Repetitive non-destructive test of components having an impact on safety – longdistance oil and gas lines 

A network of more than three million kilometers of oil and gas pipelines is operated on the earth. The forecast for annual growth is set at 40,000 kilometers per year. Europe presently operates an oil pipeline network of 35,000 kilometers, the United States 91,000 kilometers while Russia's market leader Gasprom has a pipeline network measuring 145,000 kilometers. Growth in demand is seen in particular in the two primary energy carriers in Africa and China in the next few years. 

These pipelines are getting older and damage is more and more frequent. This is the reason why national safety authorities are calling for pressure checks that could be a great risk especially in densely populated areas. The alternative is using intelligent inspection pigs flushed through the pipeline with the oil or gas at velocities of as much as 2 m/s to check the wall of the pipe for cracks. 

The focus of interest is detecting intercrystalline stress corrosion and determining its size. These are problems that can only be solved with ultrasound waves. 

32-channel (sender + receiver) ultrasound inspection pig front-end including the power-PC for interpreting the testing data on-line. 
(© Fraunhofer IZFP)

As an example, the electronic hardware has to be highly miniaturized for pipelines up to a diameter of 56" to fit 980 testing channels. 

Process and testing systems are developed by Fraunhofer IZFP in cooperation with NDT Systems & Services AG.