Instrumentation system to implement LEAK TEST PROGRAM

HVAC equipment, gloveboxes, and other types of enclosures are required to meet rigid well-defined leak rates when they are to be installed in a nuclear facility. This paper describes two implementations of an instrumentation system that is used to test leak rates on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) plenums, gloveboxes, and experimental chambers, etc. One of the implementations used a programmable logic controller (PLC). The other used what is probably a simpler system based on FlexNet© modules. The emphasis on both systems was on automatic data collection, automatic report generation, and validation of the test results to ERDA 76-21 and ASME-N510. The data are collected using input modules connected to the PLC in one case. In the other case the data are collected using the FlexNet modules. In both cases, the data are stored and the reports are generated in a spreadsheet