The Power to Know More About Pipeline Anomalies

Humans experience the world around them using five natural senses. An early morning hike through a mountain path brings the rustle of trees in the breeze; cool, crisp mountain air to the lungs; deep valley views with the rising sun; and the sound and feeling of the snap of a twig beneath your foot. The comprehensive experience is augmented with each additional sense that is engaged, as all the senses are simultaneously taken in all at once. All five senses are utilised to trigger natural responses of joy, awareness and even alarm.

Pipeline integrity, like the human senses, can be augmented similarly with the addition of multiple independent streams of integrity data collected simultaneously. Specifically, the combination of high field axial magnetic flux leakage (MFL), high field helically oriented MFL (SMFL), low-field axial MFL (LFM), high-resolution geometry (GEO) and high-resolution mapping (XYZ), when collected simultaneously, can provide the most comprehensive inspection for pipeline anomalies.

Case studies for several anomaly types will be reviewed, including mechanical damage, selective seam weld corrosion, seam features, wrinkle bend assessment and puddle weld repairs. In each case, the ability to overcome detection, classification and sizing limitation of individual technologies will be presented, outlining the benefits of the multiple dataset approach.