Importance

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Abstract

A method and an apparatus are provided for measuring the wall thickness of a pipeline through which a fluid flows, the pipeline having an interior and exterior surface. The apparatus has a pig body supported by elastomeric cups to thereby cause the pig body to move by fluid flow through the pipeline. The pig body supports a plurality of multi-element transducers. Each transducer is made up of a large number of independent elongated rod-like crystal elements separated by a polymer, each having side walls, a front face and a bottom face. The rod-like elements are arranged so that the side walls are adjacent but mechanically isolated from each other, such as by an epoxy, with the front faces and bottom faces providing transducer front and bottom surfaces. A front metallic film and a bottom metallic film are applied to the front and the bottom surfaces. Each transducer is configured to have an impedance that closely matches the impedance of the pipeline fluid. Each transducer is activated by periodic electrical pulses to cause transmission of an acoustic signal in the pipeline fluid that are reflected by the pipeline interior and exterior walls. A plurality of multiple ultrasonic reflections from the pipe interior and exterior walls for each ultrasonic pulse produced by each transducer is analyzed employing a software algorithm embedded in the electronics within the pig body to provide a measurement of pipe wall thickness. By means of an odometer attached to the pig body, electrical signals are provided that reveal anomalies in the wall thickness of the pipeline relative to the distance traveled by the pig body so that an operator can thereby determine the location in the pipeline wall thickness anomalies.

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First Claim