Tdw Delaware, Inc.

James Simek

John H Flora

Syed M Ali

Jed C Ludlow

Tod Baker

Mark Gregoire

Huidong Gao

A pipeline inspection tool has an even number 'n' of spiraled pole magnets spaced equidistant apart and spanning the length of the tool. Each pole magnet, which preferably has a conformable upper surface, is rotated or spiraled about the tool body so that a second end of each pole magnet is offset a predetermined amount '&#x3b1;' relative to a first end of that same pole magnet. The amount of rotation &#x3b1; applied to each of the pole magnets produces a magnetic field oblique to the central longitudinal axis of the tool body (and therefore the pipe) and one that covers 360&#xb0; of the internal wall surface of the pipe. A helical-shaped array of magnetic flux sensors may be arranged about the tool body and substantially equidistant between adjacent pairs of pole magnets. The tool detects axially oriented, circumferentially oriented, and volumetric anomalies and allows for single pass inspection.

Pipeline inspection tool with oblique magnetizer

A pipeline inspection tool includes two pole magnets oriented at an oblique angle relative to the central longitudinal axis of the tool body. An array of sensor coil sets is located between opposing edges of the two pole magnets and oriented perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis. Each sensor coil set includes a transmitter coil and two opposing pairs of receiver coils that are gated to receive reflections from the wall of a tubular member. Because the line of sensor coils is rotated relative to the magnetic bias field, the receiver coils are in-line with, and have the same angular orientation as, the transmitter coil. The tool provides improved sensitivity to small defects, substantial decrease in RF pulser power requirements, full circumferential coverage, self-calibration of the transmitted signals, and less interference between transmitter coils caused by acoustic ring around.

Pipeline inspection tool with double spiral EMAT sensor array

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Sandy, UT, United States of America

James Simek