Axisymmetric wave propagation in buried, fluid-filled pipes: effects of wall discontinuities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muggleton, J. M.; Brennan, M. J.

2005-03-01

Water leakage from buried pipes is a subject of great concern in Britain and across the world because of decreasing water supplies due to changing rainfall patterns, deterioration of antiquated distribution systems, and an increasing population. Correlation techniques are widely used to locate the leaks, however, difficulties are encountered when repairs have been made to a pipe by inserting a new length of pipe to replace a damaged section. Although this practice is now discouraged, the new sections might be of a different material or possibly different cross-section or wall thickness. The wave propagation behaviour at such joints is poorly understood at present. In earlier work, simple expressions for the wavenumbers of the s=1 (fluid-dominated) and s=2 (shell dominated) axisymmetric wave types were derived for a fluid-filled elastic pipe, both in vacuo and surrounded by an elastic medium of infinite extent. In this paper, the wave transmission and reflection characteristics of these waves at an axisymmetric pipe wall discontinuity in a fluid-filled piping system are investigated theoretically. For changes in wall thickness or wall elasticity, simple expressions may be used to characterise the joint. The reason for this is that negligible energy conversion between the wavetypes occurs, so the wavetypes can be considered separately. For changes in the fluid cross-section, significant mode conversion occurs and the wavetypes must be considered together.

Final Report For The Erosion And Corrosion Analysis Of Waste Transfer Primary Pipeline Sections From 241-SY Tank Farm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Page, J. S.; Wyrwas, R. B.; Cooke, G. A.

Three sections of primary transfer pipeline removed from the 241-SY Tank Farm in Hanford's 200 West area, labeled as SN-285, SN-286, and SN-278, were analyzed for the presence and amount of corrosion and erosion on the inside surface of the transfer pipe. All three sections of pipe, ranging in length between 6 and 8 in., were received at the 222-S Laboratory still in the pipe-in-pipe assembly. The annular spaces were filled with urethane foam injected into the pipes for as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) purposes. The 3-in. primary transfer pipes were first separated from the outer encasement, 6-in. pipes.more » The pipes were cut into small sections, or coupons, based upon the results of a non-destructive pipe wall thickness measurement which used an ultrasonic transducer. Following removal of the foam, the coupons were subjected to a series of analytical methods utilizing both optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to obtain erosion and corrosion information. The ultrasonic transducer analysis of the SN-285 primary pipe did not show any thinned locations in the pipe wall which were outside the expected range for the 3-in. schedule 40 pipe of 216 mils. A coupon was cut from the thinnest area on the pipe, and analysis of the inside surface, which was in contact with the tank waste, revealed a continuous layer of corrosion ~ 100 11m (4 mils) thick under a semi-continuous layer of tank waste residue ~ 20 11m (1 mil) thick. This residue layer was composed of an amorphous phase rich in chromium, magnesium, calcium, and chlorine. Small pits were detected throughout the inside pipe surface with depths up to ~ 50 11m (2 mils). Similarly, the SN-286 primary pipe did not show, by the ultrasonic transducer measurements, any thinned locations in the pipe wall which were outside the expected range for this pipe. Analysis of the coupon cut from the pipe section showed the presence of a tank waste layer containing sodium aluminate and phases rich in iron, calcium, and chromium. This layer was removed by a cleaning process that left a pipe surface continuous in iron oxide/hydroxide (corrosion) with pockets of aluminum oxide, possibly gibbsite. The corrosion layer was ~ 50 11m (2 mil) thick over non-continuous pits less than ~ 50 11m deep (2 mils). Small particles of aluminum oxide were also detected under the corrosion layer. The ultrasonic transducer analysis of SN-278, like the previous primary pipes, did not reveal any noticeable thinning of the pipe wall. Analysis of the coupon cut from the pipe showed that the inside surface had a layer of tank waste residue that was partially detached from the pipe wall. This layer was easily scraped from the surface and was composed of two separate layers. The underlying layer was ~ 350 11m (14 mils) thick and composed of a cementation of small aluminum oxide (probably gibbsite) particles. A thinner layer on top of the aluminum oxide layer was rich in carbon and chlorine. Scattered pitting was observed on the inside pipe surface with one pit as deep as 200 11m (8 mils).« less

Recent developments in guided wave travel time tomography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zon, Tim van; Volker, Arno

The concept of predictive maintenance using permanent sensors that monitor the integrity of an installation is an interesting addition to the current method of periodic inspections. Guided wave tomography had been developed to create a map of the wall thickness using the travel times of guided waves. It can be used for both monitoring and for inspection of pipe-segments that are difficult to access, for instance at the location of pipe-supports. An important outcome of the tomography is the minimum remaining wall thickness, as this is critical in the scheduling of a replacement of the pipe-segment. In order to improvemore » the sizing accuracy we have improved the tomography scheme. A number of major improvements have been realized allowing to extend the application envelope to pipes with a larger wall thickness and to larger distances between the transducer rings. Simulation results indicate that the sizing accuracy has improved and that is now possible to have a spacing of 8 meter between the source-ring and the receiver-ring. Additionally a reduction of the number of sensors required might be possible as well.« less

Measurement of defect thickness of the wall thinning defect pipes by lock-in infrared thermography technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kyeongsuk; Kim, Kyungsu; Jung, Hyunchul; Chang, Hosub

2010-03-01

Mostly piping which is using for the nuclear power plants are made up of carbon steel pipes. The wall thinning defects occurs by the effect of the flow accelerated corrosion of fluid that flows in carbon steel pipes. The defects could be found on the welding part and anywhere in the pipes. The infrared thermography technique which is one of the non-destructive testing method has used for detecting the defects of various kinds of materials over the years. There is a limitation for measuring the defect of metals that have a big coefficient of thermal diffusion. However, a technique using lock-in method gets over the difficulty. Consequently, the lock-in infrared thermography technique has been applied to the various industry fields. In this paper, the defect thickness of the straight pipe which has an artificial defect the inside of the pipes was measured by using the lock-in infrared thermography technique and the result could be utilized in detecting defects of carbon steel pipes.

