Tracerco Discovery: the world’s first subsea computed tomography (CT) scanner for non-intrusive pipeline inspection

Abstract

Tracerco Discovery is the world’s first subsea CT scanner, providing high-resolution wall integrity data plus detection of hydrates and other deposits for flow assurance purposes. It is deployed as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and the inspection is carried out from the outside of the pipeline. It is the only non-invasive technology capable of inspecting unpiggable coated pipelines and there is no need to remove and replace the pipe’s protective coating. Unpiggable pipelines, especially coated ones, have proven extremely difficult (and in most cases impossible) to inspect for integrity and wall loss issues. An externally deployed tool to do this is needed by the global pipeline industry. Gas hydrates and other pipeline deposits pose a large challenge for the oil and gas industry as they can form restrictions that can result in costly shutdowns and serious safety threats. It is, therefore, important to be able to locate such restrictions subsea with high accuracy to allow safe and efficient remediation operations.

Discovery benefits:

1. Production can continue and normal operations are not affected.

2. A high-resolution tomographic image of wall thickness and pipe contents at each scanning location is provided to 2 mm resolution.

3. Coating does not need to be removed.

4. Suitable for gas, liquid, or multiphase flow.

5. Suitable for rigid and flexible lines.

6. Pipe-in-Pipe lines and pipe-bundles can be inspected to measure the wall thickness of outer and inner pipes.

The presentation of this extended abstract covers the background of the development work, gives a description of the technology, and shows recent results.