Hardness Tester for Quantification of Material Properties in Live Transmission Pipelines

Commercial Product

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Threats and Integrity Management -- Anomaly Detection and Characterization

The project integrates an in-line non-destructive tool for the quantification of material properties (toughness and strength) for piggable and unpiggable natural gas pipelines. The device performs indentation tests for toughness measurements and is integrated onto the commercial Explorer 20/26 inspection platform (see picture). While the hardness tester was built for used with the Explorer platform for 20”-26” pipe size range, the design is scalable to other pipe sizes.

In response to the 2010 San Bruno incident, PHMSA published the draft integrity verification process (IVP) that requires the establishment of a materials documentation process by all pipeline operators in the US. The reason for this process is to document the basis used by each operator for establishing a pipeline’s Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP). In the absence of proper material documentation, tests need to be carried out to establish the pipeline’s MAOP. The technology provides an in-line tool that would be able to carry a non-destructive test from the inside of the pipe.

Increased Safety - The newly developed hardness tester will add to the existing capabilities of in-line non-destructive testing platforms, thus further enhancing the ability of the industry to characterize its pipeline assets, as per the proposed PHMSA Integrity Verification Process (IVP).

Greater Reliability -

https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/PrjHome.rdm?prj=646