Basic Theory and Applications of Oil and Gas Pipeline Non-Destructive Testing Methods

Abstract

In recent years, with the increasing construction mileage of oil and gas pipelines (OGPs), the aging problem of OGPs has become increasingly prominent, so, ensuring the safety of OGPs is of great significance. In addition, the safety of OGP transportation is also an important component of pipeline integrity. Therefore, to ensure the safety of OGP transportation, regular OGP inspections should be carried out. During this process, defects in the OGP and measured wall thickness information should be recorded to provide a basis for subsequent pipeline repair or replacement. This study analyzes the literature on pipeline testing and reviews approximately eighty articles. Based on these articles, we summarize the types of common OGP defects and review the basic principles of various non-destructive testing methods for pipelines, including electromagnetic acoustic transducer inspection, magnetic flux leakage testing, ultrasonic testing, and eddy current testing. We also provide a detailed introduction to the applications and innovative testing methods based on the above OGP inspection methods. Finally, an analysis and outlook on the future research focus of OGP inspection technology are presented. This research suggests that different detection methods should be used for different types of defects, such as using the magnetic leakage method for the internal detection of natural gas pipelines.