Pipeline simulation facilities for the development of in-line inspection technologies for gas transmission pipelines: Nestleroth, J.B.; Bubenik, T.A.; Haines, H.H. Materials Evaluation, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 484–487 (Apr. 1995)

Abstract

In the US the major components of the natural gas system include nearly 450,000 km of transmission pipelines, 145,000 km of gathering lines, 1,345,000 km of distribution mains, and 450,000 km of service lines. In-line inspections are one important tool being used by pipeline operators of their pipeline systems. In-line inspection of gas pipelines is accomplished by instrumented vehicles commonly referred to by the pipeline industry as pigs. These instrumented vehicles must be self-contained with data recorders and power to operate sensors and store nondestructive measurements. Ultrasonic, magnetic flux leakage, and eddy current technologies have been successfully applied for various pipeline inspection applications. The vehicle is propelled through the pipeline by the flow of the product (oil, natural gas, etc). The Pipeline Simulation Facility was built to advance the state of the art of gas pipeline inspection technology. The facility consists of four elements. The first is a Non-destructive Evaluation Laboratory and a linear test rig. This laboratory allows detailed analytical modeling and carefully controlled experiments for studying basic technology effects. The second element is an outdoor pull rig. The pull rig consists of four 91.4 m lengths of pipe with diameters of 305, 610, 762, 914 mm. Test bedmore » vehicles or inspection tools can be pulled through these pipe lengths, which contain carefully controlled defects. The third element is a flow loop, a 1,433 m long, 610 mm diameter pipeline where both pressure and flow can be controlled. The last element is a set of test bed vehicles. These vehicles are modular systems upon which inspection equipment can be mounted and used in the pull rig or flow loop. The facilities have been designed to accommodate research that extends from detailed analyses of defects in flat plates under idealized conditions to the same types and sizes of defects in a pressurized pipeline operating under flowing gas conditions.« less