Tracerco has started a new phase of development for its Dicovery technology, aimed at targeting new applications for the technology.
Discovery was developed for the subsea pipeline industry to take a 360 degree tomographic scans of unpiggable coated subsea pipeline contents and pipe wall conditions, which is not normally possible without removing pipelines’ protective coatings.
Tracerco has now also started work to develop the technology for use on large rigid risers as well as a further version for smaller diameter pipelines, flowlines and jumpers (less than 12in. outer diameter). Both versions will include a crawler mechanism developed for the existing tool.
Lee Robins, Head of Subsea Inspection at Tracerco said, “We have received a large number of inquiries from customers relating to very small diameter pipes, which are difficult to inspect by conventional methods (due to the presence of coatings) and deemed unpiggable. Since Discovery, has the capability to inspect pipelines without the removal of the protective coating, it was a natural progression to design a version specifically suited to the smaller diameter pipes.
“Inspecting risers also presents a new challenge for Discovery with specific emphasis on the splash zone, which is a crucial area for inspection. We are now well on the way to overcoming these specific challenges and hope to be in a position to launch this new variant of Discovery in 2015.”
Discovery is currently being deployed on seabed pipeline inspection projects in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico; the latter will involve inspection at 3000m water depth.
The tomographic scan image produced is accurate to nearly a millimeter radial resolution, more detailed and accurate than anything currently on the market for non-intrusive pipeline inspection, with the additional advantage of zero interruption to pipeline operation, says Tracerco. Discovery can inspect any subsea flowline within its diameter range regardless of complexity (such as caissons) without any risk of damage to the pipe.
Unlike alternative technologies such as ultrasonic and pulsed eddy current, Discovery is a more cost-effective way to provide operators assurance of the integrity of unpiggable coated pipelines as it eliminates the risk of corrosion posed by removing the coating.