Research project: Corrosion detection in small diameter buried steel gas pipes
Corrosion is one of the major issues regarding the integrity of assets for a wide range of industries. Currently inspections are conducted at regular intervals to ensure a sufficient integrity level of these assets. Cost reduction while maintaining a high level of reliability and safety of installations is a major challenge. The concept of predictive maintenance using permanent sensors that monitor the integrity of an installation matches very well with the objective to reduce cost while maintaining a high safety level. In recent years, research has focused on finding an effective, rapid, long‐range and low cost method in pipeline inspection. However, there is still a clear need for a sensitive and accurate method which is capable of detecting the location and the size of a defect. Compared with the existing methods, the use of ultrasonic guided waves is an attractive method for the inspection of pipelines. However, there is a clear need to support different pipe sizes over long distances without the need for excavation. In this project, small pipes (with diameters less than 5 cm) are considered due to a request by Scotia Gas Network Ltd.