Weld identification and classification

Pipeline Inspection Locate Identify Potential Weld Failure Locations

Introduction

Welds are used in the making of the pipeline itself, in the joining of pipelines and components during construction, and during maintenance and repair of the pipeline system. During the pipeline manufacturing process, longitudinal welds join the edges of steel plate to form sections of pipeline (spools). Also during manufacture, girth (or circumferential) welds sometimes join sections of pipelines – called ”double-jointing” – to speed installation. In addition, many welds have to be performed at the construction site to join together pipelines sections and other components to create a pipeline system – these are almost always girth welds. And during maintenance and repair, many other types of welds are also used.

Material or weld failures can result in both public safety and environmental hazards due to the release of petroleum and natural gas products. From 1996 – 2003, there were four injuries attributed to material/weld failures in the natural gas industry [src: PHMSA].

Project description

One of the oil fields of our client, has very old pipeline infrastructure of two and three inch pipelines. There was no conventional inline inspection tool that could inspect these small pipelines and thus the pipelines had never been inspected. When our client had a failure with a pipeline in the area, they started looking for a solution to pro-actively inspect the pipelines in this field. The client chose to use Pipers®.

The Pipers® solution

INGU’s Pipers® solution pairs a baseball-sized free-floating multi-sensor system with AI powered data analytics and a GIS Pipeline viewer. The Pipers® solution accurately identifies and locates potential issues such as leaks, deposits, and changes in the pipeline wall that threaten pipeline health.

While flowing through the pipeline, Pipers® continuously measure the pipeline’s magnetic flux. We use artificial intelligence to identify the pipeline joints in the magnetic flux density data with a better than 95% identification rate. Subsequently the joint patterns within a pipeline can be compared to determine outliers that are indicative of bad welds.

Results

A typical weld signal is a narrow peak in the magnetic flux data as highlighted by the green area. The area highlighted in red was also identified as a weld, but the structure contains multiple peaks and is broad so it was reported as a bad weld. The client did a verification dig and found the weld as shown in the picture above.

Pipeline specifications

Pipeline Length
0.78 kilometers
Pipeline Diameter
2 inch
Pipeline Material
Steel
Content
Oil emulsion
Location
Canada
Other Oil & Gas

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Geometric inspection (XYZ mapping)

Leak detection in high consequence areas

John Hanten

Operating Partner at Energy Innovation Capital
John is a former Venture Executive from Chevron Technology Ventures. He was responsible for identifying and executing venture capital investments in companies that have technology beneficial to Chevron, and assisting in the introduction and deployment of the technology. John has over 35 years of O&G industry experience. He is currently a Rice Alliance Advisory Board member, and is active in HTC Energy events. John has a BS in Earth Sciences from the University of Minnesota Duluth, a MS in Geophysics from Purdue University (Phi Kappa Phi) and an MBA from St. Mary’s College.

Steven Cooper

Venture Principal at Chevron Technology Ventures

Steven is a Venture Principal with Chevron Technology Ventures on the Core Venture Fund investment team. Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) was launched in 1999 to identify and integrate externally developed technologies and new business solutions with the potential to enhance the way Chevron produces and delivers affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy now and into the future. Its Core Venture Fund invests in technologies that have the potential to add efficiencies to Chevron’s core business in the areas of operational enhancement, digitalization, and lower-carbon operations.

Steven has 12 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, 10 with Chevron. He has held various assignments in both upstream and downstream, beginning his career in Liquefied Natural Gas Technology Development before transferring to the El Segundo Refinery as a Process Engineer supporting naphtha and gas oil hydrotreaters and then working as a Process Automation Engineer specializing in Safety Systems. Prior to becoming a Venture Principal, Steven first joined Chevron Technology Ventures in 2019 as a Decision Analysis Advisor, supporting projects across the technology portfolio and ensuring high decision quality around development and deployment of externally developed technologies. Prior to joining Chevron, he worked for Baker Hughes Incorporated and ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science in Data Science, both from Rice University in Houston, TX.

