Monitoring cable integrity during pipeline manufacture

Abstract

When manufacturing a pipeline that carries an array of electrical cables, insulation resistance monitoring is performed by a monitoring unit that is connected to the cables of the array and is mounted to a leading end of the pipeline. The monitoring unit tests the cables cyclically in succession. Monitoring is performed on the cables after their application to the pipeline and while the pipeline and the cables advance together through further manufacturing processes, such as insertion of the pipeline into the outer pipe of a pipe-in-pipe structure. If a fault is detected in any of the cables, an alert can be raised quickly enough to stop the process and to rectify the fault before the fault is covered and rendered inaccessible. The pipeline and the cables can advance continuously unless a fault is detected.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.