Friction Stir Welding Crawler for Internal Repair and Refurbishment of Pipelines - FSWBot

“钢质管道会因其所含液体的性质而受到腐蚀。此外，随着时间的推移，可能会形成裂缝，导致内容物失效和泄漏，造成严重的经济损失和环境污染。为避免出现这种情况，定期执行检查、评估和维修活动。使用带有特殊传感器的智能检测设备(PIG)对内部裂纹、腐蚀和金属损失区域进行监控。被发现有可能失效的管道部分使用外部应用的螺栓夹子进行加固，这种夹子既昂贵又安装困难且危险。FSWBot项目将看到针对管道内部腐蚀和裂缝的根本新解决方案的开发。实现这一目标将产生一个更便宜、更安全的修复过程，使管道资产所有者及其服务提供商能够在不关闭和清洗石油管道以及不使用潜水员和水面船只的情况下生产非常高质量的钢质管道焊缝。该项目的目标是开发一种机器人平台，其有效载荷由独特的液压搅拌摩擦焊接设备组成，该设备不会产生火花。通过事先对金属损失和腐蚀产生的异常进行高分辨率测绘获得的数据将用于为特派团规划提供信息。维修将在不使用外部电源和焊接耗材的情况下就地进行。机器人将通过变桨距涡轮机和发电机从管道中的液体流动中产生电力，发电机将为液压泵和驱动磁轨的电池供电。FSWBot将使英国三家公司--Forth Engineering、Proserv和Innvotek的竞争力和增长发生阶段性变化。

"Steel pipelines corrode due to of the nature of the liquids they contain. Also, cracks can form over time leading to failure and leakage of the contents, resulting in severe economic losses and environmental pollution. To avoid this, inspection, evaluation, and repair activities are performed periodically. Internal cracks and areas of corrosion and metal loss are monitored by the use of intelligent inspection devices (PIGs) which carry special sensors. Sections of pipeline that are found to be likely to fail are reinforced using an externally applied bolt-on clamp which is both costly and is difficult and dangerous to install.The FSWBot project will see the development of a radical new solution to internal corrosion and cracks that form inside pipelines. Meeting the objective will result in a much cheaper, safer repair process that will enable pipeline asset owners and their service providers to produce very high- quality welds in steel pipelines without shutting down and purging petroleum pipelines and without the use of divers and surface vessels. This is of enormous importance especially in respect to inaccessible pipelines and those which are installed in parallel groups where space around pipes is restricted.The objective of the project is to develop a robotic platform with a payload consisting of unique hydraulic friction stir welding equipment which produces no sparks. Data obtained by prior high-resolution mapping of anomalies that are produced by metal loss and corrosion will be used to provide information for mission planning. Repair will be carried out in-situ using no external power and no welding consumables. The robot will generate electricity from the liquid flow in the pipeline via a variable pitch turbine diving a generator, which will supply power to a hydraulic pump and a battery which drives the magnetic tracks.FSWBot will bring about a step change in the competitiveness and growth for 3 UK business -- namely Forth Engineering, Proserv and Innvotek."