the inspection time frame became approximately four hours shorter.
Learning more about potentially critical problems during each inspection has multiple benefits for manufacturers. The more thoroughly they can check each part, the lower the likelihood of severe problems. Such outcomes improve a company’s reputation and give customers the impression of reliability.
Although borescope inspections are only one part of a quality control process, they allow technicians to evaluate areas they otherwise couldn’t. As the above example showed, visual and audible inspections can only go so far, but borescopes fill the knowledge gaps.
Enhance Communications Between Clients and Inspectors
Some of today’s advanced borescopes have various features that make it easier for technicians to operate and facilitate clients correctly interpreting the inspection results.
A videoscope is an inspection tool under the borescope umbrella, offering more in-depth details than traditional devices. Some models work with joysticks, allowing technicians to move the videoscope components through narrow openings, such as to inspect engine components.
After capturing video footage, technicians can annotate or circle parts of the inspected asset to draw the client’s attention. This is ideal for helping clients understand the problem and what made the technician concerned. Many videoscopes show clear footage, so even someone unaccustomed to looking at the captured video can quickly notice the abnormalities under a technician’s guidance.
Minimize Downtime
Borescope inspections performed by competent technicians can help modern manufacturers avoid costly downtime. In the ideal scenario, someone would become aware of a problem and have plenty of time to address it before an asset failure. Since borescopes can reveal things people would otherwise miss, they’re important devices for helping critical manufacturing equipment run smoothly and shortening any outages.
Borescope inspections can also have indirect effects on manufacturers by supporting offsite assets. Some manufacturing company leaders are contracting with wind energy farms to learn about the options for renewable energy. Some of the most well-resourced enterprises may eventually have wind turbines on factory property.
A 2.4-megawatt wind turbine can generate about $1,000 of electricity daily, making it a worthwhile part of clean energy plans. However, one complication is that wind turbine parts can take a while to source. As more parts of the world invest in turbines and wind farms, some components are in short supply, with delays of six months common for some gearbox components.
If a borescope inspection reveals a part will fail soon, that assessment could still provide the client with enough warning to order and receive the necessary component before the wind turbine becomes non-functional. However, maximizing this benefit requires scheduling borescope inspections at the appropriate intervals. A borescope technician or the wind turbine manufacturer can provide targeted guidance about when those checks should occur so they provide the best chances of spotting problems in plenty of time.
Borescope Inspections Support Modern Manufacturing
These are some of the many reasons why today’s manufacturing operations should include periodic borescope inspections. Borescopes allow inspectors to see things that they normally could not.
This type of inspection may not always seem necessary, but that’s the idea—worn or damaged parts may not always be visible. Spotting these hidden problems before they reveal themselves can help manufacturers stay proactive and reduce expensive, highly disruptive consequences.
