Ambient Noise can be hidden
The service technician starts the leak detection using the gross-to-fine method. To narrow the leakage area, the large acoustic horn is placed on the airborne sound sensor. The service technician tracks the spectrogram on the display and listens to the audio through the headphones. There are two different ways to block out extraenious noise: „Phasevocoder” and „Heterodyne”. While using the audio method „Heterodyne“ a mixed frequency can be chosen to dampen ambient noise in case a high ambient ultrasonic level is expected due to ongoing processes in the plant. This makes it easy to find leaks even in demanding environments.
After the leakage area is narrowed down, the exact location of the damaged area needs to be located. For this purpose, the precise attachment is placed on the airborne sound sensor. The service technician looks for the maximum sound level and then triggers the automatic leak assessment with the push of a button.
Thomas Müller remembers the effort involved in the evaluation before purchasing the ultrasound test device: “It took a lot of experience to make a reliable estimate. We rated the leakage loss for our customers by utilizing the opening and the pressure. All of this can now be done by the SONAPHONE for us.”
After the automatic calculation of the leakage class and the loss in l / min, the service technician takes a photo of the damaged area. There is also the possibility to add voice memos and comments to the leak. More details on the location of the leak, the priority and repair instructions can also be added. The digital description of the leak is quickly created and then Mr. Müller goes looking for the next one.
Reports can be created with just a few Clicks
Thomas Müller explains what he believes to be the greatest advantage of the device: “The advantage of the SONAPHONE is especially evident at the end of the leak detection. With just a few clicks away we can create a report directly for our customers, as PDF, ZIP or CSV. Every problematic area is carefully tabulated and listed. This enables our customers to get a quick overview of where the leaks are and which are particularly critical and need to be repaired quickly.“ In the future, apikal will consider using SONAPHONE for other application areas.