Robotic startup TUBOT (part of the TechnoSpark group of companies with the participation of SIGMA.Novosibirsk") conducted demonstration tests at the oil production facility of the Sredneobskaya oil and gas field of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
The study used a pipeline with a diameter of 219 mm and a wall thickness of 10 mm with turns, branches, vertical and horizontal segments. Sections with complex geometry allowed us to confirm the technical characteristics declared by the manufacturer of the diagnostic complex.
For in-line inspection, TUBOT uses a single entry point, which reduces the cost of diagnostic work and allows them to be carried out more often. Open access to the pipes is not required during such an inspection.
The information obtained about the state of the metal and the nature of the damage allows you to predict the service life of the pipeline, as well as to make spot repairs where the cost of replacing the entire section was planned.
In-line diagnostics, which is carried out by TUBOT, identifies most of the causes of accidents, preventing: environmental damage, risk to working personnel, loss of resource, reputational costs, fines, costs of eliminating the accident and restoring the pipeline, pipeline downtime. In-line diagnostics also identifies areas with a residual service life, allowing local repairs to be carried out instead of a continuous replacement of pipes. When conducting in-line diagnostics, it is not necessary to open the pipeline completely and release it from insulation.
The TUBOT product line will soon be expanded with robots for pipelines with a diameter of 75 mm and up to 1500 mm and a set of modules: traction, cleaning, diagnostic, repair and others. The robots can be in an explosion-proof design and pass sections up to 500 m, carrying out real-time telemetry.