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Pipeline Inspection

Globally, millions of miles of pipelines exist, carrying various substances from water to crude oil. Pipelines are vulnerable to attack, not only as a result of human factors such as terrorsim; but also by internal and external factors caused by the product that is being delivered through the pipe. The manufacture of pipes, prior to being installed may also contain failure points in their structure or welds. It is not only cost or service that suffers if a pipe fails or bursts, but the environmental impact can be distasterous. In keeping pipeline operations running safely NDT inspections are conducted, in-line against a maintenance plan, to test for flaws, corrosion or other damage before they give rise to more serious failures. In an attempt to keep pipelines operating safely, periodic inspections are performed to find flaws and damage before they become cause for concern.

During the construction of pipelines inspection personnel use NDT inspection methods such as Magnetic Particle Inspection, Ultrasonic Flaw Detectors or advanced ultrasonic techniques such as TOFD and Phased Arrray technologies. 

If a pipe is cut to meet the end user specification, or for hot tapping,  the cut region must then be tested for laminations and laminar inclusions prior to welding. Solutions can be found using the Sitescan D10+, using the persistance mode to help detect small inclusions;  or the Corrosion WheelProbe with the Veo 16:64 to create a full C-Scan image.

Once in-service, pipelines must continue to be inspected for minimum wall thickness (corrosion) and weld structure safety.  This can be done using equipment such as the Veo 16:64.   More capable semi-automated portable systems such as the Veo Corrosion WheelProbe Scanner can also be employed achieving excellent data and results.

Follow the link to visit the FAQ page and download the support document Using the Veo for AWS D1.1 Weld Inspection