TPT November 2017

T E CHNOLOG Y

Breakthrough in pipe remote inspection A NEW inspection technology has made it possible to remotely scan and map areas of corrosion in inaccessible pipe walls for the first time.

Limited (GUL) whose CEO, David Alleyne, developed the original guided wave technique over 20 years ago as a student at Imperial College London. The original long-range guided wave technology is now used worldwide, and provides a fast and effective way to screen large sections of pipe to identify any locations showing changes. As guided waves can propagate tens of metres, it is possible to remotely inspect areas that would be very costly to test using other methods, for example the buried sections of road crossings or insulated pipelines. However, where changes are detected, more detailed inspections are required to determine the extent of corrosion. Such accurate measurement was previously only possible by removing obstacles and testing directly at the exact position on the pipe wall. Mr Alleyne, who founded GUL in 1999 as a university spin-out, said the company recognised the need for a way to measure wall thickness remotely. “Often the places you really need to measure are in positions that you can’t reach directly, and up to now there has been no technology available to do this. It is a major problem and all sorts of solutions have been proposed, but they can only give an estimate and are not a reliable way to measure thickness. QSR allows you to rapidly scan wall thickness and provides an accurate measurement.” As with the original long-range guided wave technique, Mr Alleyne believes QSR will find wider applications beyond pipelines. “Long-range guided wave technique was designed as a screening system for use with insulated pipes; however, it is now widely used as a way to test buried pipes and for more general inspections. QSR has been developed as a scanning and mapping tool, with the areas behind pipe supports in mind; however, it could be used to map any type of system corrosion. Like the long-wave technique, we believe it is a breakthrough technology and expect it will find much wider applications.” The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing aims to promote the advancement of the science and practice of NDT and all other associated materials testing disciplines.

QSR (quantitative short range) – a new type of guided wave technology – can provide accurate measurements of pipe wall thickness in hard-to-reach areas such as behind wall supports. It is the latest innovation from Guided Ultrasonics

QSR device

BINDT – UK Website: www.bindt.org

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NOVEMBER 2017