Pipeline inspection apparatus for the internal inspection of pipelines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9599528-B2
Application number	US-201214362744-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2012
Priority date	Dec 12, 2011
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus for determining the conditions of a pipeline and for the analysis of the fluid contained therein comprising: a central body having a substantially cylindrical form perforated for the whole length and comprising at least a salinity sensor and at least a pH measurement sensor; a first crown of petals connected to the central body, wherein each petal extends from the central body until it touches the internal wall of the pipeline and wherein each petal comprises at least one deformation sensor and at least one roughness sensor; a sliding device integrally connected to the central body in a more advanced position with respect to the first crown of petals, wherein the sliding device can be a second crown of petals identical to the first crown of petals or a foam pig suitably perforated. A method is for determining the conditions of a pipeline and for the analysis of the fluid contained therein, which uses the apparatus.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for determining the conditions of a duct and for the analysis of the fluid contained therein, wherein said apparatus comprises:
a central body adapted to be inserted into a pipeline, prevalently made of plastic material, comprising a calibrated hole, which passes through it for the whole length, at least a salinity sensor, at least a pH measurement sensor, at least one pressure sensor positioned in a front part, at least one pressure sensor positioned in a rear part and an accelerometer capable of revealing at each moment the gravitational vertical;
a first crown of petals connected to the central body, wherein each petal prevalently includes elastic polymeric material and extends from the central body until it touches the internal wall of the pipeline, each petal comprising at least one deformation sensor and at least one roughness sensor;
a sliding device which can be connected to the central body in a more advanced position with respect to the first crown, having such a form as to guarantee a direct and constant contact with the internal wall of the duct and a substantial alignment of the axis of the apparatus with that of the pipeline.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said sliding device is a second crown of petals having structural characteristics identical to the first crown of petals, or, otherwise, a foam pig made of an elastomeric or polymeric expanded material suitably perforated for providing accommodation of the central body.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when said sliding device is a second crown of petals each petal of said second crown of petals comprises at least one deformation sensor and at least one roughness sensor.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when said sliding device is a foam pig, said foam pig comprises deformation sensors.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said deformation sensors are strip-like flexible condensers installed on the foam pig in pre-extended mode by means of supports.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the revolution axis of said calibrated hole which passes through the central body is parallel to or coincident with the axis of the central body.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said salinity and pH measurement sensors are of the electronic type and store the collected information in a connected memory positioned within the apparatus.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first crown of petals comprises a base having a substantially cylindrical form perforated in the center and capable of housing the central body inside the hole, wherein the electronic conditioning, digitalization, powering, processing, memorization and connection systems of the data collected by said deformation and roughness sensors and/or said salinity sensor and pH measurement sensor are housed in said base.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein at least three petals having a prevalently arched form extends from the base of the first crown until they reach and overcame the internal diameter of the pipeline, thus allowing a continuous contact of the ends of the petals with the internal wall of the pipeline.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8 comprising a circular-shaped wing perforated in the center, constrained to the first crown of petals, positioned orthogonally with respect to the axis of the apparatus and having a diameter smaller than the internal diameter of the pipeline, wherein said circular-shaped wing houses the electronic conditioning, digitalization, powering, processing and memorization systems of the data collected by said deformation and roughness sensors and/or said salinity sensor and pH measurement sensor.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the deformation sensors are extensometers adhering to thin metal laminas positioned inside the petals.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a circular-shaped wing perforated in the center, constrained to the first crown of petals, positioned orthogonally with respect to the axis of the apparatus and having a diameter smaller than the internal diameter of the pipeline.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein, when said sliding device is a second crown of petals, a second circular-shaped wing, identical to said circular-shaped wing, is constrained to the second crown of petals.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the roughness sensor includes a probing tip, positioned on the end of the petal which is in contact with the internal wall of the pipeline.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said plastic materials or elastic polymeric materials have an average density lower than or equal to 1.2 g/cm 3 .

16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said central body comprises a shutter positioned inside the calibrated hole which restricts the opening span of the calibrated hole if electrically stimulated by a control unit present in the central body.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein said pressure sensors and said accelerometer are connected to the control unit of the shutter to allow a retroaction on the shutter itself.

18. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the dragging rate of the apparatus ranges from 0.5 m/s to 2 m/s.

19. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said central body comprises a temperature sensor capable of measuring the temperature of the fluid through it.

20. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises, inside the central body, a conversion system of mechanical energy into electric energy in which a turbine is connected to a system of magnets/coils and, while rotating, enables the production of electric current.

21. A method for determining the conditions of a pipeline and for analyzing the fluid contained therein, comprising the following steps:
providing an apparatus according to claim 1 ;
introducing said apparatus into a pipeline destined for transporting fluids for a monitoring operation;
collecting information and data on the conditions of the pipeline and the contained fluid during the monitoring operation;
extracting the apparatus from the pipeline and recovering from the apparatus the information and data collected during the monitoring operation;
analyzing the collected information and data to obtain indications on the conditions of the pipeline and on the contained fluid.

22. An apparatus for determining the conditions of a duct and for the analysis of the fluid contained therein, wherein said apparatus comprises:
a central body adapted to be inserted into a pipeline, prevalently made of plastic material, comprising a calibrated hole, which passes through it for the whole length, at least one salinity sensor and at least one pH measurement sensor, wherein said at least one salinity sensor and said at least one pH measurement sensor are positioned within the calibrated hole of the central body;
a first crown of petals connected to the central body, wherein each petal prevalently includes elastic polymeric material and extends from the central body until it touches the internal wall of the pipeline, each petal comprising at least one deformation sensor and at least one roughness sensor;
a sliding device which can be connected to the central body in a more advanced position with respect to the first crown, having such a form as to guarantee a direct and constant contact with the internal wall of the duct and a su

Assignees

• Eni Spa

Inventors

• Di Lullo Alberto Giulio
• Scaltrito Luciano
• Pirola Marco
• Tulliani Jean Marc

Classifications

• F16L55/40

  of the body · CPC title

• F16L2101/30

  Inspecting, measuring or testing · CPC title

• G01M3/005 Primary

  using pigs or moles (G01M3/246, G01M3/2823 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01B5/12

  internal diameters · CPC title

• F16L55/38 Primary

  driven by fluid pressure · CPC title