Monitoring Deterioration of Waffle Cooler Thickness at Polokwane Smelter

Abstract

Cooling elements in operating furnaces, such as waffle coolers, finger coolers, cooling staves, and plate coolers, are subject to wearing and deterioration over time. Ultrasonic (UT) pulse echo is an efficient nondestructive testing methodology to monitor the thickness and quality of the cooling blocks through periodica] inspections; however, the highly dampening properties of copper and the high temperatures on the hot face of the cooling elements could cause errors in UT thickness measurements.