49 CFR 192.125 - Design of copper pipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Design of copper pipe. 192.125 Section 192.125... BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Pipe Design § 192.125 Design of copper pipe. (a) Copper... hard drawn. (b) Copper pipe used in service lines must have wall thickness not less than that indicated...

49 CFR 195.585 - What must I do to correct corroded pipe?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Corrosion Control § 195.585 What must I do to correct corroded pipe? (a) General corrosion. If you find pipe so generally corroded that the remaining wall thickness... restore the serviceability of the pipe. (b) Localized corrosion pitting. If you find pipe that has...

49 CFR 195.585 - What must I do to correct corroded pipe?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Corrosion Control § 195.585 What must I do to correct corroded pipe? (a) General corrosion. If you find pipe so generally corroded that the remaining wall thickness... restore the serviceability of the pipe. (b) Localized corrosion pitting. If you find pipe that has...

49 CFR 195.585 - What must I do to correct corroded pipe?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Corrosion Control § 195.585 What must I do to correct corroded pipe? (a) General corrosion. If you find pipe so generally corroded that the remaining wall thickness... restore the serviceability of the pipe. (b) Localized corrosion pitting. If you find pipe that has...

49 CFR 195.585 - What must I do to correct corroded pipe?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Corrosion Control § 195.585 What must I do to correct corroded pipe? (a) General corrosion. If you find pipe so generally corroded that the remaining wall thickness... restore the serviceability of the pipe. (b) Localized corrosion pitting. If you find pipe that has...

49 CFR 195.585 - What must I do to correct corroded pipe?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Corrosion Control § 195.585 What must I do to correct corroded pipe? (a) General corrosion. If you find pipe so generally corroded that the remaining wall thickness... restore the serviceability of the pipe. (b) Localized corrosion pitting. If you find pipe that has...

Effects of weld defects at root on rotating bending fatigue strength of small diameter socket welded pipe joints

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Higuchi, Makoto; Nakagawa, Akira; Chujo, Noriyuki

1996-12-01

Rotating bending fatigue tests were conducted on socket welded joints of a nominal diameter 20 mm, and effects of root defect and other various factors, including post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), pipe wall thickness, and socket wall thickness, were investigated. The socket joints exhibited, in the rotating bending fatigue mode, fatigue strengths that were markedly lower than the same 20 mm diameter joints in four-point bending fatigue. Also, where the latter specimens failed always at the toe, root-failures occurred in rotating bending fatigue. When PWHT`d, however, the fatigue strength showed a remarkable improvement, while the failure site reverted to toe. Thickermore » pipe walls and socket walls gave rise to higher fatigue strength. A formula relating the size of root defects to the fatigue strength reduction has been proposed.« less

49 CFR 192.123 - Design limitations for plastic pipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... formula under § 192.121 is determined. (ii) For reinforced thermosetting plastic pipe, 150 °F (66 °C). (c...) The wall thickness for reinforced thermosetting plastic pipe may not be less than that listed in the...

Evaluation of Strains and Thicknesses of Pipe Elbows on the Basis of Expressions Resulting from the Eudirective for the Case of Large and Small Deformations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śloderbach, Z.

2017-12-01

The relations to calculate the maximum value of strains in processes of bending tubes on benders, in stretched layers of tubes, are presented in this work on the basis of the EU-Directive concerning production of pressure equipment. It has been shown that for large deformations that occur during bending of the pipes on knees, logarithmic strain measures (real) and relative strain measures give different values of strain but equal wall thicknesses in the bending zone. Logarithmic measures are frequently used in engineering practice and are valid for large and small deformations. Reverse expressions were also derived to calculate the required initial wall thickness of the tube to be bent, in order to obtain the desired wall thickness of the knee after bending.

Ultrasonic multi-skip tomography for pipe inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volker, Arno; Vos, Rik; Hunter, Alan; Lorenz, Maarten

2012-05-01

The inspection of wall loss corrosion is difficult at pipe support locations due to limited accessibility. However, the recently developed ultrasonic Multi-Skip screening technique is suitable for this problem. The method employs ultrasonic transducers in a pitch-catch geometry positioned on opposite sides of the pipe support. Shear waves are transmitted in the axial direction within the pipe wall, reflecting multiple times between the inner and outer surfaces before reaching the receivers. Along this path, the signals accumulate information on the integral wall thickness (e.g., via variations in travel time). The method is very sensitive in detecting the presence of wall loss, but it is difficult to quantify both the extent and depth of the loss. If the extent is unknown, then only a conservative estimate of the depth can be made due to the cumulative nature of the travel time variations. Multi-Skip tomography is an extension of Multi-Skip screening and has shown promise as a complimentary follow-up inspection technique. In recent work, we have developed the technique and demonstrated its use for reconstructing high-resolution estimates of pipe wall thickness profiles. The method operates via a model-based full wave field inversion; this consists of a forward model for predicting the measured wave field and an iterative process that compares the predicted and measured wave fields and minimizes the differences with respect to the model parameters (i.e., the wall thickness profile). This paper presents our recent developments in Multi-Skip tomographic inversion, focusing on the initial localization of corrosion regions for efficient parameterization of the surface profile model and utilization of the signal phase information for improving resolution.

