Remote field eddy current based system and method for corrosion inspection

A remote field eddy current, RFEC, system for detecting an azimuth location of a defect in a pipe, the system comprising:

• a holder extending along a longitudinal axis X and shaped to flow through the pipe;
• a magnetic field generator located within the holder and configured to generate a first magnetic field B0;
• a 3-axis fluxgate magnetometer located within the holder, at a given distance away from the magnetic field generator, along the longitudinal axis X, wherein the fluxgate magnetometer has two parallel cores, a first coil that wraps around each of the two cores, in opposite directions, and a second coil that wraps around the two cores in a same direction, and the fluxgate magnetometer is configured to measure a second magnetic field B, which is a result of the first magnetic field B0 interacting with the defect in the pipe;
• and
• a controller located within the holder and configured to receive a value of the second magnetic field B and to determine an azimuth of the defect in the pipe by interpreting radial components of the measured second magnetic field B, and an extent of the defect based on the second magnetic field B.