Leak Testing

Leak testing reveals the location of unintended leaks through cracks, pores, holes, and other flaws in pressurized or evacuated systems and components. This type of testing is often used on a go, no-go basis but the measurement of fluid leakage are often carried out.

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Leak testing has the purpose of assessing the operational reliability of a component, i.e. preventing environment contamination, interference with the functioning of a system, or causing premature failure of systems under pressure or vacuum.

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A selection of leak testing techniques is available, from gaseous tracer to infrared gaseous methods, and bubble emission techniques. Selection of the optimal technique for the leakage measurement is based on the accessibility of the test component surface; open units and sealed units, accessible on both sides of the pressure boundaries or on the external surface, respectively.

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Leak detection using bubble emission is probably the easiest and most widely applied technique. A pressure differential is created across a leak and the formation of bubbles in a liquid medium in the low pressure side of the leak is observed. The leakage on sealed containers is usually inspected by immersion. However, for test pieces that cannot be immersed easily, liquid film technique is preferred. For systems that cannot be pressurized or where only one side is available, a vacuum chamber technique is required.

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Bess MTI offers a variety of leak tests. The selection of a technique is based on application, size, physical configuration, and leakage sensitivity. These tests are performed by experienced operators, using the following instrumentation:
 

• Agilent Technologies VS Series Helium Mass Spectrometer leak detector Model: VSMR15

• 1 Hydrostatic Pressure Tester