Patent ID: 8534144

Claim:
A system for evaluating the interior state of one or more tubes in a bundle of tubes, comprising: a processing unit; a memory element communicatively coupled to the processing unit; a signal injector interfacing with the processing unit; a signal detector interfacing with the processing unit; and an interface tube that is coupled to the signal injector and the signal detector and is configured to interface with a current-measured tube of the bundle of tubes under test; wherein the processing unit is configured to at least partially control the signal injector to cause the injection of a signal into the interior of the current-measured tube of the bundle of tubes through the interface tube; wherein the signal detector is configured to detect a signal reflected back out of the current-measured tube through the interface tube and provide information regarding the reflected signal to the processing unit; and wherein the processing unit is further configured to: process the information regarding the reflected signal received from each one of the plurality of tubes, to deduce one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the bundle of tubes, store the deduced one or more parameters in the memory element, collect one or more parameters regarding the current performance of the bundle of tubes and store it in the memory element, and compare the collected one or more parameters regarding the performance of the bundle of tubes to previously stored information in order to determine whether a remedial process is necessary.