Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Innovate residual service time assessment of industrial plant components using real structure analysis by on site x-ray diffraction

Article Category

Article available in the following languages:

2D X-ray diffraction gains a trade mark

The trademark Xpection has been created for the EC-funded project by the same name. It comprises the developed procedure of materials inspection and residual lifetime assessment of components using two-dimensional X-ray diffraction on site.

Industrial Technologies icon Industrial Technologies

The XPECTION project created a prototype of a unified measuring and monitoring system for residual life-time assessment of high temperature plant components in fossil power generation and the chemical industry. An interdisciplinary angle spanning various research fields was employed to create an innovative inspection methodology using real structure analysis with on site X-ray diffraction. This was then incorporated into the basic structure of inspection and maintenance. The primary innovative feature of the two-dimensional X-ray diffraction process is that it unveils the real crystallographic structure of the material. Given this, information regarding the grain size and texture, which correlate with the ageing state of the material can be obtained. This can be commercially beneficial because it can lessen the replaced material using a non-destructive assessment of the ageing state. Although the application is primarily targeted for inspection and maintenance, it can also be used for quality control in production and inspection in other fields. End users are many including fossil as well as other electric power generation, petro-chemical industry, aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, and the pulp and paper, chemical and food industries.

Discover other articles in the same domain of application