Thin Wall Pipe Ultrasonic Inspection through Paint Coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Predoi, Mihai Valentin; Petre, Cristian Cătălin

Classical ultrasonic inspection of welds is currently done for plates thicker than 8 mm. The inspection of but welds in thin walled pipes has considerable implementation difficulties, due to guided waves dominating ultrasonic pulses propagation. Generation of purely symmetric modes, either torsional or longitudinal, requires a circumferential uniform distribution of transducers and dedicated inspection equipment, which are increasing the inspection costs. Moreover, if the surface is paint coated, the received signals are close to the detection level. The present work implies a single transducer, coupled to the painted surface. The proper choice of the guided mode and frequency range, allows the detection of a standard, small diameter through thickness hole. In this way, the inspection of pipe welds can use the same equipment as for thick materials, with only wedge adaptation.

New portable pipe wall thickness measuring technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascente, Joseph E.

1998-03-01

One of the biggest inspection challenges facing many of the process industries; namely the petrochemical, refining, fossil power, and pulp and paper industries is: How to effectively examine their insulated piping? While there are a number of failure mechanisms involved in various process piping systems, piping degradation through corrosion and erosion are by far the most prevalent. This degradation can be in the form of external corrosion under insulation, internal corrosion through a variety of mechanisms, and internal erosion caused by the flow of the product through the pipe. Refineries, chemical plants and electrical power plants have MANY thousands of miles of pipe that are insulated to prevent heat loss or heat absorption. This insulation is often made up of several materials, with calcium based material being the most dense. The insulating material is usually wrapped with an aluminum or stainless steel outer wrap. Verification of wall thickness of these pipes can be accomplished by removing the insulation and doing an ultrasound inspection or by taking x- rays at a tangent to the edge of the pipe through the insulation. Both of these processes are slow and expensive. The time required to obtain data is measured in hours per meter. The ultrasound method requires that the insulation be plugged after the inspection. The surface needs to be cleaned or the resulting data will not be accurate. The tangent x-ray only shows two thicknesses and requires that the area be roped off because of radiation safety.

Ultrasonic guided wave tomography for wall thickness mapping in pipes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willey, Carson L.

Corrosion and erosion damage pose fundamental challenges to operation of oil and gas infrastructure. In order to manage the life of critical assets, plant operators must implement inspection programs aimed at assessing the severity of wall thickness loss (WTL) in pipelines, vessels, and other structures. Maximum defect depth determines the residual life of these structures and therefore represents one of the key parameters for robust damage mitigation strategies. In this context, continuous monitoring with permanently installed sensors has attracted significant interest and currently is the subject of extensive research worldwide. Among the different monitoring approaches being considered, significant promise is offered by the combination of guided ultrasonic wave technology with the principles of model based inversion under the paradigm of what is now referred to as guided wave tomography (GWT). Guided waves are attractive because they propagate inside the wall of a structure over a large distance. This can yield significant advantages over conventional pulse-echo thickness gage sensors that provide insufficient area coverage -- typically limited to the sensor footprint. While significant progress has been made in the application of GWT to plate-like structures, extension of these methods to pipes poses a number of fundamental challenges that have prevented the development of sensitive GWT methods. This thesis focuses on these challenges to address the complex guided wave propagation in pipes and to account for parametric uncertainties that are known to affect model based inversion and which are unavoidable in real field applications. The main contribution of this work is the first demonstration of a sensitive GWT method for accurately mapping the depth of defects in pipes. This is achieved by introducing a novel forward model that can extract information related to damage from the complex waveforms measured by pairs of guided wave transducers mounted on the pipe. An inversion method that iteratively uses the forward model is then developed to form a map of wall thickness for the entire pipe section comprised between two ring arrays of ultrasonic transducers that encircle the pipe. It is shown that time independent parametric uncertainties relative to the pipe manufacturing tolerances, transducers position, and ultrasonic properties of the material of the pipe can be minimized through a differential approach that is aimed at determining the change in state of the pipe relative to a reference condition. On the other hand, time dependent parametric uncertainties, such as those caused by temperature variations, can be addressed by exploiting the spatial diversity of array measurements and the non-contact nature of electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs). The range of possible applications of GWT to pipes is investigated through theoretical and numerical studies aimed at developing an understanding of how the performance of GWT varies depending on damage morphology, pipe geometry, and array configuration.

Visualization of various working fluids flow regimes in gravity heat pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemec, Patrik

Heat pipe is device working with phase changes of working fluid inside hermetically closed pipe at specific pressure. The phase changes of working fluid from fluid to vapour and vice versa help heat pipe to transport high heat flux. Amount of heat flux transferred by heat pipe, of course depends on kind of working fluid. The article deal about visualization of various working fluids flow regimes in glass gravity heat pipe by high speed camera and processes casing inside during heat pipe operation. Experiment working fluid flow visualization is performed with two glass heat pipes with different inner diameter (13 mm and 22 mm) filled with water, ethanol and fluorinert FC 72. The working fluid flow visualization explains the phenomena as a working fluid boiling, nucleation of bubbles, and vapour condensation on the wall, vapour and condensate flow interaction, flow down condensate film thickness on the wall occurred during the heat pipe operation.

Finned Carbon-Carbon Heat Pipe with Potassium Working Fluid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, Albert J.

