METHOD FOR EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE OF HIGH PRESSURE PIPELINES Russian patent published in 2012 - IPC F17D5/02 G01N29/14 

FIELD: oil and gas industry; pipeline maintenance.

SUBSTANCE: maintenance is carried out via measurement sensors united in a system of various units which comprises: magnetic and acoustic inspection unit, inertial and profilometric unit, microseismograph and in-line mechanical damage repair unit. A combined analysis is carried out on the level of natural geophysical background and by means of building the amplitude curve of seismic, geo-deformation, geochemical and hydrophysical indices gradient. A microseismic signal amplitude map is built for of every frequency in the spatial frequency spectrum, then every map is bound to its corresponding depth by approximating the topographic profile in relation to the coastline and the underwater pipeline route. The load is assessed by correlating signals of all units. When the coordinates of leaks or in-line damage are plotted, the geographical coordinates of girth welds are taken as the basis. The gas sensors assess the methane concentration along the pipeline. If in-line corrosion is discovered, the damaged section is shut off and the damage is repaired through the use of in-line intelligent pig comprising a sensor, a control unit, a power unit and a damage repair unit which are all connected between each other with data couples and a jointing device with coupling elements.

EFFECT: expanded on-line diagnostics capabilities; increased diagnostics efficiency.

1 dwg