Session: NDE-01-01 Emerging NDE and Prognostic Techniques and Applications

Paper Number: 61294

Start Time: Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 09:00 AM

61294 - Use of Synthetic Flaws to Assess Pipeline Seam Weld Inspection Performance 

Pipeline seam welds are often inspected using ultrasonic In-Line Inspection (ILI) technologies.  The measurement performance specification of an ultrasonic ILI tool is based on simple, planar, machined notches which are highly reproducible, but not representative of the complex crack morphologies that occur naturally in seams such as hook cracks and tilted incomplete fusion.  In order to assess ILI performance on naturally occurring flaws, “in-the-ditch” Nondestructive Testing (ITD NDT) is performed to validate a subset of the population of ILI reported features.  However, because of the limited number, type, and true dimension uncertainty of these flaws (height and length), the field validation approach has some limitations in terms of efficiency and accuracy in determining ILI detection capabilities and sizing performance.  

 

Recently, specialized flaw fabrication technology has been developed to provide complex, natural crack-like morphologies with highly reliably size dimensions.  Effective validation spools with flaws can be achieved through engineered designs that consider the number, size and shape of manufactured flaws.  This enables owners to quickly and reliably assess the performance of both ILI tools and ITD NDE operators.  Assessing performance with the synthetic flaw approach can provide results that are more comprehensive and cost-effective compared to the typical field validation approach alone.  This presentation will address the design, use and experience with validation spools.  This paper will present the performance of ILI tools and UT examiners based on synthetic flaw qualification exams, and how this supports other ILI and operator validation work.

Presenting Author: Joseph Krynicki ExxonMobil Research and Engineering

Authors:

Joseph Krynicki ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
Lujian Peng ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
Gustavo Gonzalez Esso Petroleum Company Limited
Neeraj Thirumalai ExxonMobil Research and Engineering