2010-01-01

This elemental space radiator heat pipe is designed to operate in the 700 to 875 K temperature range. It consists of a C-C (carbon-carbon) shell made from poly-acrylonitride fibers that are woven in an angle interlock pattern and densified with pitch at high process temperature with integrally woven fins. The fins are 2.5 cm long and 1 mm thick, and provide an extended radiating surface at the colder condenser section of the heat pipe. The weave pattern features a continuous fiber bath from the inner tube surface to the outside edges of the fins to maximize the thermal conductance, and to thus minimize the temperature drop at the condenser end. The heat pipe and radiator element together are less than one-third the mass of conventional heat pipes of the same heat rejection surface area. To prevent the molten potassium working fluid from eroding the C C heat pipe wall, the shell is lined with a thin-walled, metallic tube liner (Nb-1 wt.% Zr), which is an integral part of a hermetic metal subassembly which is furnace-brazed to the inner surface of the C-C tube. The hermetic metal liner subassembly includes end caps and fill tubes fabricated from the same Nb-1Zr alloy. A combination of laser and electron beam methods is used to weld the end caps and fill tubes. A tungsten/inert gas weld seals the fill tubes after cleaning and charging the heat pipes with potassium. The external section of this liner, which was formed by a "Uniscan" rolling process, transitions to a larger wall thickness. This section, which protrudes beyond the C-C shell, constitutes the "evaporator" part of the heat pipe, while the section inside the shell constitutes the condenser of the heat pipe (see figure).

Compound Walls For Vacuum Chambers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frazer, Robert E.

1988-01-01

Proposed compound-wall configuration enables construction of large high-vacuum chambers without having to use thick layers of expensive material to obtain necessary strength. Walls enclose chambers more than 1 m in diameter and several kilometers long. Compound wall made of strong outer layer of structural-steel culvert pipe welded to thin layer of high-quality, low-outgassing stainless steel.

46 CFR 56.50-75 - Diesel fuel systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...-90. The fuel supply piping to engines shall be of seamless steel, annealed seamless copper or brass... except that flareless fittings of the nonbite type may be used when the tubing system is steel, nickel... having a minimum wall thickness of 0.035 inch except that piping of other materials such as seamless...

46 CFR 56.50-75 - Diesel fuel systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-90. The fuel supply piping to engines shall be of seamless steel, annealed seamless copper or brass... except that flareless fittings of the nonbite type may be used when the tubing system is steel, nickel... having a minimum wall thickness of 0.035 inch except that piping of other materials such as seamless...

46 CFR 56.50-75 - Diesel fuel systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...-90. The fuel supply piping to engines shall be of seamless steel, annealed seamless copper or brass... except that flareless fittings of the nonbite type may be used when the tubing system is steel, nickel... having a minimum wall thickness of 0.035 inch except that piping of other materials such as seamless...

46 CFR 56.50-75 - Diesel fuel systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-90. The fuel supply piping to engines shall be of seamless steel, annealed seamless copper or brass... except that flareless fittings of the nonbite type may be used when the tubing system is steel, nickel... having a minimum wall thickness of 0.035 inch except that piping of other materials such as seamless...

46 CFR 56.50-75 - Diesel fuel systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-90. The fuel supply piping to engines shall be of seamless steel, annealed seamless copper or brass... except that flareless fittings of the nonbite type may be used when the tubing system is steel, nickel... having a minimum wall thickness of 0.035 inch except that piping of other materials such as seamless...

Laminar Flow Breakdown due to Particle Interactions

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

theoretically predicted value of 200x106 in a heated pipe flow experiment – a fact which they attributed to naturally occurring particulates contained in the...the pipe wall, y, to boundary layer thickness, δ, reproduced from Hall [10...12 Figure 5 Estimated critical particle conditions on a heated laminar flow control body at three heating

Friction Stir Welding of Line-Pipe Steels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sanderson, Samuel; Mahoney, Murray; Feng, Zhili

Friction stir welding (FSW) offers both economic and technical advantages over conventional fusion welding practices for welding line-pipe. For offshore line-pipe construction, the economic savings has been shown to be considerable, approaching a calculated 25%. Offshore pipe is relatively small diameter but heavy wall compared to onshore pipe. One concern is the ability to achieve consistent full weld penetration in an on-site offshore FSW operation, e.g., on a lay-barge. In addition, depending on the size and morphology of the unwelded zone, lack of penetration at the weld root can be difficult if not impossible to detect by conventional NDE methods.more » Thus, an approach to assure consistent full penetration via process control is required for offshore line-pipe construction using FSW. For offshore construction, an internal structural mandrel can be used offering the opportunity to use a sacrificial anvil FSW approach. With this approach, a small volume of sacrificial material can be inserted into the structural anvil. The FSW tool penetrates into the sacrificial anvil, beyond the inner diameter of the pipe wall, thus assuring full penetration. The sacrificial material is subsequently removed from the pipe inner wall. In the work presented herein, FSW studies were completed on both 6 mm and 12 mm wall thickness line-pipe. Lastly, post-FSW evaluations including radiography, root-bend tests, and metallography demonstrated the merits of the sacrificial anvil approach to achieve consistent full penetration.« less

Microstructural characterization of pipe bomb fragments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gregory, Otto, E-mail: gregory@egr.uri.edu; Oxley, Jimmie; Smith, James

