Demonstration Activities of Buried Piping NDE Technologies at Epri

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Demonstration Activities of

Buried Piping NDE Technologies


at EPRI

Mike Quarry
Project Manager
EPRI

4th International CANDU In-Service


Inspection Workshop

Toronto, Ontario
Field Removed samples for assessment of buried pipe
inspection technologies

• Field removed samples are/have


been obtained

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 2


NEI 09-14 – Guideline for the Management of
Underground Piping and Tank Integrity

Initial Revision (November 2009)


– Formal industry roles and responsibilities
– Provide “reasonable assurance” of structural and leakage
integrity of all buried piping with special emphasis on piping that
contains radioactive materials.
Schedule
– Procedures and Oversight – Industry completed
– Risk Ranking – Industry completed
– Inspection Plan – Industry completed
– Plan Implementation
• Start by – June 30, 2012
• Buried piping containing radioactive material – June 30, 2013
– Asset Management Plan – December 31, 2013

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 3


December 2010

NEI 09-14 Revision 1 “Guideline for the Management of


Underground Piping and Tank Integrity”
– Incorporates the revised NSIAC “Underground Piping
and Tank Integrity Initiative”
– Extensive revision

NRC Issues revision 2 of the GALL (license renewal)


– Significant additions to buried pipe inspection
recommendations
– More prescriptive requirements

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 4


Challenges - Piping is often inaccessible

• Difficult to access pipe – buried, pipe chases, buildings,


go through walls, under water, etc.
• Often need to have water or other product in the pipe or
flowing through it
• Pipes are coated or insulated
• Pipes are often nested close to one another and have a
high density (“spaghetti bowl” of piping)
• Pipes may have tubercles, mud, scale, etc, causing rough
and dirty surfaces
• No designed launchers/retrievers
• Lots of bends, elbows, vertical sections, tees, etc.

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 5


Occlusions – internal corrosion deposits

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 6


Types of Corrosion common in piping

• General corrosion
• Clustered pitting
• Galvanic corrosion
• Crevice Corrosion
• Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC)
• Corrosion under Insulation (CUI)
• Erosion

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 7


Potential NDE Technologies for Buried Pipe

In-line In-line or outside Outside pipe

Remote ultrasonics Manual ultrasonics Guided wave

Remote field testing Eddy current techniques Radiography

Magnetic flux leakage Acoustic leak monitoring Phased Array Wheel

Remote visual EMATs

Laser profilometry

In-line Delivery Methods


- Robotic Crawlers - Flow through - Pull through

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 8


Assessment and Development of Buried Pipe NDE
Technology (2011-13)

Benchmark and develop NDE capabilities

– Identify capabilities
and limitations
– Provide utility support
in implementing
technology

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 9


External Remote-Field technology

• Localized remote
field technology
(RFT) assessment in
process

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 10


Mockup with multiple bends and verticals to test
delivery systems

• Construction of 60-ft long 8-in diameter mock-up assess


NDE and delivery tool

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 11


Internal Robotic System Using Ultrasonics

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 12


Internal Ultrasonic Tool

Free swimming internal ultrasonic


• Used in other industries
• Navigates Short Radius - 1D - 180°
bends
• Transducer array provides 100%
coverage
• On-board data collection
• Detect internal and external thinning

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 13


Recent Internal Ultrasonic Tool Assessment

Assessment Conducted on 60-ft long 8-in Diameter


EPRI Mock-up
• Examined in <1 minute
• Full coverage of straight
pipe sections
• Identified inside and
outside surface connected
discontinuities
• Working to facilitate pilot of
technology

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 14


Ultrasonic Phased Array Technology

Phased array probes


• Rapid Scanning
– 100% coverage over probe width
– Scan speeds up to 16 in2 / second
• Greater sensitivity to sharp flaws such
as MIC
• Improved depth and extent sizing
• Imaging capabilities
• Permanent data storage

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 15


Ultrasonic Phased Array Technology

• C-scan (Top View) image of holes

• Twelve 0.188-in diameter holes


• 0.375-in center-to-center
• Patch 0.750-in by 1.125-in
© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 16
Ultrasonic Phased Array Technology

Outer Surface
Side View
Inner Surface

Top View

2-in by 1.75-in
© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 17
In-line Examination of Intermediate Diameter Piping

•EPRI Robot 60ft Cement Lined Mockup


•Guide Wire Propulsion 3 Elbows – 1 Riser
•108 Sensors for Pitting Resolution 12 Implanted Defects
•Detectors Position Stabilized for Data Quality

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 18


Assessment and Development of Buried Pipe NDE
Technology (2011-13)

Multiple assessments are planned with multiple


technologies for 2012:
– Internal EMAT ultrasonic robotic device
– Internal robot with saturated low frequency eddy current
– Internal remote field testing RFT
– Internal magnetic flux leakage

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 19


Buried Pipe will likely require many NDE
technologies

• No “silver bullet”
• Will require a toolbox of techniques
• Many challenges, variables, obstacles, etc. will make
technology selection important

In-line In-line or outside Outside pipe


Remote ultrasonics Manual ultrasonics Guided wave

Remote field testing Eddy current techniques Radiography


Magnetic flux leakage Acoustic leak monitoring Phase Array Wheel
Remote visual EMATs
Laser profilometry

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 20


Together…Shaping the Future of Electricity

© 2011 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 21

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