Hydrostatic test In the
hydrostatic test, a vessel is filled with a nearly incompressible liquid – usually
water or
oil – and examined for leaks or permanent changes in shape. The test pressure is always considerably higher than the operating pressure to give a margin for safety, typically 150% of the operating pressure.
Burst test In the
burst test, a vessel is filled with a gas and tested for leaks. The test pressure is always considerably more than the operating pressure to give a margin for safety, typically 200% or more of the operating pressure.
Helium leak test The
helium leak test uses
helium (the lightest inert gas) as a tracer gas and detects it in concentrations as small as one part in 10 million. The helium is selected primarily because it penetrates small leaks readily, is inert and will not react with the test piece while having a naturally low quantity in air making detection less complicated. It is possible to detect leaks as small as 5×10−10 Pa·m3/s in vacuum mode and modern digital machines can detect 5×10−10 Pa·m3/s in sniffing mode.
Vacuum test Usually a vacuum inside the object is created with an external pump connected to the instrument. Alternatively helium can be injected inside the product while the product itself is enclosed in a vacuum chamber connected to the instrument. In this case, burst and leakage tests can be combined in one operation.
Hydrogen sensor test During the
hydrogen sensor test, the object is filled with a mixture of 5%
hydrogen/ 95%
nitrogen, (below 5.7% hydrogen) is non-flammable (ISO-10156). This is called typically a sniffing test. The handprobe connected to the microelectronic hydrogen sensors is used to check the object. An audiosignal increases in proximity of a leak. Detection of leaks go down to 5×10−7 cubic centimeters per second. Compared to the helium test, hydrogen is cheaper than helium, no need for a vacuum, the instrument could be cheaper but is not as sensitive as a helium leak detector so will not find smaller leaks. Chemo-chromic hydrogen leak detectors are materials that can be proactively applied to a connection or fitting. In the event of a hydrogen leak, the chemo-chromic material changes color to alert an inspector that a leak is present. Chemo-chromic indicators can also be added to silicone tapes for hydrogen detection purposes. ==See also==