BR102019001625A2 - SEMI-AUTOMATIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL-DIAMETER PIPELINES AND SEMI-AUTOMATIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL-DIAMETER PIPELINES USING THIS DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

the semi-autonomous inspection device being formed by a cylindrical body (1), having flat springs (3) at the rear, with rollers (4) at their free ends, which centralize the cylindrical body inside the pipe (t), having, in the part upper front of said cylindrical body, transducer (5), which protrudes outwardly, to contact the inner wall of the pipe, aided by the supply of coupling fluid, fed directly through the conduit (6), said transducer being able to be rotated by rotary motor (7), having an electronic circuit (8), specially developed for long distance inspections, and the system being formed by a control unit (9), which is responsible for sending commands to the power controllers (10) that activate the motors (11), in addition to controlling the electric drive of the pump (12), which increases the pressure inside the pressure chamber (13), acting on the piston (14) of the elevation of the head transducer of the ultrasound system, having a visualization and recording (15) of the data collected by the inspection system, as well as the camera image (16), which comprise the linear and angular displacements, acquired by the encoders (17) and signal conditioners (18), as well as the wall thickness and tofd measurement data, generated and collected through the tofd electronics (8) together with the transducer (5), being said tofd electronics (8) responsible for processing the acquired data, and being said unit visualization and recording (15) responsible for recording images and generating an automatic report.

Description

SEMI-AUTOMATIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL-DIAMETER PIPELINES AND SEMI-AUTOMATIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL-DIAMETER PIPELINES USING THIS DEVICE APPLICATION FIELD

[0001] Patent specification for device and system invention for semiautonomous visual, ultrasonic, acoustic inspection, magnetic flux leakage and / or alternating current field of auxiliary line pipes for drilling risers, including loss of wall mass, through ultrasound technique in pipes with diameters from 6.35 cm (2.5 ”), and of different thicknesses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The system consists of a modular robot, which works with a high-definition camera on the front, making the filming of the pipe, through the inspection module, which uses conventional heads to measure the wall thickness of the pipe, for example , ultrasonic (double crystal probes, phased array or TOFD), EMAT (Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer), MFL (Magnetic Flux Leakage) and ACFM (Alternating Current Field Measurement).

[0003] The high definition front camera is positioned so that it can register the entire length of the pipe, and capture 360 ° from the inside of the pipe.

[0004] The robot's locomotion system is composed of electric motors, remotely controlled, with transmission by a set of gears, its adjustment in relation to the internal diameter of the pipe made by means of self-adjusting spring, being able to work in pipes between 6 , 35cm and 12.7cm (2.5 ”and 5”), without the need for structural changes to the robot.

[0005] The adjustment of the robot in relation to the internal diameter of the pipe also employs a centralizing component, with special geometry and material that allows its elastic deformation.

[0006] The robot can move in horizontal, inclined or vertical positions.

[0007] For the correct operation of the measurement, it is necessary to provide coupling fluid between the ultrasound head and the pipe wall, and for this purpose, a means was developed that uses the pressure of the coupling fluid to bring the head closer together. ultrasound of the pipe wall, and allow contact between them, with the fluid being pumped from a reservoir to the robotic system, making it possible to control the fluid pressure, to improve the coupling between the head and the pipe wall.

[0008] When using EMAT and MFL, coupling fluid is not necessary.

[0009] The system provides means of positioning that indicate the position, radial and longitudinal, where the data regarding the integrity of the pipe was collected, which is transmitted by cable to the control and recording case, which is presented with a screen for operator view.

[0010] The control and recording case contains a coupling fluid storage tank capable of supplying the system to perform measurements, regardless of the external fluid source (for example, water, glycol, petroleum jelly, oils and others).

[0011] The system allows remote inspections (ultrasonic, EMAT, MFL and ACFM), over distances greater than 500 m, using electronics specially developed for long distance inspections, in order to overcome conventional ultrasound systems that perform inspections in real time from a maximum of 20 m.

[0012] The system incorporates proprietary software that allows the determination of tolerable characteristics, and any unacceptable measure triggers visual alert for the operator, being possible to stop and visualize, in real time, the positioning and the measured value.

[0013] The software also allows the operator to configure the inspection parameters to be performed, indicating the distance to be covered during the inspection, and how many points will be measured; for example, the operator can configure the system to perform 300 measurements every 250 mm, until completing 30 m, and then return, or to measure for 25 m, and return and start the process by pressing a single button, making the semi-autonomous system.

[0014] The recording of the images acquired by the camera is done in the control and recording case, which contains specific equipment that support high definition images.

[0015] The images are stored in HD and can be transferred to mobile media (pen drive, external HD, DVD and others) and virtual disks (storage in the cloud).

BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNIQUE

[0016] The development proposed in patent document US4964059 is already known from the current state of the art, in which a device for inspecting a pipe is described, incorporating a pig that measures the inner shape and wall thickness of a pipe, moving around inside the tube, which includes at least one distance measuring device, to measure the distance traveled by the pig; a rotation angle meter to measure the rotation angle of the pig's body around its central axis; a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic beams arranged in the circumferential direction of the pig, and confronted with the internal surface of the pig, which measures the internal shape and thickness of the tube wall; a pig recorder, which stores the measured data; a signal processing device for processing signals from the distance measuring device, rotation angle meter and transducers, to transmit and receive ultrasound beams, and data processing device, to analyze the measured data stored in said recorder, after the pig has been removed from the tube.

[0017] The device described above presents as the main drawback the fact that the data can only be collected after the equipment is removed from the pipeline and its analysis cannot be performed in real time by the operator.

[0018] Patent document US2003 / 0188589, which deals with an internal riser inspection device, where a first ultrasonic transducer is mounted on an inspection unit to determine the wall thickness of a tube, and the second and third ultrasonic transducers are mounted on the inspection unit for inspection of weld volume defects, the inspection unit being inserted into the tube and transported along it, where the first ultrasonic beam periodically emits a perpendicular acoustic signal to the tube axis, and detects an acoustic signal of return of the tube to determine the wall thickness, for indication of corrosion, and, to inspect welds, the unit is placed in a position that positions the second and third ultrasonic transducers on sides opposites of the weld, the second transducer emits an acoustic signal in the weld, the reflection of which is detected by the third transducer to determine if a volume d the weld has some defect, said inspection unit having, preferably, fourth and fifth ultrasonic transducers to inspect a root of a weld, which is an area that the second and third ultrasonic transducers do not capture the fourth and fifth transducers placed on sides opposites of the weld, simultaneously with the second and third ultrasonic transducers, each of which is an echo pulse wave transducer oriented at an acute angle in relation to the tube axis, and where each transducer emits a signal that reflects from the outer surface of the tube inwards through the weld root, and, after passing through the root, the reflected signal reflects back outward, and if there are no defects, the echo pulse wave transducers will not receive any reflected signal , and if there is a defect, the reflected signal is diffracted and received by the echo pulse wave transducer. The inspection unit rotates while inspecting the welds and a coupling liquid, such as water, is fed through a line into a cavity between each transducer and the pipe wall. The inspection unit rotates less than one turn when performing wall thickness inspections and is programmed to collect wall thickness data in selected azimuth increments during rotation. Each transducer of the inspection device is mounted on a separate independent movable shoe, and preferably uses pneumatic cylinders to make the shoes contact the inner diameter of the tube, and the operator can selectively move the transducers from retracted to extended positions, to save on shoe wear, pulse echo transducers can be retracted while conducting weld inspections with TOFD transducers and echo pulse wave transducers; likewise, TOFD transducers and echo pulse wave transducers can be retracted while performing wall thickness inspection. For the auxiliary lines, a smaller diameter unit is used, where several shoes are used, and more than one transducer can be mounted on each shoe, which is inclined by spring action, instead of being pushed by a pneumatic cylinder.

[0019] The device described above presents as inconveniences the fact of carrying out only a partial revolution; have shoes actuated by pneumatic cylinders; need a water storage tank; use linear and rotary motors, use a tube to place the coupler on the shoe and use the “push and pulˮ system for small pipe diameters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0020] The system now proposed is inventive insofar as it allows to obtain results in real time over long distances, without the need to flood the pipeline to carry out the inspections, it provides visual inspection in real time, allowing the integration of several inspection techniques. non-destructive tests on the same equipment, allowing the prior programming of the inspection scope to be performed and allowing the semi-automatic activation of the device.

[0021] The present inspection system uses only rotary engine; allows free revolutions; dispensing the coupling shoes to measure the wall thickness of the tube; the coupling being performed directly on the head; the transducer touches the tube wall to take measurements; provides direct feeding without the need for a reservoir; employs individual ultrasound techniques (or TOFD or double crystal) or EMAT.

[0022] The present invention is also notable for the following aspects:

[0023] The system as a whole is inventive, as there is currently no other that performs the inspection, with the same characteristics, in pipes with an internal diameter from 6.35 cm (2.5 ”) and of different thicknesses;

[0024] Allows real-time measurement over long distances, using ultrasound (UT), EMAT, MFL and ACFM techniques;

[0025] Offers means of supply of coupling fluid, which propels the probe (head) against the pipe wall, remotely regulated;

[0026] Performs UT inspection without the need for an external source, and

[0027] Performs inspection in a semi-autonomous way, in which the operator enters the inspection data to be performed, and after pressing a single button, the equipment performs the inspection automatically.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] For a better understanding of the present small diameter pipe inspection system, reference is made to the attached drawings, where:

[0029] Figure 1 illustrates a side view of the inspection device of the present invention, detached from the robot;

[0030] Figure 2 illustrates a side view of the inspection device of the present invention, detached from the robot, in service position;

[0031] Figure 3 shows a front view of the inspection device of the present invention, detached from the robot, in service position;

[0032] Figure 4 illustrates the block diagram of the operation of the inspection system of the present invention.

