| NUCON | NUCON International, Inc. 7000 Huntley Road Columbus, OH 43229-1035 U.S.A. Telephone: 614-846-5710 Fax: 614-431-0858 E-mail sales@nucon-int.com |
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TRACER GAS TESTING AND MORE . . .
Using tracer gas testing techniques to evaluate control room in-leakage is just one of the many ways NUCON can help meet your technical and licensing requirements. These same techniques can be used to measure duct and damper leakage and determine flow rates. They can also be used to determine flow patterns for any airborne contaminants. These tests, when used with guidance from Regulatory Guide 8.25, provide help in positioning radiation monitors and air samplers.
Our first experience with this type of testing was in 1973 at the Peach Bottom plant. NUCON developed a test procedure that used tracer gas to determine flow patterns in a noble gas delay system. Unacceptable system performance was found to be caused by an extremely unusual flow pattern. NUCON was instrumental in developing a solution to correct the problem.
Performing tracer gas testing for control room envelopes is one of the services we provide for solving the in-leakage problem. Our experience with performing air test and balance at several nuclear power plants has given us insight into the potential leak paths and system problems. In fact, before a test is performed, we strongly recommend that we walk the system down to point out potential leak sources that must be fixed in order to obtain acceptable test results. If items such as dampers are suspected leak paths, we can perform component leak testing using various tracers.
NUCON holds an NRC Materials License and performs all N509, Regulatory Guide 1.52 & 1.140 and ASTM D3803 radioiodine performance testing of adsorbents. We also do special work, such as 133Xe and 85Kr tests of delay bed carbons. and other custom designed radioisotope tracer studies.
Our experience is not limited to the nuclear industry. We provide testing services for installed chemical and biological warfare filters and filtration systems used at Department of Defense facilities. We have used diverse techniques for solving many problems associated with flow patterns and leaks in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries.
NUCON personnel serve on many Code and Standard writing committees and consequently are familiar with the current and upcoming Codes and Standards for air cleaning equipment design, manufacturing and testing. Five NUCON personnel are members of the Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (CONAGT) of ASME. This group has the maintenance responsibilities for the N509 and N510 standards and is the author of the AG-1 code. Three of our people are members of American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) committees that develop testing techniques and methods. One is a voting member of various ASHRAE committees. We keep abreast of industry activities by membership in organizations such as the American Nuclear Society and American Institute of Chemical Engineers
We take pride in our ability to help clients solve problems. Our strength is in being able to use a variety of techniques to find leaks, trace contamination migration patterns and evaluate equipment performance. For example, for finding leaks in complex processing equipment at companies such as 3M, Pfizer and IBM, a variety of tracer gases have been used including halides and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Our expertise in tracer gas analytical methods enables us to use whatever tracer is appropriate for a specific process. For leak testing nuclear air cleaning units, we use the techniques specified in ASME N510 and Section TA of ASME AG-1, Section TA. We design and manufacture instruments for HEPA (aerosol) and adsorber (halide) bank bypass leak testing.
All NUCON testing services and product manufacturing activities are covered by a Quality Assurance Program that meets the requirements 10CFR50 App. B. This coverage includes Field Services such as tracer gas studies and N510 surveillance leak testing. We have been successively audited by NUPIC and many individual clients such as utilities and DOE contractors.
Because we maintain several sets of instruments and more than a dozen of the NUCON staff are qualified to ANSI N45.2.6 and ANS 3.1 we can field several test teams simultaneously and meet clients emergency needs.
What do commercial kitchen range hoods and micro-chip manufacturing plants have in common? NUCON has used the same tracer gas testing techniques to determine the flow patterns and quantify in-leakage for both applications. We want to put the same expertise to work solving your problems and helping you meet your regulatory and technical requirements.
Please call Curt Graves (614-846-5710 EXT 115)or Joe Enneking (614-846-5710 EXT 111) to talk about how we can help you.
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