Tools To Detect Mechanical Damage In Pipe

摘要

While today's in-line inspection devices can effectively locate corrosion and metal loss, they are limited in their ability to detect one of the most significant precursors to pipeline failure-mechanical damage to the outer pipe surface. In response, GTI and the U.S. Department of Transportation are spearheading a multi-million-dollar effort to develop advanced tools and technolo-rngy to locate gouges, dents, scrapes, and other types of anomalies. In recent years, the U. S. pipeline industry's enviable safety record has been marred by a few rare, highly significant, and highly publicized incidents-Edison, NJ (1994); Reston, VA (1994); and, most recently, Bellingham, WA (1999). Fatalities occurred from the most recent of these pipeline failures at Bellingham, despite the fact that pipeline operators used in-line inspection tools ("pigs") to ensure the safety of their lines. The lines were all "smart pigged" with cur-rnrent magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection tools for corrosion-an activity that went beyond even the current regulatory requirements imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of Pipeline Safety.