Non Destructive Testing of plastic pipes to reduce failures in the water and gas networks

塑料管道的无损检测可减少供水和燃气网络的故障

• 批准号: 710820
• 金额: $ 12.68万
• 依托单位: IMPACT LABORATORIES LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: GRD Proof of Concept
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2016 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=710820
• 关键词: Non; Destructive; Testing; plastic; pipes

Impact has developed and identified an opportunity to further develop an ultrasound testingmethod for PE plastic pipe joints. Electrofusion joints are commonly used to connect PEpipes for water and gas delivery across the UK, but studies have found that 20% fail beforethe end of their service lifetime. There is currently no cost effective method of testing thesejoints and as a result testing is rarely carried out, and failures, which lead to safety concernsand water leakages are common place.In 2014, UK water authorities lost 3.3 billion litres of water daily to leakages in pipes, withthe majority due to faulty joints. Current testing methods are limited to destructive testing ofdummy joints, which test the welders ability, but this method is time consuming and costly asthe testing is required to be performed at external laboratories. As a result, most contractorswill ignore this testing.Impact NDT will be developed in this project to be a compact, handheld device, which can beoperated by a minimally trained operator. The technology will be able to analyse andinterpret the results in real time and deliver a red, or green light to the operator and certify thepipe joint meets the relevant standard. It will be a low cost solution, in line with the industrywants, as confirmed during an InnovateUK proof of market. During this project, an MD of alarge UK water authority commented “Can I have one tomorrow?”.Additionally, Impact have identified a large market within the USA, where PE pipes arecommonly used for gas transport. A 2014 fatal gas explosion in Harlem, NY, led to a NTSBinvestigation, where a faulty pipe weld was found to be responsible. As a result, the NTSBhas issued a safety warning against electrofusion pipe welds, until a suitable quality solutioncan be found. Therefore, there is a large possibility of having Impact NDT regulatoryapproved and mandated within the USA for all PE pipe welds.

Impact 开发并确定了进一步开发 PE 塑料管道接头超声波测试方法的机会。在英国，电熔接头通常用于连接用于输送水和煤气的 PE 管道，但研究发现，20% 的管道在其使用寿命结束之前就出现故障。目前没有成本有效的方法来测试这些接头，因此很少进行测试，导致安全问题和漏水的故障很常见。2014年，英国水务部门每天因管道泄漏损失33亿升水，其中大部分是由于接头故障造成的。目前的测试方法仅限于对假接头进行破坏性测试，以测试焊工的能力，但这种方法耗时且成本高昂，因为测试需要在外部实验室进行。因此，大多数承包商会忽略此测试。在该项目中，Impact NDT 将被开发为紧凑型手持式设备，可由经过最低限度培训的操作员操作。该技术将能够实时分析和解释结果，并向操作员发出红光或绿光，并证明管道接头符合相关标准。正如 InnovateUK 市场证明所证实的那样，这将是一种低成本解决方案，符合行业需求。在该项目期间，英国一家大型水务局的总经理评论道：“我明天可以拥有一个吗？”。此外，Impact 还发现了美国境内的一个巨大市场，其中 PE 管道通常用于天然气运输。 2014 年纽约哈莱姆区发生致命瓦斯爆炸，国家运输安全委员会 (NTSB) 对此进行了调查，结果发现是管道焊接缺陷造成的。因此，NTSB 发布了针对电熔管道焊接的安全警告，直到找到合适的质量解决方案。因此，美国监管部门批准并强制执行所有 PE 管道焊缝的冲击无损检测的可能性很大。