Offshore staff
OSLO -- Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has joined Gassco to develop a new acoustic inspection method that allows the internal and external status of gas pipelines to be accurately characterized. Measurements can now be made without reducing the gas flow, the companies say.
OSLO -- Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has joined Gassco to develop a new acoustic inspection method that allows the internal and external status of gas pipelines to be accurately characterized. Measurements can now be made without reducing the gas flow, the companies say.
This solves a long-standing problem for the oil and gas industry, which has previously had to reduce gas flows to check pipelines for possible maintenance requirements.
Building on acoustic resonance principles, the new method is based on technology employed in the Second World War. DNV applied the same principle to develop a method for determining whether the tanks in the wrecked German battleship Blücher, which is located in the Oslo Fjord, contained water or oil.
Attaching a simple “necklace” to a standard cleaning pig will now make it possible to determine the condition through absolute measurements of the whole pipeline surface, the companies say.
“Gas pipeline inspection is revolutionized with this new technology,” says Henrik O. Madsen, CEO and president of DNV. “Based on acoustic half-wave resonance, it represents a technological quantum leap. The industry will now secure effective decision support for maintenance and repair, and we will enhance safety and cost-efficiency for the pipeline network.”
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