Equipment and method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and in processing plants

• US 20070009087A1
• Filed: 07/06/2006
• Published: 01/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Petroleo Brasileiro SA - Petrobras
• Original Assignee: Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Campo de Azulão)
• Inventors: De Oliveira, Alberto
• Application Number:
  US11/481,056
• Publication Number:
  US 20070009087A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/60
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/00 Investigating or analysing materials by the use of wave or particle radiation, e.g. X-rays or neutrons, not covered by groups G01N3/00 – G01N17/00, G01N21/00 or G01N22/00

Abstract

Equipment (1) and a method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants are described. Records of physical variations of fundamental importance to learning the process by which the incrustations are formed inside ducts is obtained through an inlet of said duct in equipment for foreseeing, identifying, and locating inorganic incrustations within ducts. Said equipment (1) includes: a physical parameter recorder (2), containing sensors (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12), data acquisition equipment (13, 14, 15, 17 and 18) and power generating equipment (16), housed in an elastomer pig (19), with a cavity (20). Said equipment (1) allows salt incrustations to be foreseen, notably barium sulfate, calcium sulfate, strontium sulfate, and radium sulfate, that occur inside ducts, guaranteeing in this way an uninterrupted flow of fluids through the duct in accordance with well defined criteria, during operation of production ducts and transport.

Claims

1. Equipment for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants comprising:

an autonomous electronic recorder which includes;

a temperature recorder, to record temperature values ranging between 10°

C. and 90°

C., with a variation of precision of 1°

C.;

a pressure recorder, to record pressure values ranging between 0 and 200 bar, with a variation of precision of 0.2 bar;

a differential pressure recorder, to record differential pressure values ranging between 0 and 2 bar, with a variation of precision of 0.002 bar;

a longitudinal acceleration recorder, to record longitudinal acceleration values ranging between −

2 g and 2 g, with a variation of precision of 0.002 g;

a vertical acceleration recorder, to record vertical acceleration values within a range of between −

2 g and 2 g, with a variation of 0.002 g;

a horizontal acceleration recorder within the duct, to record horizontal acceleration values within a range of between −

2 g and 2 g, with a variation of 0.002 g;

a longitudinal rotation sensor to measure longitudinal rotation values ranging between 0 and 360 degrees;

a horizontal rotation sensor to measure horizontal rotation values ranging between 0 and 360 degrees;

a vertical rotation sensor to measure vertical rotation values ranging between 0 and 360 degrees;

a alpha, beta, gamma, and x-ray radiation sensor to measure radiation emitted by the incrustations;

a unit for conversion of analog data to digital data in order to make possible recording it into electronic memory;

a digital control and processing unit to manage the system of data acquisition from the equipment;

a non-volatile data storage unit to store the data obtained;

a power unit made up with batteries and a power management system to power the equipment; and

an interface for communication between a computer and the autonomous electronic recorder to program and download data; and

an elastomer pig, with a cavity wherein said autonomous electronic recorder is housed.

2. Equipment for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a cable with connectors, to establish a physical medium between the communication interface and the computer.

3. Equipment for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 1, wherein the recordings are simultaneously and autonomously performed for up to 50 uninterrupted hours.

4. Equipment for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 1, wherein the non-volatile data storage unit has a data acquisition rate in a range of occurrences of between 10 and 100 samples per second.

5. Equipment for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 1, characterized by said equipment allowing the probing of ducts of various diameters that may be selected among:

flexible lines, rigid ducts, and processing plants.

11. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 5, comprising measuring and recording a plurality of said physical variations, simultaneously and autonomously for up to 50 uninterrupted hours.

6. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants, comprising:

housing an autonomous electronic recorder in a cavity of a pig made of elastomer material, according to the nominal diameter of a duct or piping to be probed;

passing the equipment made up of the autonomous electronic recorder and the elastomer pig through the duct or piping to be probed;

measuring and recording physical variations in radioactivity, temperature, pressure (differential and absolute), acceleration (longitudinal, horizontal and vertical) and rotation (longitudinal horizontal and vertical) through the autonomous electronic recorder; and

transferring all recorded data from the autonomous electronic recorder to a computer; and

analyzing the recorded physical changes to locate and identify incrustations.

7. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 6, characterized by determining the nature of obstructions found in the duct such as, for example, tumbling home, corrosion, organic deposits, connections and/or misaligned valves or incrustations.

8. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 6, characterized by the equipment being pulled through the duct or piping by a steel or polymer cable.

9. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance with claim 6, comprising creating and developing a simulator capable of foreseeing the appearance or development of incrustations inside ducts and processing plants from the data generated from the recorded physical changes.

10. Method for locating and identifying incrustations in ducts and processing plants in accordance to claim 9, characterized by creating and developing a simulator using the data periodically collected for a computer modeling incrustation profile formation, by comparison with the real data acquired and the simulated data.