Objetivo To develop ultrasonic inspection tools which can be applied under on stream conditions of oil and gas risers. Major design criteria for oil risers which will be taken in consideration for the design of the ultrasonic inspection tools are :*pipe sizes............: 16", 20" and 24"*overall length.......: 2,3 m for 16" tool*pressure.............: 150 bar*speed................: up to 4 m/sec*measuring distance.....: 300 metres*travelling distance..: 50 Km*wall thickness range..: up to 40 mm*accuracy..............: +/- 1 mm*bi- directional, and capable of passing 3 DF - 90 bends, 1 D-T joints, valves, 15% dents and 10 % diameter reductions.*simultaneously internal pipe profile and wall thickness measuring in bends as well as in straight pipe sections.Innovative character of the project is illustrated by the fact that when the project started only one comparable type of tools for pipe inspection existedWith the inspection tool for oil risers internal pipe profile and wall thickness can be mpeasured simultaneously. For the 16" tool 36 probes are in use. They measure at intervals of 2.5 mm or a multiple of this interval. For a 20" tool 48 probes are used. All data are stored in a 6 Mbyte solid state memory, sufficient to store all values over a pipelength of 300 metres. Data reduction facilities enable the measurement of longer lengths of pipeline as well.During the development solutions were engineered with respect to construction of the inspection tool in order to cope with the rather severe mechanical requirements. To pass 3 D bends the tool consists of 3 articulated high pressure resistant containers which are for that purpose connected with eachother by universal joints. In these containers all electronics and high energy batteries are housed.In particular a good solution was found for the hinging of the probes which should be in a concentric and perpendicular position withrespect to the pipewall.Spacecraft technology was introduced to design and construct very compact and energy saving electronics. C-Mos electronics are used to save energy. Electronics are compactly packed partly as hydbrids in order to fit in the scarce space of the containers.Special ultrasonic probes were designed and built in the frame of the project. These high pressure resistant ultrasonic sensor modules contain the ultrasonic probe, its transmitter and preamplifier electronics in one unit. The 6 Mbyte solid state memory consisting of 32 Kbyte RAMs including a powerful set processors was constructed to store all values at full speed of the inspection tool.After the data retrieved from the memory these are transferred to a powerful HP 9836 C desk top computer. With this device supported by appropriate software several presentation modes of results can be generated. Colours are used to enhance these results. Many function tests of parts and assembled part were carried out to prove proper functioning of the integrated inspection tool.Loop tests with the 16" version were completed successfully. A field test with the 20" version resulted in two problems. The first was malfunctioning of the system which had to switch the tool from stand-by mode into active mode at the required location during its travel through the pipe. The reason for this was found and the problem was solved.The second problem was that a too high percentage of the measurements was invalid, due to the presence of wax precipitation in the crude oil. Since this precipitation is a continuous process, this problem could not be solved by cleaning the pipe prior to inspection. Several possibilities to cope with this problem have been proposed and partly tested. There is a good chance of success, possibly at cost of some concessions in the field of the mechanical tool specifications.Ultrasonic riser pipe inspection tools had to be developed for several pipe diameters, according to the above specifications. The 16" version is mainly intended for extensive testing in a test loop of this diameter.The 20" and 24" versions will be the tools for most practical applications.Design is as much as possible of modular character. Experiments and design work in the fields of ultrasonics, electronics and mechanics were needed. Frequent interactions between the three field were essential, as well as regular discussions with pipeline operators from an oil company and incorporation of testing actions at many stages of the development.The present project is concerned with design, manufacturing and testing of inspection tools for oil risers. In addition, for gas risers non contact ultrasonic transducers had to be developed which are considered suitable for implementation in a gas riser pipe inspection tool. The implementation itself is beyond the scope of this project. Programa(s) ENG-HYDROCARB 1C - Programme (EEC) of Community projects in the hydrocarbons sector, 1973-1985 Tema(s) 1.6 - MISCELLANEOUS Convocatoria de propuestas Data not available Régimen de financiación DEM - Demonstration contracts Coordinador ROENTGEN TECHNISCHE DIENST BV Aportación de la UE Sin datos Dirección DELFTWEG 144 POSTBUS 10065 3004 Rotterdam Países Bajos Ver en el mapa Coste total Sin datos