2010-03-15

Recovered pipe bomb fragments, exploded under controlled conditions, have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy and microhardness. Specifically, this paper examines the microstructural changes in plain carbon-steel fragments collected after the controlled explosion of galvanized, schedule 40, continuously welded, steel pipes filled with various smokeless powders. A number of microstructural changes were observed in the recovered pipe fragments: deformation of the soft alpha-ferrite grains, deformation of pearlite colonies, twin formation, bands of distorted pearlite colonies, slip bands, and cross-slip bands. These microstructural changes were correlated with the relative energy of the smokeless powder fillers. The energy of themore » smokeless powder was reflected in a reduction in thickness of the pipe fragments (due to plastic strain prior to fracture) and an increase in microhardness. Moreover, within fragments from a single pipe, there was a radial variation in microhardness, with the microhardness at the outer wall being greater than that at the inner wall. These findings were consistent with the premise that, with the high energy fillers, extensive plastic deformation and wall thinning occurred prior to pipe fracture. Ultimately, the information collected from this investigation will be used to develop a database, where the fragment microstructure and microhardness will be correlated with type of explosive filler and bomb design. Some analyses, specifically wall thinning and microhardness, may aid in field characterization of explosive devices.« less

Inverse Transient Analysis for Classification of Wall Thickness Variations in Pipelines

PubMed Central

Tuck, Jeffrey; Lee, Pedro

2013-01-01

Analysis of transient fluid pressure signals has been investigated as an alternative method of fault detection in pipeline systems and has shown promise in both laboratory and field trials. The advantage of the method is that it can potentially provide a fast and cost effective means of locating faults such as leaks, blockages and pipeline wall degradation within a pipeline while the system remains fully operational. The only requirement is that high speed pressure sensors are placed in contact with the fluid. Further development of the method requires detailed numerical models and enhanced understanding of transient flow within a pipeline where variations in pipeline condition and geometry occur. One such variation commonly encountered is the degradation or thinning of pipe walls, which can increase the susceptible of a pipeline to leak development. This paper aims to improve transient-based fault detection methods by investigating how changes in pipe wall thickness will affect the transient behaviour of a system; this is done through the analysis of laboratory experiments. The laboratory experiments are carried out on a stainless steel pipeline of constant outside diameter, into which a pipe section of variable wall thickness is inserted. In order to detect the location and severity of these changes in wall conditions within the laboratory system an inverse transient analysis procedure is employed which considers independent variations in wavespeed and diameter. Inverse transient analyses are carried out using a genetic algorithm optimisation routine to match the response from a one-dimensional method of characteristics transient model to the experimental time domain pressure responses. The accuracy of the detection technique is evaluated and benefits associated with various simplifying assumptions and simulation run times are investigated. It is found that for the case investigated, changes in the wavespeed and nominal diameter of the pipeline are both important to the accuracy of the inverse analysis procedure and can be used to differentiate the observed transient behaviour caused by changes in wall thickness from that caused by other known faults such as leaks. Further application of the method to real pipelines is discussed.

Comparison of turbulence models and CFD solution options for a plain pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canli, Eyub; Ates, Ali; Bilir, Sefik

2018-06-01

Present paper is partly a declaration of state of a currently ongoing PhD work about turbulent flow in a thick walled pipe in order to analyze conjugate heat transfer. An ongoing effort on CFD investigation of this problem using cylindrical coordinates and dimensionless governing equations is identified alongside a literature review. The mentioned PhD work will be conducted using an in-house developed code. However it needs preliminary evaluation by means of commercial codes available in the field. Accordingly ANSYS CFD was utilized in order to evaluate mesh structure needs and asses the turbulence models and solution options in terms of computational power versus difference signification. Present work contains a literature survey, an arrangement of governing equations of the PhD work, CFD essentials of the preliminary analysis and findings about the mesh structure and solution options. Mesh element number was changed between 5,000 and 320,000. k-ɛ, k-ω, Spalart-Allmaras and Viscous-Laminar models were compared. Reynolds number was changed between 1,000 and 50,000. As it may be expected due to the literature, k-ɛ yields more favorable results near the pipe axis and k-ωyields more convenient results near the wall. However k-ɛ is found sufficient to give turbulent structures for a conjugate heat transfer problem in a thick walled plain pipe.

Evaluating quality of adhesive joints in glass-fiber plastic piping by using active thermal NDT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grosso, M.; Marinho, C. A.; Nesteruk, D. A.; Rebello, J. M.; Soares, S. D.; Vavilov, V. P.

2013-05-01

GRP-type composites (Glass-fibre Reinforced Plastics) have been continuously employed in the oil industry in recent years, often on platforms, especially in pipes for water or oil under moderate temperatures. In this case, the pipes are usually connected through adhesive joints and, consequently, the detection of defects in these joints, as areas without adhesive or adhesive failure (disbonding), gains great importance. One-sided inspection on the joint surface (front side) is a challenging task because the material thickness easily exceeds 10 mm that is far beyond the limits of the capacity of thermography applied to GRP inspection, as confirmed by the experience. Detection limits have been evaluated both theoretically and experimentally as a function of outer wall thickness and defect lateral size. The 3D modeling was accomplished by using the ThermoCalc-6L software. The experimental unit consisted of a FLIR SC640 and NEC TH- 9100 IR imagers and some home-made heaters with the power from 1,5 to 30 kW. The results obtained by applying pulsed heating have demonstrated that the inspection efficiency is strongly dependent on the outer wall thickness with a value of about 8 mm being a detection limit.

