Leaks, Pipe Breaks, and Preventive Maintenance

A better understanding of leak related effects has implications for pipe rehabilitation, system economics, customer disruption, and environmental sustainability. Reducing leakage be a result of a well-suited preventive maintenance program. The purpose of this study is to inspect approximately 10% of the runouts (branch pipes) between the plumbing fixtures and the risers to estimate the extent of serious corrosion of the runouts that may cause leaks in the future. For collecting the site data for our study, we visited the building and investigated piping through 57 different access openings in 31 randomly selected apartments. These apartments were selected to allow observation of a variety of risers at varying elevations. We observed in about 20% of the runouts inspected, the remaining thickness of the steel pipe was less than 60% in the areas that we could access. The runouts are in danger of developing leaks. Because of the high potential cost of leaks and the possibility of that 20%, or 120 pipes, could leak soon, recommend replacement of all the runouts. System performance can only be reliably characterized through monitoring and analysis of relevant data. Performance monitoring is concerned with measuring system efficiency and to what extent the system is delivering the parameters what it was designed for (i.e., flow, pressure, energy, water quality, etc.).

Motion Analysis of subsea PLET during the Setting-Down Process

The design analysis of Subsea PLET should consider various cases, including in-place analysis, lifting analysis, setting down analysis and so on. The size and vessel space should be checked in the structural design, and the fishing protection function should also be covered. The accurate setting-down process is the prerequisite for the successful construction of the subsea project. Therefore, it is necessary to simulate the various conditions included in the setting down process. Based on practical YC13-1 project and subsea environment condition, a special type of subsea PLET is designed for the pipe rehabilitation. Theoretical study is performed to discuss the load and Fluent software is used to simulate the problems encountered in the setting-down process. Comparison on the calculation results with ROV condition and without ROV condition, it indicates the effective suppression of the movement of PLET with ROV tractive action. The study can be a good reference and guidance for the design and construction of South China Sea oil and gas field project.

Design of a Mechanical Sealing Device for Robotic Water Distribution Pipe Rehabilitation

Water distribution pipe maintenance is a global concern. In this study, we propose a Rehabilitation In-Pipe Robot (R-IPR) to perform pipe rehabilitation operations and contain induced contamination. The robot features three modules: a pipe cleaning module, a mechanical sealing module, and an in-pipe manipulator module. This study emphasizes the comprehensive design of the mechanical sealing module. We introduce a multi-layer compound structure of the seal to deal with two characteristics of tuberculated pipe surfaces: 1. macroscopical surface roughness, 2. overhang in foundation profile. The prototype excels in sealing foundation overhang and requires 45% lower compression load than a baseline seal to function. The prototype seal is integrated into the R-IPR. Finally, experiments of the overall system demonstrate the successful performance of the first contamination-less in-pipe rehabilitation.