In-Line Inspection of Pipeline Defects Detection Using Ring-Type Laser

Abstract

Pipeline plays a vital role in transporting fluids like oils, water, and petrochemical substances for longer distances. Based on the materials they carry, prolonged usage may cause the initiation of defects in the pipeline. These defects occur due to the formed salt deposits, chemical reaction happens between the inner surface and the transferring substance, prevailing environmental conditions, etc. These defects, if not identified earlier may lead to significant losses to the industry. In this work, an in-line inspection system utilizes the nondestructive way for analyzing the internal defects in the petrochemical pipeline. This system consists of a pipeline inspection robot having two major units namely the visual inspection unit and the power carrier unit. The visual inspection unit makes use of a ring-type laser diode and the camera. The laser diode serves as a light source for capturing good quality images of inspection. This unit is controlled by the Arduino in the power carrier unit which provides the necessary movement throughout the pipe. The inspected images captured by the camera are further processed with the aid of NI vision assistant software. After applying the processing function parameters provided by this software, the defect location can be clearly visualized with high precision. Three sets of defects are introduced in a Polylactide (PLA) pipe based on its position and angle along the circumference of the pipe. Further, this robot system serves as a real-time interactive image synchronization system for acquiring the inspected images. By comparing the actual and calculated defect size, the error percentage obtained was less than 5%.