A one dimensional numerical approach for computing the eigenmodes of elastic waves in buried pipelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Wenbo; Kirby, Ray; Mudge, Peter; Gan, Tat-Hean

2016-12-01

Ultrasonic guided waves are often used in the detection of defects in oil and gas pipelines. It is common for these pipelines to be buried underground and this may restrict the length of the pipe that can be successfully tested. This is because acoustic energy travelling along the pipe walls may radiate out into the surrounding medium. Accordingly, it is important to develop a better understanding of the way in which elastic waves propagate along the walls of buried pipes, and so in this article a numerical model is developed that is suitable for computing the eigenmodes for uncoated and coated buried pipes. This is achieved by combining a one dimensional eigensolution based on the semi-analytic finite element (SAFE) method, with a perfectly matched layer (PML) for the infinite medium surrounding the pipe. This article also explores an alternative exponential complex coordinate stretching function for the PML in order to improve solution convergence. It is shown for buried pipelines that accurate solutions may be obtained over the entire frequency range typically used in long range ultrasonic testing (LRUT) using a PML layer with a thickness equal to the pipe wall thickness. This delivers a fast and computationally efficient method and it is shown for pipes buried in sand or soil that relevant eigenmodes can be computed and sorted in less than one second using relatively modest computer hardware. The method is also used to find eigenmodes for a buried pipe coated with the viscoelastic material bitumen. It was recently observed in the literature that a viscoelastic coating may effectively isolate particular eigenmodes so that energy does not radiate from these modes into the surrounding [elastic] medium. A similar effect is also observed in this article and it is shown that this occurs even for a relatively thin layer of bitumen, and when the shear impedance of the coating material is larger than that of the surrounding medium.

On the roles of solid wall in the thermal analysis of micro heat pipes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, Yew Mun

Micro heat pipe is a small-scale passive heat transfer device of very high thermal conductance that uses phase change and circulation of its working fluid to transfer thermal energy. Different from conventional heat pipe, a micro heat pipe does not contain any wick structure. In this thesis, a one-dimensional, steady-state mathematical model of a single triangular micro heat pipe is developed, with the main purpose of establishing a series of analytical studies on the roles of the solid wall of micro heat pipes in conjunction with the characterization of the thermal performance under the effects of various design and operational parameters. The energy equation of the solid wall is solved analytically to obtain the temperature distribution. The liquid phase is coupled with the solid wall through the continuity of heat flux at their interface, and the continuity, momentum and energy equations of the liquid and vapour phases, together with the Young-Laplace equation for capillary pressure, are solve numerically to yield the heat and fluid flow characteristics of the micro heat pipe. By coupling this mathematical model with the phase-change interfacial resistance model, the relationships for the axial temperature distributions of the liquid and vapour phases throughout the longitudinal direction of a micro heat pipe are also formulated. Four major aspects associated with the operational performance of micro heat pipes are discussed. Firstly, the investigation of the effects of axial conduction in the solid wall reveals that the presence of the solid wall induces change in the phase-change heat transport of the working fluid besides facilitating axial heat conduction in the solid wall. The analysis also highlights the effects of the thickness and thermal conductivity of the solid wall on the axial temperature distribution of solid wall, in the wake of the effects of the axial heat conduction induced on the phase-change heat transport of the working fluid. Secondly, analysis on thermal performance and physical phenomena of an overloaded micro heat pipes incorporating the effects of axial conduction in the solid wall is carried out. The thermal effects of the solid material are investigated and it is observed that the behaviour of the solid wall temperature distribution varies drastically as the applied heat load exceeds the heat transport capacity. The abrupt change in the temperature profile of an overloaded micro heat pipe is of considerable practical significance in which the occurrence of dryout can be identified by physically measuring the solid wall temperatures along the axial direction. Thirdly, by taking into account the axial conduction in the solid wall, the effect of gravity on the thermal performance of an inclined micro heat pipe is explored. Attributed to the occurrence of dryout, an abrupt temperature rise is observed at the evaporator end when the micro heat pipe is negatively inclined. Therefore, the orientation of a micro heat pipe can be determined by physically measuring the solid wall temperature. Lastly, by coupling the heat transfer model of phase-change phenomena at the liquid-vapour interface, the model with axial conduction in the solid wall of the micro heat pipe is extended to predict the axial liquid and vapour temperature distributions of the working fluid, which is useful for the verification of certain assumptions made in the derivation of the mathematical model besides for analyzing the heat transfer characteristics of the evaporation process.

Experimental Verification of Steel Pipe Collapse under Vacuum Pressure Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Autrique, R.; Rodal, E.

2016-11-01

Steel pipes are used widely in hydroelectric systems and in pumping systems. Both systems are subject to hydraulic transient effects caused by changes in boundary conditions, such as sudden valve closures, pump failures, or accidents. Water column separation, and its associated vaporization pressure inside the pipe, can cause the collapse of thin walled steel pipes subject to atmospheric pressure, as happened during the well known Oigawa Power Plant accident in Japan, in 1950. The conditions under which thin walled pipes subject to external pressure can collapse have been studied mathematically since the second half of the XIX century, with classical authors Southwell and Von Mises obtaining definitive equations for long and short pipes in the second decade of the XX century, in which the fundamental variables are the diameter to thickness ratio D/t and the length to diameter ratio L/D. In this paper, the predicted critical D/t ratio for steel pipe collapse is verified experimentally, in a physical model able to reproduce hydraulic transients, generating vacuum pressures through rapid upstream valve closures.

Design characteristics of a heat pipe test chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, Karl W.; Jang, J. Hoon; Yu, Juin S.

