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Case Study

Evides Watercompany, The Netherlands

Evides Watercompany was open to exploring new ways to reduce risks and extend the service life of their buried infrastructure. In particular, Evides wanted to assess the condition of its TL2.60 pipeline, a cement-lined 800mm (31.5 inch) steel pipe, with 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) of the inspected pipeline running along an important highway connecting Rotterdam to The Hague.

To assist in the condition assessment, Evides elected to deploy the 24-sensor PipeDiver®, an innovative tool from Pure Technologies designed to assess and address large-diameter metallic pipelines.

Project Details

Services
 SmartBall® leak detection

PipeDiver® condition assessment
Timing
 2016
Pipe Material
 Steel
Inspection Length
 2.84 km (1.7 miles)
Diameter
 800mm (31.5-inch)
Transmission Type
 Water

Project Highlights

 

Four (4)
pipes identified with anomalies

60% wall loss
on one pipe section identified by EM data

Zero (0)
leaks detected

 

HD-CTTV identified
estimated savings due to inspection: 1.1M Euros

 

Challenge
Prior to inspection, Evides created a series of predetermined defects made on a specific pipe segment in a research environment. The objective was to validate the tool against a range of known defects in a pipe with the same characteristics as the pipe inspected. During this process, all defects within the stated sensitivity were detected by the 24D PipeDiver tool at the precise location, providing confidence for the upcoming live inspection.

PipeDiver is a flexible, free-swimming condition assessment tool for pressurized water and wastewater pipelines. The video-equipped tool is ideal for critical pipelines that cannot be removed from service due to a lack of redundancy or operational constraints.

Solution
While PipeDiver has traditionally been deployed on prestressed concrete pipe to identify and locate broken prestressing wire wraps, the 24-detector PipeDiver has been specifically developed for metallic pipelines. For the Evides inspection, the PipeDiver tool with 24 electromagnetic sensors was used to locate and identify steel pipes with anomalies associated with corrosion or reduced wall thickness.

This Evides inspection marked the first condition assessment of metallic pipe using the 24D PipeDiver in Europe, an exercise that confirmed the validity of the tool’s sensor technology and validate once more the effectiveness of the platform to inspect pipelines.

The insertions went off without a hitch, and the PipeDiver sailed through the pipeline obstacle course with ease, gathering EM data along the route.

Results
Of the approximately 237 pipe sections inspected during the real inspection, four pipes were identified with anomalies indicative of cylinder wall loss, ranging between 30 percent and 60 percent. The wall loss defects ranged from 10.8 to 37.7 cubic centimeters (0.64 to 2.30 cubic inches).

After the inspection, three out of the four locations were dug-up to verify the reported defects, using non-destructive ultrasonic techniques. On each of the locations, the defects were found, and the actual material loss was in the range of the reported material loss.

Overall, the results proved the worth of PipeDiver as an advanced condition assessment tool able to deliver precise, actionable data on metallic pipes. The exercise showed the PipeDiver tool as a cost-effective solution versus methods that have operational constraints or require a shutdown or dewatering, or in this case, taken out of service. Evides estimated capital savings of 1.1M Euros as a result of the inspection and repairs.

Quote

“PipeDiver proved to be a suitable tool for one of our most important inspection needs: Corrosion of cement-lined steel pipes. We are especially glad the tool was able to pass a butterfly valve, and to be inserted and extracted through 600mm manholes, as this greatly improves operability and cost effectiveness.”

–Bart Bergmans, Project Manager, Infrastructure Asset Management, Evides Watercompany