Pig deal for Phoenix

Citation

(1999), "Pig deal for Phoenix", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 46 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.1999.12846fab.008

Pig deal for Phoenix

Pig deal for Phoenix

Keywords: Phoenix, Pipelines, Inspection

NDT equipment specialist Phoenix reports that it is expanding its activities in the field of pipeline inspection after winning another contract for the design and manufacture of transducers for "intelligent pigs".

Pipetronix, based in Germany, is the third major international pipeline service company to use Phoenix transducers. Pipeline Integrity International (formerly part of British Gas) has been a customer since it began pipeline pigging operations 20 years and AGR of Norway is also an established client.

Now Phoenix is preparing for a growing demand for pigging equipment, as the technique traditionally used in the oil and gas industry is increasingly employed by other utilities looking for a cost-effective way to detect cracks and corrosion in pipelines and thus prevent spillages.

As readers will know, intelligent pigs are used to inspect the millions of kilometres of oil and pipelines which criss-cross the world's surface. Powered by batteries and carrying up to 960 probes, these advanced inspection tools can travel along the inside of a pipeline for hundreds of miles at typical speeds of up to a metre a second, simultaneously scanning the walls for defects. The compressed data are analysed later by experts and can locate faults accurately to within a matter of centimetres.

The transducers used must be built to withstand the pressure inside the pipeline and take into account the contents, whether that be oil, gas, water or other liquids. Phoenix works closely with pipeline service companies to develop products suitable for the particular specification.