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High resolution direct measurement of pipe / vessel wall thickness change due to corrosion can be used as feedback to adjust the rate of corrosion inhibitor injection.
About
The PIPCOR instrument is an array of up to 32 dual element Ultra-Sonic sensors to measure metal pipe or vessel wall thickness. - The sensors are spotted on high corrosion areas that a phased array scan has identified. - The sensors are permanently bonded to the surface to ensure very high repeatability of the thickness readings. Sensors are installed while the process is running and if surface temperature is under 100C. - The instrument is solar charged and sends UT RF signals wirelessly via cellular data to the PIP360 server for verification and processing. - The time-of-flight thickness algorithm is tuned to detect pitting corrosion in the field of view of the sensor. - Historical thickness readings are analyzed to provide metal thickness loss rate caused by corrosion. - The metal thickness loss rate of the array of sensors is analyzed daily or weekly to indicate the corrosion activity (+/- 0.01 mm/yr with an extended time base). - The corrosion activity can be used to increase or decrease the rate of injection of corrosion inhibitor. The objective is to optimize the use of corrosion inhibitor to maintain a low corrosion rate. - Actionable feedback is in days at high corrosion rates and weeks at low corrosion rates. - System adapts to changes in corrosion activity of the payload. - Note that the corrosion inhibitor and injection equipment is provided by the client. The adjustment of the injection rate can be made weekly by site personnel. After enough historical data is obtained, a learning mechanism can be developed to make an automatic closed loop control system.
Key Benefits
By monitoring the metal loss due to corrosion/erosion of pipes and vessels directly with high resolution Ultra-Sonic technology, the actual effect of corrosion/erosion activity from all causes can be known. The concept is to use the corrosion rate as a feedback to adjust the rate of injection of corrosion inhibitors to efficiently maintain a low corrosion rate. Key benefits include increasing facility operating life, reducing maintenance costs, optimize inhibitor cost, reduce risk of shutdown. - Control cost of inhibitor: the feedback of corrosion rate is used to optimally adjust the application rate of inhibitor. - Risk Reduction: continuous measurement of remaining pipe/vessel wall thickness from an array of 32 sensors reduces risk of holeout and unplanned outages..
Applications
Optimize corrosion inhibitor injection rate using continuous direct metal thickness loss measurement. Oil and Gas upstream, OilSands mining and SAGD, upgrading, utilities, refining, midstream, pipelines.