On Monday, GE Reports explored how GE Oil & Gas used its high-tech pipeline inspection technology to “pig” what was previously thought to be an “unpiggable” pipeline in New York City. Now the Oil & Gas team has just hit another milestone — completing its largest pipeline inspection project with a whopper in Canada that sent the pig scurrying the equivalent of the distance between Paris and Berlin.
Tunnel vision: Commonly known as a “pig,” GE’s UltraScan Duo is the first ultrasonic “smart pig” to utilize phased array sensors to search for multiple types of cracks and other microscopic flaws in just one run of the line. The Duo’s phased array sensor system was originally developed by GE Healthcare for use in hospital imaging systems but later adapted to evaluate the condition of pipelines.
The latest project in Northwest Canada involved helping TransCanada inspect its natural gas pipes so that they could be converted to carry crude oil as part of the Keystone Oil Pipeline — which will transport oil to markets in the U.S. Midwest. But TransCanada first had to make sure the pipeline was free of stress corrosion cracking that could potentially lead to leaks. Between October 2008 and March 2009, GE’s field team performed inspection runs in three segments that totaled 537 miles.
The “pig” technology is not only perfectly suited to the job –- it’s another example of how GE business units can share breakthroughs to meet the needs of customers across industrial sectors. For example, technology born at GE Aviation crossed over to be used in the gas turbines that are being used in China’s West-to-East pipeline. GE Healthcare’s imaging technology leapt into the security arena to help power GE’s new explosives detection system for checked bags at airports. And the latest GE “smart pig” uses a sensor system originally developed for hospital imaging.
* Read the announcement
* Read “Mission Unpiggable: Starring GE Oil & Gas”
* Read “Working hard to keep oil where it belongs”
