WWII-era Pipeline Requires Customized 9″ Inline Inspection Tool

Project overview

What do you do in WWII-era United States when commodities are scarce, but excess construction materials are available near military bases? You fabricate a steel pipeline made from excess bomb casing, ensuring nothing goes to waste. Remarkably, one of these 9” steel pipelines is still in use today, running between tank farms near the Air Force base it was originally designed to serve. Because this pipeline’s diameter is non-standard, UPP had to create a customized 9” Inline Inspection Tool for the job.

Inline Inspection

Standard pipelines for oil and gas are generally 8” or 10” in diameter. There are no off-the-shelf monitoring solutions for 9” pipelines. The UPP team had a lot of fun designing, building, and testing a whole new tool to fit the 9” specs. After many months of planning and pull tests, we were ready and able to effectively inspect this piece of historical pipeline.

Analysis result

UPP’s 9” Inline Inspection Tool evaluated 1 km of pipeline and identified 789 metal loss and cluster features. The detailed data collection allowed us to pinpoint specific areas of concern, providing a comprehensive overview of the pipeline’s condition. The tool’s precision in detecting these features ensured that every aspect of the pipeline was thoroughly inspected, and careful examination also helped in identifying potential future issues that could be addressed proactively, enhancing the overall maintenance strategy.

Client result

UPP’s data analysis and detailed reporting confirmed that the overall integrity of the pipeline remained intact and required no intervention for the time being. This information gave our client the confidence and peace of mind they needed to resume normal pipeline operation.