A system for performing electrochemical and hydrogen permeation measurements using a test specimen subject to tensile stress comprises a first housing filled with a process fluid supplied via an inlet with hydrogen sulfide, a second housing filled with a basic solution, a test specimen positioned between the first and second housings exposed to the process fluid on one side and to the basic solution on the other, first and second potentiostats coupled to the first and second housings to measure corrosion and induce hydrogen permeation, a loading device adapted to apply a longitudinal strain on the specimen, and a computing device configured to control operation of the potentiostat and loading device. The hydrogen sulfide in the process fluid impedes formation of diatomic hydrogen from atomic hydrogen, allowing adsorbed atomic hydrogen to enter into the steel test specimen from one side and permeate into the other side of the test specimen.

Hundreds of thousands of concrete bridges, buildings etc. and hundreds of billions of tons of concrete require characterization throughout the process from manufacture to pouring and curing and on throughout service life. The characterization may relate to initial concrete properties, projected concrete properties, framework removal, corrosion, failure etc. Accordingly, a variety of measurements such as water content, electrical resistivity, and half-cell corrosion potential for example would be beneficially implemented as easy to use field test equipment or embedded sensors allowing lifetime monitoring to be performed rather than discrete assessments when issues become evident.

A scale composition determination device (10) determines that Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 has been generated in the outermost layer of a scale (SC) in the case where the absolute value of a difference between temperatures of a steel material SM measured by radiation thermometers (20a, 20b) is equal to or more than a predetermined temperature, and determines that Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 has not been generated in the outermost layer of the scale (SC) in the case where the absolute value of the difference between the temperatures of the steel material SM measured by the radiation thermometers (20a, 20b) is not equal to or more than the predetermined temperature.

A method of evaluating railway ties for deterioration is mounted on a moving vehicle along the rails where the presence of the tie is detected and an impact energy source is used to create at least one wave in a surface of the tie which travels longitudinally along the tie. At positions spaced longitudinally from the source, the time of arrival of the wave is detected typically by a series of sensors responsive to air pressure changes to determine a speed of propagation of the wave in the tie and, in the event that the speed in said tie is below a predetermined speed, an output indication is provided regarding the deterioration of the tie, which can include a real time marking of the tie detected.

This invention relates to the monitoring of the integrity of casing, tubing and other strings in oil and gas wells. The technical result of this invention consists in increased accuracy and trustworthiness in detecting and locating transverse and longitudinal defects in well completion components and downhole equipment, in both the magnetic and non-magnetic first, second and other metal barriers. Electromagnetic defectoscopy in multi-string wells includes measuring EMF induced in a coil by eddy currents generated in metal barriers by the decay of the electromagnetic field produced by magnetization current pulses in the coil. A series of pulses of fixed duration in the range of 0.1-1000 ms is fed to each exciter-and-pickup coil to sequentially magnetize all metal barriers starting from the nearest one, with pulse durations increasing for each next barrier. The recorded data are saved and processed by comparing them with model data, and the processing results indicate defects in the metal barriers. The downhole electromagnetic defectoscope contains a case, axially oriented coils with their magnetic axes coinciding with the tool's magnetic axis, and an electronic module, and at least two exciter-and-pickup coils, each consisting of an exciter coil and a pickup coil with a single core. The exciter-and-pickup coils are of different sizes and are spaced apart by a distance of not less than the length of the larger exciter-and-pickup coil.

A corrosion monitoring system includes at least one corrosion sensor. The corrosion sensor includes a metallic plug having at least one opening, at least one ceramic sheath in the opening of the metallic plug, and a plurality of probes. Each probe has a central portion with a predetermined cross sectional area extending from the metallic plug. The ceramic sheath electrically isolates each first end and each second end of the probes from the metallic plug and the other first ends and second ends. The probes are sized to provide a distribution of predetermined cross sectional areas of the central portions. The corrosion monitoring system also includes a resistance meter measuring an ohmic resistance for at least one of the probes and a computer determining a corrosion rate by correlating a rate of change of the ohmic resistance to the corrosion rate of the probe.

A distance measuring system includes: a reference member configured to be provided on a surface of a first pipe made of metal, the reference member serving as a reference for distance measurement; an attachment member provided on a surface of a second pipe, made of metal, connected with the first pipe through a weld; a distance sensor configured to be attached to the attachment member, to measure a distance to the reference member; and a measuring unit configured to measure the distance based on an output from the distance sensor.

A method for determining the corrosion risk caused by biofilm formation for installations in natural bodies of water includes a) providing a device for measuring electrode potentials, comprising at least one metal sample and at least one reference electrode at a location close to the installation within the natural body of water b) continuously or intermittently measuring potential differences between said at least one metal sample and said at least one reference electrode over a sufficiently long period of time to allow for identifying any changes of potential of the sample resulting from ennoblement caused by biofilm formation, c) comparing the measured potential difference to one or more reference values for the respective metal of the metal sample, and d) estimating if and when the potential difference resulting from biofilm formation attains or may attain a critical value which would result in the corrosion of the respective metal at the respective location of the natural body of water.

A cumulative distribution function of fracture time is calculated from large quantities of hydrogen embrittlement fracture test data measured under test conditions that assume reinforcing bars in prestressed concrete, transition probability is calculated from the cumulative distribution function of fracture time with a hydrogen embrittlement fracture being regarded as a stochastic process through which a degraded state progressively reaches a fractured state, and the time integral of the transition probability is found as the degree of progress of hydrogen embrittlement.

A sensing instrument includes a first electrode, a second electrode that surrounds the first electrode, and a sensing module configured to sense a capacitance of a material by applying a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode while the first electrode and the second electrode are adjacent to the material. A method of operating a sensing instrument includes applying a voltage between a first electrode and a second electrode while the first electrode and the second electrode are positioned adjacent to a material. The second electrode surrounds the first electrode. The method further includes sensing a capacitance of the material based on a response of the material to the voltage.