Custom Ultrasonic ILI Tools For Unpiggable pipelines
A large share of the world's pipeline infrastructure was designed and built long before in-line inspection (ILI) was a standard requirement. Short launching and receiving traps sized for cleaning pigs only, tight-radius bends, and internal bore reductions have historically placed entire pipeline systems outside the reach of conventional ILI tools thus leaving operators to choose between accepting blind spots in their integrity data or undertaking expensive pipeline modifications.
In order to address this challenge VERECO developed a range of custom metal loss inspection solutions based on UT technology to address precisely this challenge. They were engineered in direct response to clients' requirements.
Technical Capabilities
The custom ILI tools were purpose-built to operate under constraints that would prevent the use of conventional inspection equipment:
- Internal bore reductions down to 80% of nominal pipeline size
- Non-standard 1D bends
- Short pig traps, designed for running cleaning pigs only
The compact, flexible design does not come at the expense of inspection performance. The tools delivers full metal loss data equivalent in quality to that produced by standard ultrasonic in-line inspection equipment, providing operators with the same actionable integrity information they would expect from a conventional inspection program. Moreover, a single UTWM tool of this type can be adapted to various adjacent pipeline nominal sizes with adoptable option kits. This makes mobilization and logistics issues simpler and easier as well as tool handling.
Our approach
These development reflects a core part of VERECO's engineering approach: the capacity to adapt to project-specific constraints and deliver workable solutions where off-the-shelf options fall short.
We are further developing more solutions for challenging pipelines.
Please contact us if you need a solution for your pipeline assets that you have probably considered unpiggable or difficult-to-pig.