Inline Inspection of Dents and Corrosion Using “High Quality” Multi-Purpose Smart-Pig Inspection Data

Author(s):  
Steffen Paeper ◽  
Bryce Brown ◽  
Thomas Beuker

A new generation of geometry sensor for ILI tools has been developed. This sensor provides highly accurate geometry data of the internal pipe contour. The technology uses the benefits of a touchless distance measurement in combination with the advantages of a mechanical caliper arm. The complementary interaction allow the measurement of accurate data under demanding operational conditions. The geometry sensor technology can be combined with a navigation unit and the high resolution MFL inspection technology on so called multi-purpose ILI-tools. The merging of different inspection tasks on a single tool is an economic solution to create and add to an ILI-database for integrity management. Field experience with this new technology will be discussed, based on more than 500 miles inspected pipeline. Most inspections were performed in the US and Canada. The operational performance of the sensors justified the new design.

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 647
Author(s):  
Yury Sokolov

The industry expenditure savings motive requires a cost/benefit analysis to optimise Integrity Management budgets. The challenge of estimating precise risk costs requires that numeric Probabilities of Failure (PoF) be known at the highest possible level of confidence, as equipment items specific PoFs govern the actual probability of financial losses and safety implications. The first-hand information on the equipment actual integrity condition is contained in numeric results of integrity inspections. In practice, these results are seldom analysed statistically, being collapsed into single ‘worst case’ values. This simplification prevents assessing of equipment specific actual PoFs and from quantifying failure risks when using traditional methods. We developed a new-generation inspection planning and assessment strategy applied to oil and gas pressure equipment. Evaluating equipment PoFs enables assessing risk costs and optimising the budgets, as well as setting justified internal inspection coverage and frequency objectives. This is achieved by a statistical analysis of numeric inspection data. Existing inspection data (such as ultrasonic testing spot-checks) can be used for a first-pass analysis. Statistical plotting of such data automatically visualises the data quality, and the relevant recommendations for improving inspection coverage or tools are drawn where necessary. We found that two criteria drive integrity decision making: failure total costs and annual fatality expectancies. These criteria are mutually complementary. Both need to be considered for a safe and profitable plant operation. Equipment individual risk control strategy is then developed from safety compliance and budget savings maximising standpoints, thereby also enabling confident design and procurement decisions. This is a new-generation strategy suitable for bringing together all branches of plant management and for improving confidence of the parties. We see it as an evolutionary update to Risk Based Inspection and Maintenance practice, which is now in high demand due to cost pressures.


Author(s):  
Masoud Keighobadi ◽  
Maryam Nakhaei ◽  
Ali Sharifpour ◽  
Ali Akbar Khasseh ◽  
Sepideh Safanavaei ◽  
...  

Background: This study was designed to analyze the global research on Lophomonas spp. using bibliometric techniques. Methods: A bibliometric research was carried out using the Scopus database. The analysis unit was the research articles conducted on Lophomonas spp. Results: Totally, 56 articles about Lophomonas spp. were indexed in the Scopus throughout 1933-2019 ( 87 years ) with the following information: (A) The first article was published in 1933; (B) 21 different countries contributed in studies related to Lophomonas spp.; (C) China ranked first with 16 publications about Lophomonas spp.; and (D) “Brugerolle, G” and “Beams, H.W.” from France and the US participated in 4 articles respectively, as the highest number of publications in the Lophomonas spp. network. Discussion: After 87 years, Lophomonas still remains unknown for many researchers and physicians around the world. Further studies with high quality and international collaboration are urgently needed to determine different epidemiological aspects and the real burden of the mysterious parasite worldwide.