PREFERRED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] As shown in figures 1, 2 and 3, the inspection device of the present invention is formed by a cylindrical body (1), equipped with a front coupling (2) for coupling to the robot (not shown), having flat springs ( 3) rear, with rollers (4) at their free ends, which centralize the cylindrical body inside the tubing (T), also having, on the upper front part of said cylindrical body, a transducer (5), which can project outwards , to contact the inner wall of the pipeline, in which it is aided by the supply of coupling fluid, fed directly through the conduit (6), said transducer being able to be rotated through a rotary motor (7), having also electronic circuit (8), specially developed for long distance inspections.

[0034] As illustrated in figure 4, the inspection system of the present invention is formed by a control unit (9), which is the interface between the operator and the robotic inspection system, and is also responsible for sending commands to the controllers. of power (10) that drive the motors (11), in addition to controlling the electric drive of the hydraulic, hydropneumatic or pneumatic pump (12), which increases the pressure inside the pressure chamber (13), acting the piston (14) of elevation of the transducer of the ultrasound system. The visualization and recording unit (15), in turn, is responsible for viewing the data collected by the inspection system, as well as the camera image (16). The data displayed by the visualization and recording unit (15) comprise the linear and angular displacements, acquired by the encoders (17) and the signal conditioners (18), as well as the wall thickness and TOFD measurement data, generated and collected via TOFD electronics (8) in conjunction with the transducer (5).

[0035] The TOFD electronics (8) is made up of an ultrasonic pulser and amplifier (19), through which the signal is received from and emitted to the transducer (5), and when receiving the signal from the transducer (5), the ultrasonic pulser and amplifier (19) sends it, together with the data generated by the time counter (20), to the processing unit (21), from where the data is processed and sent to the visualization and recording unit (15), through of the communication module (22), with the recording and visualization of the images in physical and digital media, in addition to generating an automatic report with the data acquired during the inspection.

Claims (9)

SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, for semi-automatic visual, ultrasonic, acoustic inspection, auxiliary flow of magnetic current and / or flow lines, or alternate current flow lines and / or flow of magnetic flux and / or current flow lines. of drilling, including loss of wall mass, through ultrasound technique in pipes with diameters from 6.35 cm (2.5 ”), and of different thicknesses, being said inspection device characterized by being formed by a body (1 ) cylindrical, equipped with a front hitch (2) for coupling to the robot, having flat springs (3) at the rear, with rollers (4) at their free ends, which centralize the cylindrical body inside the tubing (T), also having, in the upper front part of said cylindrical body, transducer (5), which can project outwards, to contact the inner wall of the pipe, in which it is aided by the supply of fluid coupling, fed directly through the conduit (6), said transducer can be rotated through a rotary motor (7), and also has an electronic circuit (8), specially developed for long distance inspections. SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, for semi-automatic visual, ultrasonic, acoustic inspection, auxiliary flow of magnetic current and / or flow lines, or alternate current flow lines and / or flow of magnetic flux and / or current flow lines. of drilling, including loss of wall mass, through ultrasound technique in pipes with diameters from 6.35 cm (2.5 ”), and of different thicknesses, being said inspection system characterized by being formed by a control unit (9), which is the interface between the operator and the robotic inspection system, and is also responsible for sending commands to the power controllers (10) that drive the motors (11), in addition to controlling the electric drive of the hydraulic pump, hydropneumatic or pneumatic (12), which increases the pressure inside the pressure chamber (13), the piston (14) acting on the transducer lifting the ultrasound system, having a visualization and recording unit (15) which is responsible for visualizing the data collected by the inspection system, as well as the camera image (16), and the data displayed by the visualization and recording unit (15) comprise linear displacements and angular, acquired by encoders (17) and signal conditioners (18), as well as wall thickness and TOFD measurement data, generated and collected through TOFD electronics (8) together with the transducer (5). SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by the TOFD (8) amplifier and amplifier electronics (8) being composed of ultrasonic and pulsator (8) components ), processing unit (20), time counter (21) and communication module (22). SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by the pulsator and ultrasonic amplifier (which is the ultrasonic signal). received from and sent to the transducer (5), upon receipt of the signal from the transducer (5), it sends, together with the data generated by the time counter (20), to the processing unit (21), where the data is processed and sent to the display and recording unit (15), through the communication module (22). SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by the display and recording unit (15) to perform the still recording images (15) in physical and digital media, in addition to generating an automatic report with the data acquired during the inspection. SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by allowing measurement in real time, using long-distance ultrasound techniques, using long-distance ultrasound measurements. (UT), EMAT, MFL and ACFM. SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM OF SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by the supply of fluid against the head (which propels against the head) pipe wall, be remotely regulated. SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized by carrying out UT inspection without the need for an external source. SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION DEVICE FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES AND SEMIAUTONOMIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR SMALL DIAMETER PIPES USING THIS DEVICE, in accordance with any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it allows the operator to insert into the proprietary software of the data and starting autonomously.

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