NDT inspection of three kilometres of 10" gas line in Venezuela

Teletest ^® has established a new productivity record in Venezuela. Working in conjunction with a local inspection company, TechCorr, Pi used Teletest ^® to test just over 3km of 10-inch 9.8mm wall thickness above ground gas pipe in 12 working hours. A reason for this high productivity was the large range achieved. The A-scan below was typical. The line was free from significant corrosion. The peaks shown are reflections from the welds. Weld M is 150m from the transducer assembly. This means that 300m was inspected from each transducer location.

At one point along the pipe there was a valve station. There are three branches connecting to the line, two horizontal and one vertical. The A-scan from a position just outside the fence is shown. Peaks A and B show strong horizontal flexural responses (red lines) and are the signals from the two horizontal branches. Peak C, with a strong blue (vertical flexural) response is from the vertical branch. Note that it was possible to inspect the line beyond the branches.

The client was PDVSA, the national oil company.