CIRCUMFERENTIAL MFL IN-LINE INSPECTION FOR CRACKS IN PIPELINES

摘要

Circumferential MFL is a new implementation of a widely used technology that has potential to provide improved detection and quantification of axially oriented defects such as cracks, seam weld defects, mechanical damage, and groove corrosion. This implementation works by orienting the magnetic field around the pipe rather that along the axis. By orienting the magnetic field around the pipe (the circumferential direction), the axial defects that were magnetically transparent can disrupt more of the magnetic field and can be more easily detected. Initial implementations of circumferential MFL have found that flux leakage from cracks at the interior of the pipe is small, and the signals from cracks are difficult to detect. The objective of this project is to improve detection of cracks by changing the implementation along with using data from overlapping and complementary inspection techniques. Two technology enhancements were investigated: Combining high- and low-magnetization technology for stress detection; and Combining axial and circumferential MFL methods. Although a method combining high- and low-magnetization technology showed promise for characterizing gouges cause by third party excavation equipment, its commercial development was not successful for two reasons. First, the stress diminishes the crack signal, while the opening of the crack increases the signal. The stress-induced changes in flux leakage around cracks were small and any critical information on the severity of cracks and crack-like defects is difficult to distinguish from changes caused by the crack opening and other inspection variables. Second, it is difficult to magnetize pipe material in the circumferential direction. A relatively low, non-uniform magnetization level produced by the circumferential magnetizer makes detection of changes due to stress extremely difficult. This project also examined combining axial and circumferential MFL to improve crack detection and distinguish cracks for axially oriented volumetric defects. While successful results are presented in this report, circumferential MFL can only detect larger cracks. Even with the field aligned properly, circumferential MFL technology has difficulty detecting cracks on the outside surface that have the potential to grow to failure. Circumferential MFL can be used to detect many corrosion, mechanical damage, and crack defects. However, the detection capabilities and sizing accuracies may not be sufficient for all pipeline threats. Inspection tools that use more sophisticated technologies for detecting and sizing defects may have better performance capabilities, but will likely be expensive to operate. Circumferential MFL will be useful in identifying locations for detailed testing. While performance enhancements may be limited, circumferential MFL inspections will be part of the inspection process for many decades.