Electricity is critical to enabling India’s economic growth and providing a better future for its citizens. In spite of several decades of reform, the Indian electricity sector is unable to provide high-quality and affordable electricity for all, and grapples with the challenge of poor financial and operational performance. To understand why, Mapping Power provides the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of electricity in India’s states. With chapters on fifteen states by scholars of state politics and electricity, this volume maps the political and economic forces that constrain and shape decisions in electricity distribute on. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it concludes that attempts to depoliticize the sector are misplaced and could worsen outcomes. Instead, it suggests that a historically grounded political economy analysis helps understand the past and devise reforms to simultaneously improve sectoral outcomes and generate political rewards. These arguments have implications for the challenges facing India’s electricity future, including providing electricity to all, implementing government reform schemes, and successfully managing the rise of renewable energy.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1455
Author(s):  
David T. Bird ◽  
Nuggehalli M. Ravindra

The US Department of Defense (DoD) realizes the many uses of additive manufacturing (AM) as it has become a common fabrication technique for an extensive range of engineering components in several industrial sectors. 3D Printed (3DP) sensor technology offers high-performance features as a way to track individual warfighters on the battlefield, offering protection from threats such as weaponized toxins, bacteria or virus, with real-time monitoring of physiological events, advanced diagnostics, and connected feedback. Maximum protection of the warfighter gives a distinct advantage over adversaries by providing an enhanced awareness of situational threats on the battle field. There is a need to further explore aspects of AM such as higher printing resolution and efficiency, with faster print times and higher performance, sensitivity and optimized fabrication to ensure that soldiers are more safe and lethal to win our nation’s wars and come home safely. A review and comparison of various 3DP techniques for sensor fabrication is presented.


2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth

At the present time there is a need for a new generation of programs to address the needs of ‘at risk’ children and families. This is an issue that is exercising the minds of service planners in both government and non-government community service organisations. This need arises from the fact that many existing programs have yet to be rigorously evaluated and are of questionable effectiveness. This lack of evidence of effectiveness does not sit well in the current climate of accountability. It also runs contrary to the increasingly strident calls for evidence based practice.Many new programs arrive in Australia from the US as this country is often the source of program innovation as illustrated by the importation in the 1980s and 1990s of family preservation and family reunification programs. In the US, promotion of ‘model programs' has taken another step and a systematic effort at program replication is now in evidence. The question is, how might model programs from overseas be successfully replicated in Australia? And what is required, if anything, to replicate these models effectively taking account of our different cultural traditions?


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biramarta Isnadi ◽  
Luong Ann Lee ◽  
Sok Mooi Ng ◽  
Ave Suhendra Suhaili ◽  
Quailid Rezza M Nasir ◽  
...  

Abstract The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the best practices of Topside Structural Integrity Management for an aging fleet of more than 200 platforms with about 60% of which has exceeded the design life. PETRONAS as the operator, has established a Topside Structural Integrity Management (SIM) strategy to demonstrate fitness of the offshore topside structures through a hybrid philosophy of time-based inspection with risk-based maintenance, which is in compliance to API RP2SIM (2014) inspection requirements. This paper shares the data management, methodology, challenges and value creation of this strategy. The SIM process adopted in this work is in compliance with industry standards API RP2SIM, focusing on Data-Evaluation-Strategy-Program processes. The operator HSE Risk Matrix is adopted in risk ranking of the topside structures. The main elements considered in developing the risk ranking of the topside structures are the design and assessment compliance, inspection compliance and maintenance compliance. Effective methodology to register asset and inspection data capture was developed to expedite the readiness of Topside SIM for a large aging fleet. The Topside SIM is being codified in the operator web-based tool, Structural Integrity Compliance System (SICS). Identifying major hazards for topside structures were primarily achieved via data trending post implementation of Topside SIM. It was then concluded that metal loss as the major threat. Further study on effect of metal loss provides a strong basis to move from time-based maintenance towards risk-based maintenance. Risk ranking of the assets allow the operator to prioritize resources while managing the risk within ALARP level. Current technologies such as drone and mobile inspection tools are deployed to expedite inspection findings and reporting processes. The data from the mobile inspection tool is directly fed into the web based SICS to allow reclassification of asset risk and anomalies management.


