External Corrosion Detection of Oil Pipelines Using Fiber Optics.

Oil flowlines, the first "pipeline" system connected to the wellhead, are pipelines that are 5 to 30.5 cm (two to twelve inches) in diameter, most susceptible to corrosion, and very difficult to inspect. Herein, an external corrosion detection sensor for oil and gas pipelines, consisting of a semicircular plastic strip, a flat dog-bone-shaped sacrificial metal plate made out of the same pipeline material, and an optical fiber with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, is described. In the actual application, multiple FBG optical fibers are attached to an oil and gas pipeline using straps or strips or very large hose clamps, and, every few meters, our proposed corrosion detection sensor will be glued to the FBG sensors. When the plastic parts are attached to the sacrificial metals, the plastic parts will be deformed and stressed; thus, placing the FBG sensors in tension. When corrosion is severe at any given pipeline location, the sacrificial metal at that location will corrode till failure and the tension strain is relieved at that FBG Sensor location, and therefore, a signal is detected at the interrogator. Herein, the external corrosion detection sensor and its design equations are described, and experimental results, verifying our theory, are presented.

Detection of Internal Metal Loss in Steel Pipes and Storage Tanks via Magnetic-Based Fiber Optic Sensor.

A monitoring solution was developed for detection of material loss in metals such as carbon steel using the force generated by permanent magnets in addition to the optical strain sensing technology. The working principle of the sensing system is related to the change in thickness of a steel plate, which typically occurs due to corrosion. As thickness decreases, the magnetostatic force between the magnet and the steel structure also decreases. This, in turn, affects the strain measured using the optical fiber. The sensor prototype was designed and built after verifying its sensitivity using a numerical model. The prototype was tested on steel plates of different thicknesses to establish the relationship between the metal thickness and measured strain. The results of experiments and numerical models demonstrate a strong relationship between the metal thickness and the measured strain values.

Corrosivity Sensor for Exposed Pipelines Based on Wireless Energy Transfer.

External corrosion was identified as one of the main causes of pipeline failures worldwide. A solution that addresses the issue of detecting and quantifying corrosivity of environment for application to existing exposed pipelines has been developed. It consists of a sensing array made of an assembly of thin strips of pipeline steel and a circuit that provides a visual sensor reading to the operator. The proposed sensor is passive and does not require a constant power supply. Circuit design was validated through simulations and lab experiments. Accelerated corrosion experiment was conducted to confirm the feasibility of the proposed corrosivity sensor design.