Non-contact ultrasonic sensor and state-of-the-art camera for automated pipe inspection

The United States is critically dependent on natural gas, petroleum liquids, water and sewer transported through pipelines. The infrastructure that currently transports these resources is aging, with a significant fraction being more than 50 years old. The enormity of the problem of deteriorating pipeline infrastructure is apparent. Since rebuilding the piping system is not financially realistic, pipeline operators require the capacity to monitor the condition of buried pipes. Thus, a reliable pipeline assessment system is necessary so that pipeline operators can develop cost-effective maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation programs. A research is underway at Penn State to determine if non-contact ultrasound (NCU) can be used to quantify the state of defects in pipelines. The goal of this research is to develop a test method that can add complementary pipe information to existing surface image assessments. Superposing an ultrasonic image onto an optical image of the sample creates a visual context in which interpretation and analysis are easily achieved.