F16L2101/30

Systems and methods for maintaining pipes

A motorized apparatus for use in maintaining a pipe includes at least one drive portion including a body assembly, a plurality of leg assemblies coupled circumferentially around the body assembly, a plurality of drive mechanisms coupled to the plurality of leg assemblies, and a drive portion coupling mechanism. The motorized apparatus also includes at least one maintenance portion including a body, at least one maintenance device coupled to the body, and a maintenance portion coupling mechanism configured to engage the drive portion coupling mechanism. The at least one drive portion is releasably coupled to the at least one maintenance portion by engaging the drive portion coupling mechanism with the maintenance portion coupling mechanism. The drive portion coupling mechanism and the maintenance portion coupling mechanism are each configured to engage another coupling mechanism when the drive portion coupling mechanism and the maintenance portion coupling mechanism are uncoupled from each other.

Caliper pig for detecting geometrical deformation of a pipeline

A caliper pig for detecting geometrical deformation of a pipeline is disclosed. The caliper pig includes a body and a first sensor arm assembly. The first sensor arm assembly includes a primary caliper sensor ring adapted to be mounted on the body. Further, the first sensor arm assembly includes a plurality of sensor arms adapted circumferentially distributed on the primary caliper sensor ring. Each of the plurality of sensor arms includes a sensing arm adapted to be in contact with an internal surface of the pipeline and a pair of magnets adapted to rotate along the sensing arm. Each of the plurality of sensor arms includes a sensing unit configured to detect a change in magnetic field based on the movement of the sensing arm. The sensing unit is configured to generate an output indicative of an angle of deflection of the sensing arm while traversing on the internal surface of the pipeline.

PIG LAUNCH AND RECOVERY APPARATUS AND PIG THEREFOR
20230118899 · 2023-04-20 · ·

A pig launch and recovery apparatus independently mountable to and removable from a water supply system including at least one water main and valve. The pig launch and recovery apparatus comprises a flow tube and a launch and recovery tube. The flow tube includes first and second flow ends and a main flow valve located between the first and second flow ends. The first flow end is removably mounted to a recirculating unit including a pump. The second flow end is removably mounted to a first point in the system. A launch and recovery tube further includes first and second launch ends, wherein the first launch end is fluidly connected to the flow tube between the first flow end and the main flow valve, and wherein the second launch end is fluidly connected to the flow tube between the main flow valve and the second flow end.

APPARATUS AND METHOD OF REMOTE SENSING
20230122613 · 2023-04-20 ·

A system for the detection of a rate of flow or a level of a fluid or the presence of an object, such as a PIG, in pipelines, comprising at least one detection device that includes: a sensor assembly arranged to detect the rate of flow or level of a fluid withing a section of a pipeline or the presence of a pig located along the section of pipeline where the device is located, a power store, a position determining module, a radio frequency receiver, and a radio frequency transmitter, in which the detection device has a sleep mode in which the sensor assembly is inactive and has a first power consumption and an active mode in which the sensor assembly is active and the detection device has a second, higher, power consumption when the sensor assembly of the device is actively detecting, the device in the active mode also being arranged to transmit signals from the transmitter that are indicative of the detected property of the fluid or presence of an apparatus along the section of the pipeline; and in which the device is configured to switch between the sleep mode and the active mode in response to radio frequency signals received by the receiver.

CONDUIT EXPLORATION ROBOT COMPRISING A POSITIONING SYSTEM
20220325843 · 2022-10-13 ·

The invention relates to a robot 1 comprising a first frame 10 and a second frame 10′, the first frame 10 and the second frame 10′ each comprising a bearing module 11 for bearing against a wall 20 of a conduit 2, and at least one positioning system 12 for the relative positioning of the first frame 10 and the second frame 10′, the robot 1 being characterised in that the positioning system 12 comprises at least a first pair 120 of linear actuators disposed in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis x of the robot 1, able to be independently actuated such that they move in translation, and configured to be free to rotate relative to at least one of either the first frame 10 or the second frame 10′, so as to position the first frame 10 and the second frame 10′ relative to one another.

PIPELINE SUSPENSION INSPECTING GAUGE
20230065362 · 2023-03-02 ·

Disclosed is a pipeline suspension inspecting gauge which comprises a mobile carrier and a power supply module, a primary controller, a positioning module, a vibration sensor, a variable-frequency excitation device, a secondary controller, and a data processing assembly which are arranged on the mobile carrier. The power supply module, the positioning module, and the secondary controller are all electrically connected with the primary controller; the variable-frequency vibration excitation device, the vibration sensor, and the data processing assembly are all electrically connected with the secondary controller. The pipeline suspension inspecting gauge is simple in structure and high in measurement sensitivity.

Shadow tracking of real-time interactive simulations for complex system analysis
11662051 · 2023-05-30 · ·

An electronic computing system preserves a pre-error state of a processing unit by receiving a first stream of inputs; buffering the first stream of inputs to generate a buffered stream of inputs identical to the first stream of inputs; conveying the first stream to a primary instance of a first program; conveying the buffered stream to a secondary instance of the first program; executing the primary instance on the first stream in real time; executing the secondary instance on the buffered stream with a predefined time delay with respect to execution of the primary instance on the first stream; detecting an error state resulting from execution of the primary instance; and in response to detecting the error state, pausing the secondary instance and preserving a current state of the secondary instance, wherein the current state of the secondary instance corresponds to a pre-error state of the primary instance.

Self-adaptive inline inspection vehicle for pipelines
11662050 · 2023-05-30 ·

An inline inspection vehicle includes an auto-adjustable, self-adaptive structure. The inline inspection vehicle includes a plurality of self-adjustable carrier racks carrying inspection device carts with positioning rollers, and self-adaptive driving turbine wheels at a front part and a back end for auto-adjustable driving speeds. The inline inspection vehicle also includes intelligent self-control mechanisms implemented using self-adaptive schema and algorithms for a finite set of control states to integrate the adaptive controller and actuators. Furthermore, it may conduct virtual pressure tests by carrying intelligent inline data acquisition devices to converge the Pipeline Integrity Management with SCADA monitoring system.

INSPECTION TOOL

A system and method for inspecting offshore and onshore tubular or piping assets is described. The system and method utilizes an inspection tool comprising a communication system, a sensor, a long distance travel system, and a localized travel system, allowing fast long distance travel until the inspection tool approximates an area of interest, followed by actuating the localized travel system to accurately inspect the area of interest.

DOWNHOLE NESTED PIPE INSPECTION USING HYBRID FREQUENCY AND TIME DOMAIN LOGGING TECHNIQUE
20230160294 · 2023-05-25 ·

Electromagnetic logging tools to inspect nested pipes using hybrid frequency- and time-domain logging techniques are disclosed. The disclosed logging system and processing workflows combine frequency-domain and time-domain techniques to overcome the disadvantages of using frequency-domain or time domain tools in isolation.