Characterization of the Use of Low Frequency Ultrasonic Guided Waves to Detect Fouling Deposition in Pipelines

Abstract

The accumulation of fouling within a structure is a well-known and costly problem across many industries. The build-up is dependent on the environmental conditions surrounding the fouled structure. Many attempts have been made to detect fouling accumulation in critical engineering structures and to optimize the application of power ultrasonic fouling removal procedures, i.e., flow monitoring, ultrasonic guided waves and thermal imaging. In recent years, the use of ultrasonic guided waves has been identified as a promising technology to detect fouling deposition/growth. This technology also has the capability to assess structural health; an added value to the industry. The use of ultrasonic guided waves for structural health monitoring is established but fouling detection using ultrasonic guided waves is still in its infancy. The present study focuses on the characterization of fouling detection using ultrasonic guided waves. A 6.2-m long 6-inch schedule 40 carbon steel pipe has been used to study the effect of (Calcite) fouling on ultrasonic guided wave propagation within the structure. Parameters considered include frequency selection, number of cycles and dispersion at incremental fouling thickness. According to the studied conditions, a 0.5 dB/m drop in signal amplitude occurs for a fouling deposition of 1 mm. The findings demonstrate the potential to detect fouling build-up in lengthy pipes and to quantify its thickness by the reduction in amplitude found from further numerical investigation. This variable can be exploited to optimize the power ultrasonic fouling removal procedure.

Ultrasonic Transducer Array Performance for Improved Cleaning of Pipelines in Marine and Freshwater Applications

“…Although the impedance characterization has shown potential power loss due to the marinization technique, the HPUTs undergo initial fouling removal trials on a Calcite-fouled 6.2 m long, Schedule 40, 6-inch diameter carbon steel pipe created [11]. The hardware and software developed by the Brunel Innovation Centre [19] are described to drive the 4-HPUT configuration.…”

“…New tools in pigging have been used, such as ultrasonic inspection equipment, for not only cleaning but also for detecting failures and corrosion, or to verify the cleaning efficiency. In recent years, the usage of Ultrasonic Guided Waves has been recognized as a potential solution for the detection of fouling accumulation through structural health monitoring but is still in its initial stages of readiness for industrial practice [11].…”

Review of Current Guided Wave Ultrasonic Testing (GWUT) Limitations and Future Directions

“…Also, the large size of the collar transducers does not encourage in-service inspection of structure which demands permanent installation of the device [ 90 ]. In Figure 6 , two 24-transducers collars were configured in pitch-catch topology and used to inspect internal corrosion activities in a pipeline [ 89 ]. In [ 28 ], multiple ring arrays of 24 transducers were used to study the guided wave’s unidirectional excitation function.…”

Numerical Study on Ultrasonic Guided Waves for the Inspection of Polygonal Drill Pipes

“…The Ultrasonic guided wave technique [4,5,6,7,8] has recently evolved as a highly efficient inspection method for large-scale structures. It shows great potentials in NDT (Nondestructive Testing) for inspecting structures of many fields (i.e., plates [9,10,11,12], pipelines [13,14,15,16], and railways [17]).…”