Pipe Wall Evaluation Using Acoustic Pulses

Assessing pipe wall condition in pipelines is essential to reduce product loss, operational cost and damage to the environment and the general public. Thinning in the pipe wall can lead to leaks and have the potential to cause catastrophic failures. As such, utilities owner need a method of assessing the pipe wall thickness of the pipelines to properly manage and maintain their infrastructure. Pure Technologies' SmartBall^TM Pipe Wall Assessment (PWA) is a new approach that takes advantage of the SmartBall^TM leak detection capability to simultaneously assess the physical condition of the pipe. The tool is a spherical device that rolls on the bottom of the pipe and is capable of navigating obstacles that would be impossible for a tethered system or a traditional pig. The patent pending method measures the velocity of a low frequency pulse as it propagates along the pipe. Variation in the propagation velocity of the pulses indicates changes in pipe wall thickness. This paper describes the theoretical background of the technology and presents field work completed to date.