Online inspection and sensing of pipe joints
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsYasser S. ALSUBHI, Slim SOUA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of inspecting a pipe joint of a pipeline in active operation includes installing, during or after initial assembly of the pipe joint, a layer of a material comprising graphene, a magnetostrictive material, or a combination thereof in the pipe joint, initiating operation of the pipeline to enable transportation of fluid therethrough, assessing, via one or more sensors provided at or near the layer of the material, symptoms of deterioration and/or anomalies within the pipe joint leading to deterioration of the pipe joint during operation of the pipeline, and designating the pipe joint for repair operations based upon the assessed symptoms of deterioration and/or anomalies within the pipe joint.
Claims20
A system for assessing joint integrity of pipelines in operation, the system comprising:
- a pipe joint within a pipeline in operation;
- a layer of a material integrated within the pipe joint of the pipeline, the material comprising graphene, a magnetostrictive material, or a combination thereof;
- and
- one or more sensors provided at or near the pipe joint and/or the layer of the material and operable to detect deterioration of the pipe joint during operation,
- wherein the sensors are operable to detect changes in the layer of the material indicating symptoms of deterioration of the pipe joint and/or anomalies within the pipe joint.
A method of inspecting a pipe joint of a pipeline in active operation, the method comprising:
- installing, during or after initial assembly of the pipe joint, a layer of a material comprising graphene, a magnetostrictive material, or a combination thereof in the pipe joint;
- initiating operation of the pipeline to enable transportation of fluid therethrough;
- assessing, via one or more sensors provided at or near the layer of the material, changes in the layer of the material indicating symptoms of deterioration and/or anomalies within the pipe joint leading to deterioration of the pipe joint during operation of the pipeline;
- and
- designating the pipe joint for repair operations based upon the assessed symptoms of deterioration and/or anomalies within the pipe joint.
A system for assessing a joint integrity of a pipe joint within a pipeline in active operation, the system comprising:
- a layer of a material integrated within the pipe joint of the pipeline, the layer of the material comprising graphene, a magnetostrictive material, or a combination thereof;
- and
- a pigging robot operable to detect changes in the layer of the material from within an interior flowpath of the pipeline, the pigging robot including:
- traversal means for navigating the pigging robot through the interior flowpath of the pipeline, and
- one or more sensors included on the pigging robot and operable to detect deterioration of the pipe joint during operation,
- wherein the sensors of the pigging robot are operable to detect the changes in the layer of the material indicating symptoms of deterioration of the pipe joint and/or anomalies within the pipe joint leading to deterioration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.