Ultrasonic In-line Inspection Research Articles

Systematic Evaluation of Ultrasonic In-Line Inspection Techniques for Oil and Gas Pipeline Defects Based on Bibliometric Analysis.

The global reliance on oil and gas pipelines for energy transportation is increasing. As the pioneering review in the field of ultrasonic defect detection for oil and gas pipelines based on bibliometric methods, this study employs visual analysis to identify the most influential countries, academic institutions, and journals in this domain. Through cluster analysis, it determines the primary trends, research hotspots, and future directions in this critical field. Starting from the current global industrial ultrasonic in-line inspection (ILI) detection level, this paper provides a flowchart for selecting detection methods and a table for defect comparison, detailing the comparative performance limits of different detection devices. It offers a comprehensive perspective on the latest ultrasonic pipeline detection technology from laboratory experiments to industrial practice.

An ultrasonic in-line inspection data processing method considering invalid data caused by sensor failure

Ultrasonic in-line inspection is one of the most widely adopted nondestructive testing methods for defect detection in pipelines. In practical industrial scenes, pipeline specification varies, sensor failure occurs frequently, and the number of pipeline defect samples is scarce. How to detect defects without false detection caused by invalid data and with limited labeled samples is a challenging problem in this area. An ultrasonic in-line inspection data processing method considering invalid data caused by sensor failure is proposed in this paper to enhance the accuracy of the defect and its profile detection. Firstly, the multi-channel data is aggregated according to sampling time. The data dimension is reduced, and the accuracy of the invalid waveform detection adopting isolation forest arithmetic is improved. The methods are adopted for the invalid waveforms replacement with two-dimensional cubic spline interpolation using adjacent sensors. Secondly, a natural breakpoint method is adopted to locate the echo peaks. Residual wall thickness is evaluated by calculating the time difference between the echo peaks. A fast pseudo-colorization method based on sliding windows and a morphological image processing method are proposed to detect defects and their profiles efficiently utilizing the residual wall thickness. Finally, practical in-line inspection data is utilized to evaluate the performance. The experiment results illustrate that the detection accuracy is enhanced on different sizes of pipelines without requiring labeled samples.

Design and Numerical Simulation of an Odometer Wheel Used in an Ultrasonic In-Line Inspection Tool

An odometer wheel is used to measure forward distance for a piezoelectric ultrasonic device, and it plays a key role in locating defections. Buckling and skidding are its main problems in applications. Based on a self-developed in-line inspection tool, an odometer wheel was designed according to mechanical design principles. A finite element model on scale of 1 : 1 was built to simulate mechanical performance of the odometer wheel. Results show that the maximum Mises stress under the worst condition is far less than the elastic limit of chosen stainless steel, and deformations of swing arms are slight. Acting forces under different conditions also meet requirements of antiskid. It indicates that the designed object has good performance in terms of structure stability and skid prevention.

Ultrasonic inline inspection of a cement-based drinking water pipeline

The integrity of the drinking water infrastructure deteriorates with time. Monitoring the condition of the drinking water mains can enhance the remaining operational lifetime assessment of the network. In this research a method to translate ultrasonic signals to degradation levels from an inline inspection in a cement-based drinking water pipeline is proposed. The data was obtained from an inspection performed in a Dutch drinking main section. The data is processed in two major steps. Firstly, the parameters that provide the condition of the cement are extracted. Secondly, images of the degradation within the pipes of the inspected trajectory were generated. The main contributions in this paper are (i) the estimation of relative degradation levels of a cement-based pipeline based on the ultrasonic pulse-echo technique and (ii) the upscaling of the processing method in an automated manner for visualization of the degraded condition. Lastly, a sensitivity study of the parameters relevant to the determination of the degraded depth has been performed. The speed of sound in cement is the most relevant parameter to consider. Estimating absolute degradation levels needs further study.

Перспективные направления развития ультразвуковых внутритрубных диагностических приборов

Перспективные направления развития ультразвуковых внутритрубных диагностических приборов

A Bayesian model framework for calibrating ultrasonic in-line inspection data and estimating actual external corrosion depth in buried pipeline utilizing a clustering technique

In the petroleum industry, oil and gas pipeline operators routinely employ non-destructive in-line inspection (ILI) tools to perform integrity assessment, in which corrosion defects are detected, located and sized. However, the inspection technology is not perfect, and its accuracy is influenced by intrinsic measurement error of the ILI device as well as measurement noise. The quality of the inspection result should be assessed, and the inspection device should be calibrated before further assessment is performed. In the present work, a calibration model for an ultrasonic ILI device is proposed based on physical principles, and both systematic error and random error are able to be estimated. In addition to the errors from inspection devices, the soil environment introduces various uncertainties into the corrosion propagation. This paper presents a methodology to infer the actual corrosion defect depth based on detection theory and to account for the effect of soil property variation by combining cluster analysis with a Bayesian inferential framework. A numerical study on calibration uncertainty shows the influence of the number of field verifications. The proposed model framework is applied to a 110-km pipeline system to illustrate its application.

Criteria for performance assessment and calibration of in-line inspections of oil and gas pipelines

Oil and gas pipeline operators routinely use magnetic flux leakage (MFL) and ultrasonic (UT) in-line inspection (ILI) to detect, locate and size metal losses caused by corrosion. As a preliminary step in fitness-for-service evaluations, the quality of the ILI is assessed through statistical comparison of the ILI data with data gathered in the field at dig sites. This work presents generalized criteria for the performance assessment and calibration of MFL and UT ILI tools from field measurements. The proposed criteria are capable of accounting for the measurement errors of both the ILI tool and the field instrument. The performance assessment of the ILI run is based on the determination of the minimum number of unsuccessful field verifications required to reject the ILI at a given significance level. The calibration of the ILI data uses new, simplified, error-in-variables methods to estimate the true size of the corrosion metal losses reported by the ILI tool. The proposed methodology also allows for determination of the errors associated with the estimation of the true defect depths. This information is of utmost importance in conducting reliability and risk assessments of pipelines based on either the probability distribution properties of the pipeline defect population, or the probability of failure of each individual defect in the pipeline. The proposed criteria are tested using Monte Carlo simulations and a real-life case study is presented to illustrate their application.

Ultrasonic in-line inspection technique for contact materials: E. Jost and G. Fontaine IEEE Trans. Components, Hybrids Mfg Technology. CHMT-3(1), 79 (March 1980)

Ultrasonic in-line inspection technique for contact materials: E. Jost and G. Fontaine IEEE Trans. Components, Hybrids Mfg Technology. CHMT-3(1), 79 (March 1980)

Ultrasonic in-line inspection technique for contact materials : Ernest Jost and Gerard Fontaine. IEEE Trans. Components, Hybrids, Mfg. Technol., Chmt-3 (1) 79 (March 1980)

Ultrasonic in-line inspection technique for contact materials : Ernest Jost and Gerard Fontaine. IEEE Trans. Components, Hybrids, Mfg. Technol., Chmt-3 (1) 79 (March 1980)