DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSPECTION PLATFORM AND A SUITE OR SENSORS FOR ASSESSING CORROSION AND MECHANICAL DAMAGE ON UNPIGGABLE TRANSMISSION MAINS

Abstract

This development program is a joint effort among the Northeast Gas Association (formerly New York Gas Group), Foster-Miller, Inc., GE Oil & Gas (PII), and the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The total cost of the project is $772,525, with the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the US Department of Energy contributing $572,525, and the Northeast Gas Association contributing $200,000. The present report summarizes the accomplishments of the project during its fifth three-month period (from October 2003 through December 2003). The efforts of the project focused during this period in completing the assessment of the tether technology, which is intended to be used as the means of communication between robot and operator, in completing the design of the MFL sensor modules, and in completing the kinematic studies and tractor design. In addition, work on the ovality sensor has been completed, while work on system integration is nearly complete. Results to date indicate that the robotic system under design will be able to meet most of the design specifications initially prescribed. The kinematic analysis shows that from a locomotor point of view an inspection of a 16 inch-24 inch pipe size range with a single platform is most likely possible. However, the limitations imposed by the sensor are more restrictive, final preliminary design results showing that in order to cover this pipe range, two different sensor systems will be needed; one for the 16 inch-20 inch pipe size range and one for the 20 inch-24 inch range. Finally, the analysis has shown that tether operation will be limited to flows of less than 30 ft/sec; these results will have to be confirmed experimentally during the next phase of work.