Ensuring safety of compressor and pump stations trough comprehensive robotic inspection of underground piping
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Sergio Porcellotti
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Sergio Porcellotti
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Abstract
Piping at compressor and pump stations is exposed to extreme pressure and vibration levels within transmission pipelines. Accidents on compressors stations are reported in many countries worldwide. The main operational threats that lead to these accidents are corrosion, cracking, and geometry violations. These threats are diagnosed in main transmission lines using traditional smart pigs; however, compressor and pump stations contain piping systems with complex geometries that such pigs cannot navigate. In recent years, significant industry developments have made remotely-operated in-line inspection (ILI) tools available that could inspect the unpiggable piping found in compressor and pump stations. Gas and oil transmission companies started performing robotic ILI operations to investigate real pipe conditions of all facility piping and connection lines with the following goals: a) safety: ensure zero incidents at compressor stations; b) cost savings: inspect instead of replace; Today, Diakont has performed more than 200 inspections in compressor and pump station piping using proprietary robotic ILI tools. This paper describes Diakont’s robotic ILI process and provides results from two case studies.

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