Amy Shank

Vice President Safety & Operational Discipline at Williams
Amy is the Vice President of the Safety & Operational Discipline organization for the Williams Company. Her current responsibilities span multiple facets of regulatory compliance, employee & process safety, emergency preparedness & response, maintenance management & GIS system support, asset integrity, incident investigation, and risk. Amy has been with Williams for 25 years and has a total of 34 years of experience in the energy industry overseeing compliance programs, developing and building large scale pipeline and facilities projects, and leading teams of technical experts. Amy has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.

Steve Bolze

Former CEO, GE Power and Water

Steve Bolze recently launched Standish Spring Investments to support founders scaling early and growth stage organizations that support the energy transition.

Prior to launching Standish Spring Investments, Steve was a senior managing director and head of infrastructure portfolio operations and asset management for Blackstone’s dedicated infrastructure business. He was one of the founding partners of Blackstone’s infrastructure investment fund, valued at more than $25 billion currently, and partnered with portfolio company CEOs to drive key value creation initiatives.

Before joining Blackstone, Steve had a nearly 25-year career at General Electric, during which time he successfully led several of the company’s largest businesses. In his last role as President and CEO of GE Power and Water, he oversaw the company’s $28 billion power generation and renewables business, operating in over 140 countries with 52,000 employees; at the time its technology helped provide more than one-quarter of the world’s electricity.

Stay in the loop

Mark Menke

Former General Manager M&A, Chevron
Mark joins INGU’s board of directors after 35 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. Menke is the former General Manager, Mergers and Acquisitions at Chevron, a position he held for 13 years. During that time, he was also on the advisory board of Chevron Technology Ventures—a role that afforded him unique insights into innovative start-up and growth companies in the energy sector. Mark also served as Global Business Manager for Chevron’s $1B global fuel and lubricant additives division and held the position of Director of Chevron’s International Business Development efforts for 6 years. He currently serves on Rice University’s Engineering Advisory Board and is an independent director with WildFire Energy LLC. Mark brings global oil and gas expertise to INGU’s growing international presence across the industry.

George Coyle

Managing Partner,
Energy Innovations Capital

George is co-founder and managing partner of Energy Innovation Capital, a capital provider to energy innovators. George is an experienced venture capital investor, having co-founded three corporate venture capital groups: Chevron Technology Ventures, ConocoPhillips Technology Ventures Investments and Energy Technology Ventures. He previously worked in Exploration & Production leadership roles at Chevron and is an active member of AAPG, SEG, and SPE. George holds an MBA from Tulane University, a M.S. in Geology from the University of Kansas and a B.S. in Earth Sciences from the University of New Orleans.

Michael Riedijk

Cleantech investor and serial entrepreneur
Experienced CEO and serial entrepreneur with 2 successful tech exits, green/clean tech investor with a history of working on internet, cleantech, agriculture, and marine technology. Strong business development professional with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Delft University of Technology. Michael’s companies have been awarded the ‘Obama Champion of Change’ Award at The White House in 2011, the ‘Red Herring Top 100 North America 2012’, the ‘Deloitte Technology Fast 500’ for several years in a row, INC 5000 and Growth 500.

John van Pol

CEO and Director, INGU
Innovator and Entrepreneur with a 20+ year career in science and technology with a passion for new and unprecedented ideas. Started working on advanced sensing technologies during his PhD in Nuclear Physics and is currently applying his sensing and data analytics expertise to the oil & gas sector. Brings a superlative career history in leveraging strategic business and institutional partnerships to drive cutting edge research and deliver tangible results to the global marketplace. Offers a comprehensive scientific background reinforced with formidable talent in analyzing, evaluating, and overcoming complex technological, operational, financial, and legal obstacles. Possesses a solid network of business partnerships in the Netherlands and Canada, with an award-winning track record in leading international business development in the European and Canadian markets for advanced sensor application solutions.