Saudi Arabian Oil Company

Taher L Al-Jundi

Aziz U Rehman

Isa H Al-Mudaibegh

Fadhel H Asfoor

Mansour M Al-Ajji

A sensor assembly communicatively coupled to a processing device is configured to be disposed within and move along a pipe configured to flow a fluid. The sensor assembly includes a tubular housing configured to be centrally retained within the pipe. The tubular housing includes an outer diameter smaller than an internal diameter of the pipe. The sensor assembly also includes a plurality of ultrasonic elements coupled to and distributed evenly along an external surface of the tubular housing to define a gap between an outer surface of the ultrasonic elements and an internal surface of the pipe. The ultrasonic elements are configured to transmit ultrasonic signals and sense ultrasonic signals reflected from the internal surface of the pipe to sense corrosion and scale buildup information inside the pipe. The ultrasonic elements are configured to transmit the information to the processing device.

Ultrasonic based internal inspection of tubes

A method of dewatering a hydrocarbon storage tank carrying a first fluid layer that includes a first hydrogen concentration and a second fluid layer that includes a second hydrogen concentration includes receiving, from a sensor and by a processor communicatively coupled to the sensor, a value representing an amount of backscattered neutrons sensed by the sensor. The sensor is attached to a surface of a wall of the tank adjacent a fluid outlet of the storage tank. The sensor is configured to sense neutrons backscattered from the first fluid layer and an interface layer. The method includes comparing, by the processor, the value to a threshold, and actuating, by the processor, a valve fluidically coupled to the outlet of the storage tank to drain the first fluid layer from the storage tank while preventing the interface layer from leaving the storage tank.

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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Taher L Al-Jundi