Pipe crawler - New, innovative grinding robots for use in offshore pipes
INSPECTOR SYSTEMS developed a robot for the group Saipem s.a. for use in offshore pipes. The robot was designed for removing weld roots from the interior of pipe systems and to improve the condition of the pipe wall. We were able to use our 20 some years of experience gathered by developing grinding robots for the nuclear power industry to go use by developing a new type of robot for the offshore sector.
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The robots were used for preparing pipes for quad joints in the Kizomba B oilfield off the Angolan coast. This meant the removal of 215 critical welding seams from the most affected points of the free floating pipeline between Calm Buoy and FPSO. This increased the operational life of the welding seams in regards to their resistance to torsion and fatigue, as well furnishing the pipeline wall with a smooth inner surface. Further more; removing the welding seams saved the need for the insertion of a further 240 welding seams because the no more pipe forgings were needed. The grinding robot is made up of one drive unit for propulsion within the pipe, one grinding element that is flexibly connected to the drive unit and one control unit. The drive unit is so constructed that the unit's wheels can be firmly pressed onto the interior walls of the pipe. This means that even vertical sections can be traveled. Thanks to the way the different elements are flexibly connected, bends also present no obstacle. The grinding element is made up of a rotation unit with tensioning and centering components (turns 400° reversibly), one axial stroke, a radial adjuster and a powerful grinding motor. Further the unit has a high resolution inspection camera with a laser light sensor as well as a monitoring camera for watching the progress of the grinding work. The grinding element can remove one complete welding seam within 60 - 90 min leaving an excellent surface condition without any edges. After the removal of all 215 welding seams during the Kizomba B project, a visual inspection was undertaken on the pipeline, this included a measurement of wall thickness and MPI tests. No negative results were recorded. Further more the roughness of the ground down areas was also measured, proving the surface to be of excellent quality. Both the grinding robot and the grinding process have been approved by both Saipem s.a. and Exxon Mobil. |
   
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Grinding robots in action! Take a look at our short video film to see just how grinding robots work.
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INSPECTOR SYSTEMS Rainer Hitzel GmbH, Johann Friedrich Böttgerstr. 19, 63322 Rödermark, Phone: +49 6074 917 123 0 | Imprint