Author(s):  
N.N. Aleksandrov ◽  
N.S. Gushchin ◽  
N.F. Nuraliev

New high-tech spheroidal graphite chromium-nickel cast iron with improved as-cast properties is developed. The technological advantages of the new alloy are shown in comparison with foreign cast iron of the type Nihard-4. High-quality castings of grinding elements made of new domestic wear -resistant cast iron are made in the conditions of Russian plants using the developed technology. Medium-speed coal grinding mills equipped with these grinding elements have successfully passed the operational test at domestic and foreign thermal power plants. The technical and economic advantages of the new technology in comparison with foreign ones are shown, which made it possible to guarantee the stable production of high-quality wear-resistant massive castings of complex c onfi guration using domestic materials under the conditions of Russian plan.


2018 ◽  
Vol 488 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adebayo J. Adeloye ◽  
Bankaru-Swamy Soundharajan

AbstractHedging is universally recognized as a useful operational practice in surface water reservoirs to temporally redistribute water supplies and thereby avoid large, crippling water shortages. When based on the zones of available water in storage, hedging has traditionally involved a static rationing (i.e. supply to demand) ratio. However, given the usual seasonality of reservoir inflows, it is also possible that hedging could be dynamic with seasonally varying rationing ratios. This study examined the effect of static and dynamic hedging policies on the performance of the Pong reservoir in India during a period of climate change. The results show that the reservoir vulnerability was unacceptably high (≥60%) without hedging and that this vulnerability further deteriorated as the catchment became drier due to projected climate change. The time- and volume-based reliabilities were acceptable. The introduction of static hedging drastically reduced the vulnerability to <25%, although the hedging reduction in the water supplied during normal operational conditions was only 17%. Further analyses with dynamic hedging provided only modest improvements in vulnerability. The significance of this study is its demonstration of the effectiveness of hedging in offsetting the impact of water shortages caused by climate change and the fact that static hedging can match more complex dynamic hedging policies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850022
Author(s):  
Yaseen S. Alhaj-Yaseen ◽  
Kean Wu ◽  
Leslie B. Fletcher

This paper examines the changes in earnings quality of registered American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) as a result of switching accounting standards. We aim to shed light on the potential impact of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) adoption on US firms. A suboptimal approach to achieve this goal is through examination of US firms’ surrogates such as ADRs. Unlike previous studies, we made a distinction between registered and unregistered ADRs and affirmed that registered ADRs are the closest surrogates with which to conduct our analysis because they are exclusively required to adhere to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s stringent disclosure requirements. When cross-listing their equity on the US exchanges, foreign issuers can file their financial reports with the SEC using IFRS, US GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), or their domestic GAAP with reconciliation to US GAAP. An improvement in earnings quality is documented when ADRs adopt US GAAP or IFRS versus domestic GAAP. However, when the comparison is made between US GAAP and IFRS, no difference in earnings quality is documented. These results indicate that switching to high-quality accounting standards is likely to improve earnings quality. This improvement is maximized when the difference between reporting standards is high and minimized if otherwise. Our conclusion is that the adoption of IFRS in the US is unlikely to change earnings quality of local issuers. Moreover, we drew a distinction between reconciliation with and adoption of high-quality accountings standards and find that while the former can enhance earnings quality, the latter can further improve it.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Driguez ◽  
Salim Bougouffa ◽  
Karen Carty ◽  
Alexander Putra ◽  
Kamel Jabbari ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent years have witnessed a rapid development of sequencing technologies. Fundamental differences and limitations among various platforms impact the time, the cost and the accuracy for sequencing whole genomes. Here we designed a complete de novo plant genome generation workflow that starts from plant tissue samples and produces high-quality draft genomes with relatively modest laboratory and bioinformatic resources within seven days. To optimize our workflow we selected different species of plants which were used to extract high molecular weight DNA, to make PacBio and ONT libraries for sequencing with the Sequel I, Sequel II and GridION platforms. We assembled high-quality draft genomes of two different Eucalyptus species E. rudis, and E. camaldulensis to chromosome level without using additional scaffolding technologies. For the rapid production of de novo genome assembly of plant species we showed that our DNA extraction protocol followed by PacBio high fidelity sequencing, and assembly with new generation assemblers such as hifiasm produce excellent results. Our findings will be a valuable benchmark for groups planning wet- and dry-lab plant genomics research and for high throughput plant genomics initiatives.


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