Advancements in Pipeline Girth Weld Inspection

摘要

Historically, girth weld inspection of Oil and Gas transmission pipelines has been carried out by film-based radiography. This technique provides easy-to-interpret, twodimensional grayscale images of the weld and, with minimal training; an operator can interpret the image and determine the relative quality of the weld. While film based radiography is still widely used, like any other technique, it does have its drawbacks and disadvantages.Today, girth welding of large diameter pipe is more likely to be carried out by mechanized or "automatic" welding processes rather than by manual techniques. This conversion has also seen an accompanying conversion to automated inspection techniques and particularly to Automated Ultrasonic Testing or AUT in similar fashion as seen in pipe manufacturing where both ultrasound and radiography techniques are now highly automated.This paper compares the strengths and weaknesses of various inspection modes as well as discusses current advancements that provide improved technical capability and inspection efficiencies.