In 1993 Sonsub International, a Saipem Group Company, designed and built an ROV-deployed tool to enable subsea pipelines up to 12″ diameter to be radiographed. This tool, known as the Mini-Pipemate~®, was successfully used by an ROV located on Esso's Marlin platform to measure the wall thickness and examine pitting corrosion of a 12" oil pipeline and a 6″ gas pipeline in 60 msw. The main features of the system were that the tool was capable of removing the concrete weightcoat from the 12″ line without damage to the pipe, and then provided a series of radiographs for the complete circumference of the pipe for a length of 400 mm. This was performed without divers and without the need to halt oil production.
展开▼
