Pipe wear monitoring system and method of use thereof

A method of monitoring pipe wear including:

• providing a plurality of wear sensors at spaced intervals along a length of a pipe, each sensor being configured to detect wear in a wall of the pipe;
• and
• receiving and monitoring data corresponding to data output from said sensors and generating an alert when data is received from any one of the plurality of wear sensors indicative of irregular wear in the wall of the pipe, wherein:
• the wear sensors are sacrificial wear sensors including a sacrificial probe configured to be at least partially destroyed in response to wear in a sidewall of the pipe;
• and,
• each wear sensor includes a body for at least partially housing the sacrificial probe, the body being configured to be securely received in a sensor inlet port defined in an outer surface of a sidewall of the pipe that extends to an inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe, the body including:
• a shank having a pair of opposed ends, a head at one of the opposed ends and a tip at the other of the opposed ends, and wherein the shank is sized and shaped such that it at least partially extends within the sensor inlet port;
• and
• an internal passage extending from the tip of the shank at least partially towards the head of the shank for receiving and holding in place the sacrificial probe and therewith position the sacrificial probe at or near the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe when the body is securely received in the sensor inlet port so that the wear sensor is worn down as the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe wears and incrementally detects wear in the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe.

A pipe wear monitoring system including:

• at least one base station;
• a plurality of sensor nodes operatively connected to the at least one base station, each sensor node operatively associated with at least one wear sensor spaced along a length of a pipe and configured to detect wear in a wall of the pipe;
• and
• at least one remotely accessible server operatively connected to the base station for receiving and monitoring data output from said sensors via said sensor nodes, said server configured to generate an alert when said data received from any one of the plurality of wear sensors is indicative of irregular wear in the wall of the pipe, wherein:
• each wear sensor is a sacrificial wear sensor including a sacrificial probe configured to be at least partially destroyed in response to wear in an inner sidewall of the pipe;
• and,
• the sacrificial probe includes a board having a plurality of electrical circuits defined thereon, each individual circuit of the plurality and the board configured to be sequentially at least partially destroyed in response to wear in a sidewall of the pipe, wherein sequential at least partially destruction of each said individual circuit enables wear in the sidewall to be incrementally monitored and a wear rate to be determined;
• and
• each wear sensor includes a body for at least partially housing the sacrificial probe, the body being configured to be securely received in a sensor inlet port defined in an outer surface of a sidewall of the pipe that extends to an inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe, the body including:
• a shank having a pair of opposed ends, a head at one of the opposed ends and a tip at the other of the opposed ends, and wherein the shank is sized and shaped such that it at least partially extends within the sensor inlet port;
• and
• an internal passage extending from the tip of the shank at least partially towards the head of the shank for receiving and holding in place the sacrificial probe and therewith position the sacrificial probe at or near the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe when the body is securely received in the sensor inlet port so that the wear sensor is worn down as the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe wears and incrementally detects wear in the inner surface of the sidewall of the pipe.