Consortium to take on North Sea corroded pipe challenge

A consortium of organizations has teamed up to tackle the issue of nondestructive testing (NDT) of corroded pipes under insulation and engineered temporary pipe wraps.

The group, consisting of TRAC Oil & Gas, the University of Strathclyde, and CENSIS, the Scottish Innovation Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems, will audit the tools, capabilities, and approaches used by the industry to look at the steel surfaces of assets.

Although NDT technologies do exist, many are ineffective when used on insulated pipes, the consortium said in a media release this week. Such tech tends to average out wall thickness where corrosion “scabs” have formed not pinpointing areas of vulnerability, the statement further stated.

Taking and interpreting these readings is further complicated by the varying dimensions, materials, locations, and accessibility of different oil and gas assets.

After assessing the limits of what is available, the consortium will explore how improvements can be made, including the development of new techniques for accurately identifying and measuring areas of corrosion.

The first phase of the project is a feasibility study, the results of which will be shared with the wider industry and its stakeholders, including the Health and Safety Executive.

Bill Brown, technical manager at TRAC Oil & Gas, said: “Inspection is becoming more important as the UKCS continues to mature – estimates suggest that a high proportion of assets are approaching or, indeed, have exceeded their original design life. We’re at the point now where, against the backdrop of a sustained low oil price, if a platform has to shut down for maintenance, it may never start producing again. We, therefore, need as much accurate data as possible to make informed decisions.”

Gordon Dobie from the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering added: “Decades of oil, gas, water, and chemicals passing through pipes has taken its toll on a range of assets, requiring regular inspection and increasing the importance of the data we get back from tests. Despite a greater need than ever before for accurate inspection and condition monitoring technologies, minimal funding is available for maintenance of infrastructure.

“Working with TRAC’s team, we’re examining what companies currently do to measure wall thickness, repeating it in the lab on specimens, and trying to develop a standardized approach to getting more accurate information from NDT.”

CENSIS brokered the relationship between TRAC and the University of Strathclyde and will provide project management support as the initiative progresses.

Rachael Wakefield, business development manager at CENSIS, said: “Being able to accurately analyze corrosion under insulation is the holy grail of NDT. We’ve already learned a great deal from working with TRAC about the technical and economic challenges facing the industry.”