An Innovative Vibration Sensor for Flow Accelerated Corrosion Measurement

Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC), also known as Erosion-Corrosion (EC), is a serious safety and reliability problem facing carbon-steel pipes in power generation plants. It is also a serious problem in the oil and gas industry when oil, gas and solids flow together through piping systems. This phenomenon results in wear and thinning of large areas of pipes and fittings which could compromise their structural integrity and thereby could lead to sudden and sometimes to catastrophic failures. Such failures may require shutdowns which result in production losses, and impose potential threats to human safety and the environment. The existing technology of pipe thickness measurements depends mainly on ultrasonic, radiation and electromagnetic inductions techniques. This paper presents an overview of the patents developed for pipe thickness measurements and introduces a new potential technique for non-intrusive thickness measurements of industrial piping systems while in operation. The technique is based on analyzing the vibration response of the piping system and it provides both the magnitude and the location of the wear due to flow-accelerated corrosion. The magnitude of the wear is determined by examining the vibration frequency of the piping system and the location of the wear is determined by examining its mode shapes. The proposed sensor can also be used for the quality inspection of newly manufactured pipes.