Inray provides not only measurement systems but also maintenance and service of the systems over their entire life-cycle. The package ensures the performance of the systems so that the measurement results remain as accurate as possible. In this article, you get involved in the workday of our employees, when they go to the power plant to do a monthly maintenance visit.
Our customer’s power plants are located all over Finland, and usually the working day starts with driving a couple of hours to the destination. The vehicle is packed with a work laptop, work clothes, tool kit, harness, spare parts and other accessories that may be needed during the service visit. Work clothes are changed and at the same time other cornerstones of protective equipment, safety footwear, safety helmet, goggles, gloves and identity card, are also packed along. Inray always adheres to the current safety regulations laid down by the plant, also with regard to clothing. The commute can begin when everything is packed in the car and take away coffee is picked up.
Service and maintenance work can be started when the work permit is on the placard. The maintenance date is agreed well in advance, as this ensures that a suitable maintenance break is obtained between fuel deliveries. In order to test and calibrate the X-ray detector, the conveyor must be empty, but this only requires a half-hour time window, as our skilled employees get the job done very quickly.
The X-ray equipment must always be prevented from starting before entering the monitoring area. Maintenance begins with checking the condition of the equipment: it is intact and clean throughout and all parts are in the correct place and position. The equipment is cleaned, if necessary, to prevent dirt accumulation from affecting its functions. The operation of the X-Ray detector is checked by scanning the test pieces.
Radiation values are always measured, depending on the location of the X-ray equipment, outside the safety gates and elsewhere in the places recorded in the measurement report. Radiation measurements are performed when there is fuel in the conveyor, as the radiation is reflected from the fuel mattress considerably more than from an empty conveyor. A report is always kept of the measurements, which shows the measurement locations as well as the measured values, date, conditions and driving values of these locations. The report is also saved in the interface, where it can be quickly found when needed.
Checking the safety system includes testing the emergency stop buttons, safety switches and warning lights. The inspection ensures that the warning lights are intact and functional, the emergency stop buttons and safety switches are operational, and the warning signs are visible and intact. Finally, a report is always kept of maintenance and inspections, showing what has been done. After maintenance, it is always ensured that no one is left in the radiation field and that it is properly closed.
In addition to all inspections and measurements, the operation of the measurement system is monitored by reference samples which are taken on a regular basis. According to the preliminary plan, reference samples are taken from different fuel fractions and loads from different suppliers. Reference samples are submitted to the laboratory for determination of moisture content. The moisture content of the samples is carried out using a standard method SFS-EN 18134-2, either in an external laboratory or in the plant’s own laboratory. The moisture results of the reference samples will be available in a few days, after which they will be stored in the FUELCONTROL ® user interface.
Once all the work tasks have been completed, the work permit is returned to the power plant’s control room, and at the same time it is good to catch up with the operators. After that, the car’s headlights can be directed back home.