Borescope inspection during maintenance and repair of compressor set for West-to-East Gas Pipeline

As the West-to-East Gas Pipeline is operated over time, more and more failures have occurred in its compressor sets. In maintenance and repair of compressor set, the borescope inspection plays an important role. As a simple and effective NDT technology, the borescope inspection can realize inspection of internal structures of compressor set using industrial borescope, so as to identify defects in timely manner and assess overall performance of the compressor set, providing references for maintainance and repair. For the West-to-East Gas Pipeline, the technology is used predominantly for gas turbine blades, combustion chambers and gas inlet joints. By analyzing typical cases involving equipment failures in gas compressor stations, potential risks related to borescope inspections are clarified together with precautions in such inspections. In addition, prospects of the borescope inspection technology are reviewed.