1992-01-01

LeRC has designed a heat pipe test facility which will be used to provide data for validating heat pipe computer codes. A heat pipe test chamber that uses helium gas for enhancing heat transfer was investigated. The conceptual design employs the technique of guarded heating and guarded cooling to facilitate accurate measurements of heat transfer rates to the evaporator and from the condenser. The design parameters are selected for a baseline heat pipe made of stainless steel with an inner diameter of 38.10 mm and a wall thickness of 1.016 mm. The heat pipe operates at a design temperature of 1000 K with an evaporator radial heat flux of 53 W/sq. cm.

Self-assembling segmented coiled tubing

DOEpatents

Raymond, David W.

2016-09-27

Self-assembling segmented coiled tubing is a concept that allows the strength of thick-wall rigid pipe, and the flexibility of thin-wall tubing, to be realized in a single design. The primary use is for a drillstring tubular, but it has potential for other applications requiring transmission of mechanical loads (forces and torques) through an initially coiled tubular. The concept uses a spring-loaded spherical `ball-and-socket` type joint to interconnect two or more short, rigid segments of pipe. Use of an optional snap ring allows the joint to be permanently made, in a `self-assembling` manner.

Biofilm thickness measurement using an ultrasound method in a liquid phase.

PubMed

Maurício, R; Dias, C J; Jubilado, N; Santana, F

2013-10-01

In this report, the development of an online, noninvasive, measurement method of the biofilm thickness in a liquid phase is presented. The method is based in the analysis of the ultrasound wave pulse-echo behavior in a liquid phase reproducing the real reactor conditions. It does not imply the removal of the biomass from the support or any kind of intervention in the support (pipes) to detect and perform the measurements (non-invasiveness). The developed method allows for its sensor to be easily and quickly mounted and unmounted in any location along a pipe or reactor wall. Finally, this method is an important innovation because it allows the thickness measurement of a biofilm, in liquid phase conditions that can be used in monitoring programs, to help in scheduling cleaning actions to remove the unwanted biofilm, in several application areas, namely in potable water supply pipes.

Fatigue strength of socket welded pipe joint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Higuchi, Makoto; Hayashi, Makoto; Yamauchi, Takayoshi

1995-12-01

Fully reversed four point bending fatigue tests were carried out on small diameter socket welded joints made of carbon steels. Experimental parameters were pipe diameter, thicknesses of pipe and socket wall, throat depth and shape of fillet welds, slip-on and diametral gaps in the socket welding, lack of penetration at the root of fillet welds, and peening of fillet welds. In most cases a fatigue crack started from the root of the fillet, but in the case of higher stress amplitude, it tended to start from the toe of fillet. The standard socket welded joint for a pipe with amore » 50 mm nominal diameter showed a relatively low fatigue strength of 46 MPa in stress amplitude at the 10{sup 7} cycles failure life. This value corresponds to about 1/5 of that for the smoothed base metal specimens in axial fatigue. The fatigue strength decreased with increasing pipe diameter, and increased with increasing thickness of the pipe and socket wall. The effects of throat depth and shape of fillet welds on fatigue strength were not significant. Contrary to expectation, the fatigue strength of a socket welded joint without slip-on gap is Higher than that of the joint with a normal gap. A lack of penetration at the root deleteriously reduced fatigue strength, showing 14 MPa in stress amplitude at the 10{sup 7} cycles failure life for the 50 mm diameter socket joint.« less

1D profiling using highly dispersive guided waves

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Volker, Arno; Zon, Tim van; Enthoven, Daniel

2015-03-31

Corrosion is one of the industries major issues regarding the integrity of assets. Currently inspections are conducted at regular intervals to ensure a sufficient integrity level of these assets. Cost reduction while maintaining a high level of reliability and safety of installations is a major challenge. There are many situations where the actual defect location is not accessible, e.g., a pipe support or a partially buried pipe. Guided wave tomography has been developed to reconstruct the wall thickness. In case of bottom of the line corrosion, i.e., a single corrosion pit, a simpler approach may be followed. Data is collectedmore » in a pit-catch configuration at the 12 o'clock position using highly dispersive guided waves. The phase spectrum is used to invert for a wall thickness profile in the circumferential direction, assuming a Gaussian defect profile. An EMAT sensor design has been made to measure at the 12 o'clock position of a pipe. The concept is evaluated on measured data, showing good sizing capabilities on a variety simple defect profiles.« less

Low-Carbon Metallurgical Concepts for Seamless Octg Pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohrbacher, Hardy

Seamless pipes are available with wall gages of up to 100 mm and outer diameters up to around 700 mm. Such pipes are typically used for oil country tubular goods as well as for structural applications. Due to market requirements the demand for high strength grade seamless pipes is increasing. Many applications need high toughness in addition to high strength. The different rolling processes applied in production depend on wall gage and pipe diameter. The continuous mandrel mill process is used to produce smaller gages and diameters; plug mill processing covers medium gages and diameters; Pilger mill processing allows producing larger diameters and heavy wall gage. In all these processes only a limited degree of thermo-mechanical rolling can be achieved. Therefore strengthening and toughening by severe grain refinement employing a conventional niobium-based microalloying concept is not easily achievable. Accordingly, high strength and toughness seamless pipe is typically produced via a quench and tempering process route. This route however is costly and above that often constitutes a capacity bottleneck in the mill. Innovative low-carbon alloy concepts however do allow producing strength up to grade X70 at very high toughness directly off the rolling plant, i.e., without quench and tempering treatment. Due to the low carbon content also welding is much facilitated. The paper reveals the metallurgical principles, which are based on appropriate niobium and molybdenum alloying. Additionally the paper demonstrates how heavy gaged seamless pipes up to 70 mm wall thickness can be produced based on a low-carbon Nb-Mo approach using quench and temper treatment.

