Design and Development of a Control and Drive System for Cable Pusher Module for PFBR Steam Generator Tube Inspection

The Steam Generator of the PFBR is a vertical heat exchanger with sodium flowing in the shell side, and water in tube side. The tubes have an expansion bend to accommodate the thermal expansions and periodic in-service inspection is to be carried out to check the reduction in tube wall thickness and crack using Eddy Current Probes. Cable Pusher Module is used to insert and retract the probe in to the tube having 23 meter length. This paper presents the detailed design and development of CPM which includes the control system, software and mechanical aspects. CPM transmits the parameters like odometer reading, slip, velocity and time of inspection through serial interface. Graphical User Interface is developed using VB 6.0 Compiler for data logging. Slip of the motor is plotted for the tube length and this suggests an optimum design for the mechanical pulley arrangement of CPM.