PRODUCTION • PROCESSING • HANDLING
Current PII technology can detect, identify size and locate metal loss as shallow as 0.2mm deep and features as small as 2mm in diameter. With the same tool, PII can identify dents as shallow as 2mm deep and 25mm circular diameter, which are barely visible to the naked eye.
their volume and the sampling frequency, an impressive level of inspection accuracy can be achieved. Te same is true for the caliper and IMU modules. By running every inspection with the same set-up at maximum resolution, the probability of first run success can also be improved, whatever the customer’s specific requirements. However, to make the service cost-effective for the customer, only the datasets necessary to meet the required specification are analysed. For instance, a customer with a clean pipeline with only isolated areas of corrosion might only need a very simple metal loss inspection, so only a fraction of the MFL data would be used while the caliper and IMU data would be recorded and stored, but not analysed. However, because the entire data set has been collected at the highest resolution on the initial run, it is possible to revisit the analysis with a revised higher specification and scope without having to re-run the tool. Tis flexibility allows PII to work with the customer and run a whole range of different analysis options depending on their specific concerns about their pipeline. Because the analysis can be tailored to the pipeline, its age, location, type of product transported and history, it is a very cost effective way of protecting the integrity of assets. In parallel with the hardware
development, PII has invested in analysis software and tools that look at metal loss, geometry and mapping data as one homogenous dataset so that the combined effects can be assessed. With this information readily available, the company’s analysts can make a far more informed call on the level of threat and advise the client so they can take the necessary mitigation measures, further enhancing pipeline safety and security.
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Current PII technology can detect, identify size and locate metal loss as shallow as 0.2mm deep and features as small as 2mm in diameter. With the same tool, PII can identify dents as shallow as 2mm deep and 25mm circular diameter, which are barely visible to the naked eye. IMU mapping can now identify movement in the pipeline of less than the width of the pipeline itself with offsets of as little as 150mm being detectable. Te improvement in resolution has
also delivered some unexpected benefits. Te capability to detect pinholes down to 2mm diameter was formally validated by one of the largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies through a blind test followed by in-field dig verification. Its interest was not only in pin holes arising from typical corrosion mechanisms but also from illegal tapping by third parties for product theft. To better address this specific threat, PII enhanced its ‘Pinhole’ offering to include identification of unauthorised connections to live pipelines where there is the possibility of product being stolen. Te issue of pilferage is becoming a major commercial threat to pipeline operators around the world and being able to identify where new fixtures and fittings have appeared in a line particularly when coincident with deep small diameter metal loss has already proved effective in mitigating this threat. Circumferential cracking in the girth
weld is another major concern for oil and gas pipeline operators around the world. Te capability to detect metal loss in the girth weld area with magnetics technology has been understood since the early 1990s. However, it is only now with the latest high resolution data and algorithms that it has become possible to detect circumferential cracks open by as little as 0.25mm and discriminate from metal
PII’s fourth generation of intelligent pig incorporates MFL, caliper and IMU mapping in a single system
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