Lamb mode selection for accurate wall loss estimation via guided wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huthwaite, P.; Ribichini, R.; Lowe, M. J. S.; Cawley, P.

2014-02-01

Guided wave tomography offers a method to accurately quantify wall thickness losses in pipes and vessels caused by corrosion. This is achieved using ultrasonic waves transmitted over distances of approximately 1-2m, which are measured by an array of transducers and then used to reconstruct a map of wall thickness throughout the inspected region. To achieve accurate estimations of remnant wall thickness, it is vital that a suitable Lamb mode is chosen. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of the fundamental modes, S0 and A0, which are of primary interest in guided wave tomography thickness estimates since the higher order modes do not exist at all thicknesses, to compare their performance using both numerical and experimental data while considering a range of challenging phenomena. The sensitivity of A0 to thickness variations was shown to be superior to S0, however, the attenuation from A0 when a liquid loading was present was much higher than S0. A0 was less sensitive to the presence of coatings on the surface of than S0.

46 CFR 56.30-10 - Flanged joints (modifies 104.5.1(a)).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-10 (b), Method 8. Welding neck flanges may be used on any piping provided the flanges are butt-welded..., refer to 46 CFR 56.30-5(b) for requirements. (9) Figure 56.30-10 (b), Method 9. Welding neck flanges may.... ER16DE08.002 Note to Fig. 56.30-10(b): “T” is the nominal pipe wall thickness used. Consult the text of...

Stress-intensity factors for circumferential surface cracks in pipes and rods under tension and bending loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raju, I. S.; Newman, J. C., Jr.

1985-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present stress-intensity factors for a wide range of nearly semi-elliptical surface cracks in pipes and rods. The configurations were subjected to either remote tension or bending loads. For pipes, the ratio of crack depth to crack length (a/c) ranged from 0.6 to 1; the ratio of crack depth to wall thickness (a/t) ranged from 0.2 to 0.8; and the ratio of internal radius to wall thickness (R/t) ranged from 1 to 10. For rods, the ratio of crack depth to crack length also ranged from 0.6 to 1; and the ratio of crack depth to rod diameter (a/D) ranged from 0.05 to 0.35. These particular crack configurations were chosen to cover the range of crack shapes (a/c) that have been observed in experiments conducted on pipes and rods under tension and bending fatigue loads. The stress-intensity factors were calculated by a three-dimensional finite-element method. The finite-element models employed singularity elements along the crack front and linear-strain elements elsewhere. The models had about 6500 degrees of freedom. The stress-intensity factors were evaluated using a nodal-force method.

46 CFR 56.70-10 - Preparation (modifies 127.3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... are bored, such boring shall not result in the finished wall thickness after welding being less than... insure satisfactory fitting of rings. (iv) If the piping component ends are upset they may be bored to...

46 CFR 56.70-10 - Preparation (modifies 127.3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... are bored, such boring shall not result in the finished wall thickness after welding being less than... insure satisfactory fitting of rings. (iv) If the piping component ends are upset they may be bored to...

46 CFR 56.70-10 - Preparation (modifies 127.3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... are bored, such boring shall not result in the finished wall thickness after welding being less than... insure satisfactory fitting of rings. (iv) If the piping component ends are upset they may be bored to...

46 CFR 56.70-10 - Preparation (modifies 127.3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... are bored, such boring shall not result in the finished wall thickness after welding being less than... insure satisfactory fitting of rings. (iv) If the piping component ends are upset they may be bored to...

46 CFR 56.70-10 - Preparation (modifies 127.3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... are bored, such boring shall not result in the finished wall thickness after welding being less than... insure satisfactory fitting of rings. (iv) If the piping component ends are upset they may be bored to...

Analytical solution for tension-saturated and unsaturated flow from wicking porous pipes in subsurface irrigation: The Kornev-Philip legacies revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kacimov, A. R.; Obnosov, Yu. V.

2017-03-01

The Russian engineer Kornev in his 1935 book raised perspectives of subsurface "negative pressure" irrigation, which have been overlooked in modern soil science. Kornev's autoirrigation utilizes wicking of a vacuumed water from a porous pipe into a dry adjacent soil. We link Kornev's technology with a slightly modified Philip (1984)'s analytical solutions for unsaturated flow from a 2-D cylindrical pipe in an infinite domain. Two Darcian flows are considered and connected through continuity of pressure along the pipe-soil contact. The first fragment is a thin porous pipe wall in which water seeps at tension saturation; the hydraulic head is a harmonic function varying purely radially across the wall. The Thiem solution in this fragment gives the boundary condition for azimuthally varying suction pressure in the second fragment, ambient soil, making the exterior of the pipe. The constant head, rather than Philip's isobaricity boundary condition, along the external wall slightly modifies Philip's formulae for the Kirchhoff potential and pressure head in the soil fragment. Flow characteristics (magnitudes of the Darcian velocity, total flow rate, and flow net) are explicitly expressed through series of Macdonald's functions. For a given pipe's external diameter, wall thickness, position of the pipe above a free water datum in the supply tank, saturated conductivities of the wall and soil, and soil's sorptive number, a nonlinear equation with respect to the total discharge from the pipe is obtained and solved by a computer algebra routine. Efficiency of irrigation is evaluated by computation of the moisture content within selected zones surrounding the porous pipe.