Industrial feasibility study of the intelligent flaw-detector
system for pipeline nondestructive testing

Sharif university of technology - National Iranian Petroleum Society

Regular nondestructive testing of gas and petroleum pipelines guaranties their operationality. The research plan under the title of 'feasibility study of flaw detector of the petroleum pipelines' was performed by the Electronics Research Center (ERC) on behalf of National Iranian Petroleum Society.
The imaging and flaw detection system using ultrasonic signals, comprised of several technologies. The intelligent flaw detector system is cylindrical. This system is mounted in a branch of the pipeline and it is thrusted by the line pressure. The mounted sensors all over the body of the system gather the data about the flaws on the pipe-wall together with its geographical coordination. After sampling and compression these data are saved. After passing the path, the system is taken out from the other end of the pipeline. The gathered data are extracted from the system memory and undergoing a chain of processing the flaws are detected, characterized and systematically documented.

A brief description of this multi-disciplinary project is as follows:

• Determination of the required data that should be acquired,
• Determination of the best sensors for an optimal data acquisition for imaging of pipeline,
• Study, selection and designing of navigation system and odometer for the purpose of determining the location of the flaws are done,
• Study and basic design of acquisition and preprocessing of required information,
• Compression and documentation of the gathered data,
• Study and basic design of power supplies for the imaging module,
• Study and basic design of the mechanical body of the intelligent flaw-detector system,
• Retrieval of the gathered information outside the pipeline.
• Developing the signal processing algorithms and extraction of the flaws characterizations,

In order to verify the reliability of the intelligent flaw-detector system, reliable alternatives are introduced for the vital parts.

The results of this research plan were published in 10 volumes and 3 appendices. In addition to the faculty members of the Electronics Research Center of Sharif University of Technology, the faculty members of the departments of electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanics, and physics of Sharif University of Technology and also some faculty members of Amir Kabir university of technology, and some private corporations had cooperation in the implementation phase of this project. After successful finishing of this plan, the research activities continued in some directions:

• Preparing the proposal of a plan for production of an industrial prototype of oil and gas pipelines flaw detection system (National Iranian Petroleum Society and National Iranian Gas Society)
• Preparation of a plan for production of an industrial prototype of oil and gas pipelines geometrical anomaly detection (National Iranian Petroleum Society and National Iranian Gas Society)
• Following the basic and applied research in the field of imaging, preprocessing and image processing to extract the defect in the material and publication of articles in prestigious journals and international conferences

Principal scientific members of the project

Project design and management

Designer	Ravanbod H.
Managing directory of the project	Tebiani M., Ravanbod H., Behnia F.
Project Consultant	Sheibani Sh.

Sharif University of Technology

Electrical Engineering Department	Barkeshli K, Behnia F., Masoumnia M.A, Nayebi K., Sheybani Sh., Tebiani M.
Mechanical Engineering Department	Dorali M.
Material Science and Engineering Department	Ghorbani M.
Physics Department	Amjadi A.
Electronics Research Center	Ghampour I., Movahedi M. R., Pezeshk AM Pireyar M., Ravanbod H.

Amir Kabir University of Technology

Mechanical Engineering Department	Rahimzadeh H
Electrical Engineering Department	Amindavar H. R.

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lauzanne

Lab. of Movement Analysis and Measurement

Aminian K.

Special thanks to the supporters of the project

Izadi H.	The managing director of the national Iranian oil pipeline and telecommunication company who introduced the issue of feasibility study of the intelligent pig for the first time.
Mousavi A.	The former president of the telecommunication section of the national Iranian oil refining and distribution company, the supervisor of the feasibility study of the intelligent flaw-detector project.
Afshar A.	Professor, Material Science and Engineering Department - Sharif University of Technology, He aided us so much during the proposal preparation phase
Tebyani M.	Professor, Electrical Engineering Department - Sharif University of Technology,who had a vital role in successful implementation of the project.
Sohrabpour S.	The Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology, for his kind help in communication with the ministers and authorities and providing the appropriate facilities