Projects in the pipeline

摘要

Certain lengths of pipeline can be hard to reach, so industry has long used special devices to clean them and remove blockages. These inspection gauges, commonly referred to as 'pigs', travel through such stretches of pipeline, driven by the flow of liquid or gas inside. These utility pigs perform a valuable function but, with the advance of magnetic and ultrasonic technologies, manufacturers have been working to make the devices smarter. Improvement in the devices allows companies to gain greater insight into the condition of their pipelines, detecting potentially hazardous issues such as minuscule cracks or rusting walls. However, while these smart pigs have become a linchpin in industries such as oil and gas or water, there are still limits to this developing technology - particularly in being able to traverse complex or 'unpiggable' pipelines - and manufacturers and oil firms are working hard to improve them.