Patent ID: 6170319
Filing Date: 2001-01-09
Classification: F22B,G01M

Abstract:
A method for detecting a leak in a boiler having an automatic liquid level control mechanism in which a temperature control liquid in a containment means is supplemented with feedwater and is removed as blowdown comprising:a) measuring a rate associated with addition of a chemical tracer to said temperature control liquid;b) measuring a concentration of the chemical tracer in said temperature control liquid;c) measuring a rate associated with said blowdown;d) measuring a rate associated with said feedwater supplementation;e) determining change in rate of said feedwater supplementation by taking a derivative of said feedwater supplementation with respect to time;f) determining mass of said temperature control liquid in said containment means;g) determining change of concentration of said chemical tracer in said temperature control liquid by taking a derivative of said chemical tracer concentration with respect to time;h) determining an unaccounted for water rate by dividing the rate obtained in (a) with the concentration obtained in (b), and subtracting from that determination the rate obtained in (c), the rate change obtained in (e) and the mass obtained in (f) multiplied by the change in concentration obtained in (g) divided by said concentration;i) comparing said unaccounted for water rate with zero; andj) indicating a leak condition if said unaccounted for water rate is greater than zero.