Abstract
In order to ensure the continued operation of fixed equipment assets such as vessels, pipeline and piping systems, operators must invest in regular inspection of their systems by a variety of methods, including visual inspection, inline inspection (ILI), and traditional non-destructive evaluation (NDE) based techniques. This results in intermittent inspection of the piping and increased operating costs. Alternately, by utilizing Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems operators can monitor pipelines and piping on a continuous, rather than intermittent, basis and drive toward more cost effective Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) of their systems. To support this need, a system is being introduced, which allows for the detection, localization and quantification of corrosion and erosion damage in metal piping. This system enables monitoring over an extended region of the pipe surface providing information on defect size and location in addition to the remaining wall thickness.
The system consists of a network of miniature ultrasonic sensors embedded in a thin dielectric film that can be integrated with the pipe. Diagnostic hardware housing data analysis software is used to acquire data from the sensor network and to determine onset and progress of corrosion damage. This paper discusses validation testing work performed using the system on piping.
