How to overcome challenges in Corrosion Mapping Tests with Advanced NDT Equipment

Corrosion can be damaging not just to your equipment but to your bottom line as well.Market reports show that the total annual cost of corrosion in the oil and gas production industry (which is primarily where mapping is done) is estimated to be USD 1,372 billion, broken down into $589 million in the surface pipeline and facility costs, $463 million annually in downhole tubing expenses, and another $320 million in capital expenditures related to corrosion.

There are several types of corrosion

• Uniform corrosion – evenly across the surface
• Pitting corrosion – uneven and appears as pits
• Exfoliation corrosion – moves along layers of elongated grains
• Inter-granular corrosion – grows along grain boundaries

Investing in corrosion mapping – which is essentially a quantitative way to inspect materials where oxidation or erosion has reduced thickness – will contribute toward not only cost reduction but also compliance with safety, health, and environmental policies.

What is done in corrosion mapping?

During corrosion mapping, the location of each measurement point as well as the material wear is recorded. This gives a comprehensive overview of the wall thickness over time, and therefore any flaw or change in the recorded pattern will indicate the presence of corrosion or delamination. Corrosion mapping using the right advanced nondestructive testing process is perhaps the most reliable test method for measuring material thickness.

Usually, an automatic or semi-automatic scanner is used. It employs various ultrasonic techniques including pulse-echo and phased array to do the mapping. It is usually done to inspect equipment used in the oil, gas and nuclear industries such as pipework, pressure vessels, and reactors.

Here are some of the major challenges in NDT corrosion mapping.

Positioning

A scanner that is not positioned correctly can give inaccurate data on account of alignment issues. An ill-positioned probe or scanner may also miss areas that have been affected by corrosion. Flexible, adaptive scanners designed for corrosion mapping can streamline inspection.

Limited view

A conventional or basic scanner may only provide a limited X-Y area over two axes and cannot conform to smaller curved contours. The right NDT scanner will adjust to the curvature and surface of a tested item. Quality mapping solutions will adapt to magnetic and non-magnetic surfaces, whatever the curvature or surface composition.

Insufficient data

Outdated software can mean long setup times, less storage, limited software adjustments, sub-par mapping techniques, and insufficient data analysis. Innovative software offers uncompromised real-time data and makes interpretation easier.

Blue Star Engineering & Electronics understands the demands of corrosion mapping and offers several top-of-the-line products.

The ChainSCANNER for instance offers a manual pipe-inspection solution for pipes and can inspect ferromagnetic or non-ferromagnetic surfaces, while the VersaMOUSE is a scanner suited for linear encoded scans with a phased array probe. Also on offer is the MapSCANNER, a new manual two-axis scanner, designed especially for corrosion mapping inspection.

Our qualified engineers are here to answer any queries you may have on corrosion mapping, so give us a call today.