____Large-scale installations in industrial operations require regular maintenance, whether they are water tanks, pressure vessels or flat-bottom tanks. After all, they must not present a danger to people or the environment.
____TÜV SÜD has provided safety in this field for over 150 years. The cornerstone of the classic testing procedure is always physical inspection, in which an expert climbs into a previously emptied and cleaned vessel. However, this involves an enormous amount of work and high costs for the installation owners. The vessels are then tested for leaks by being filled with water. In the case of special-purpose vessels for substances such as rare gases, these tests are not without their challenges and are extremely expensive for the operators. Some time ago TÜV SÜD developed a radically simplified testing method for these procedures in which acoustic emissions (AE) can be used to inspect the vessel during operation.