Synergistic methods for pipeline inspection

安全经济的石油和天然气运输是加拿大基础设施的重要组成部分。随着管道的老化，需要不断维护和维修，这不仅对确保经济稳定性很重要，而且对防止管道破裂造成灾难性的环境破坏也很重要。 因此，必须定期检查管道是否存在潜在的危险缺陷。 首选的检测方法是漏磁（MFL）成像。这通常使用被称为“清管器”的检查装置来完成，该检查装置被插入管道中。这些设备收集管道的磁性“图像”，帮助检查人员识别管道壁中潜在的危险缺陷。该项目的目标是开发一个可靠的自动化算法框架，可用于管道缺陷检测和评估。重点是精确表征和评估缺陷，如表面破裂裂纹和腐蚀，以便适当优先进行维修和更换。这将通过信号处理和基于物理的模型辅助方法的磁逆问题的协同组合来实现。将使用空间映射等复杂的优化方法来加速解决方案的过程。该方案是与Intratech Inline Inspection Services Ltd.（Intratech）合作的，该公司为全球管道运营商提供MFL成像检测服务。在这个项目的过程中开发的方法将有利于我们的工业合作伙伴，加拿大管道工业和环境，因为他们都有改善管道检查程序的利益。

The safe and economical transport of oil and natural gas is an important part of Canada's infrastructure. With aging pipelines, the need for constant maintenance and repair is important not only to ensure economic stability but also to prevent catastrophic environmental damage resulting from pipeline rupture.  Thus, pipelines must be regularly inspected for potentially hazardous defects.  The preferred method of inspection is magnetic flux leakage (MFL) imaging. This is normally accomplished using an inspection device referred to as a "pig", which is inserted into the pipe. These devices collect a magnetic "image" of the pipe, that helps the inspectors identify potentially hazardous defects in the pipeline wall.The goal of this project is to develop a reliable automated framework of algorithms that can be used for pipeline defect detection and evaluation. The emphasis is on the precise characterization and evaluation of defects such as surface breaking cracks and corrosion so that repair and replacement can be duly prioritized. This will be accomplished by a synergistic combination of signal processing and physics-based model-aided approaches to a magnetic inverse problem. Sophisticated optimization methodologies such as space mapping will be used to accelerate the solution process.This proposal is in co-operation with Intratech Inline Inspection Services Ltd. (Intratech), a firm which provides MFL imaging inspection services to pipeline operators throughout the world. The methodologies developed in the course of this project will benefit our industrial partner, the Canadian pipeline industry, and the environment, as they all  have a stake in improved pipeline inspection procedures.