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News ELECTROMAGNETIC INSPECTION: Wall Loss and Flaw
Products Location in Oil Country Tubular Goods
Services This paper was presented at the Petroleum Industry Inspection Technology II Topical
Conference held in Houston, Texas, June 25-27, 1991 after selection by a program
Trade Shows committee following the review of information submitted in an abstract.
Contact AUTHOR:
Wade Edens [Link]., [Link].
FAQ ! President, Oilfield Equipment Marketing, Inc. 4711 Dodge Street
San Antonio, Texas 78217 Tel: 210-657-7607 Fax: 210-657-3660
About
State University of New York; Syracuse University
OEM-ASIA LIFETIME MEMBER: American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT)
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Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) inspection companies are hampered with less than
critical electromagnetic inspection techniques to locate service induced FLAWS,
including WALL LOSS in used drill pipe and used tubing. The pipe inspector tries to
discover cracks, seams and pits, formation wear, off-axis defects, rod wear and gradual
loss of metallic area (both ID and OD). These defects can result in a physical separation
of the tubular's body wall during the drilling or production process. The problem is that
the inspector is often using the same electromagnetic inspection equipment that was
available 15 years ago. This equipment, which uses the search coil technique, leaves
much to be desired in both sensitivity to and resolution of three dimensional flaws. The
draw-backs to using the search coil, an oval multi-wrap of hair-like wire, for testing
OCTG have been enumerated in many periodicals and texts. There are serious limitations
to their use in pipe inspection equipment which is employed to qualify tubular products
for critical use.
Performance Testing:
There are two major areas of concern. The first is in the ability to separate nominal
service induced flaws from man-made test notches. The American Society for Non-
Destructive Testing (ASNT) suggests that reference standards be "...free of
discontinuities and (be) of the same nominal alloy, heat treatment and dimensions as the
tubular test objects". 1 In reality the test pieces presented to EMI pipe inspection
companies are not often new pieces of pipe. Some of the test standards offered have
been in prior service. Typical search coil systems have difficulty separating the nominal
service induced flaws from the man-made test notches to be located and identified by
the inspector.
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The second area of concern centers around wall loss. In a used drill pipe or used tubing
performance test standard, wall loss areas (to which traditionally used search coils are
not sensitive) may also be included. Because of this several pipe inspection companies
have tried to examine used drill pipe or used tubing with a 4 function EMI system.
Unfortunately, these EMI systems employ a rotating spool-like fixture on which is
mounted a gamma radiation device that bombards the body wall and calculates the wall
loss. This device tests the pipe in an 18" barber pole spiral helix. A small percentage of
the body wall is actually examined, certainly not 100%.
New Technology:
To improve his situation the inspector may now take advantage of a recent advancement
in electronic inspection technology. This step forward greatly decreases the difficulty of
locating flaws, including reduced wall thickness. At the heart of this innovation is the
solid- state, small area, diverted flux detector. Wall reduction areas, often previously
left undetected, now are detectable since the introduction of these solid-state devices.
Their increased sensitivity to flaws, over traditionally used inductive coils, provides
tubular inspection personnel with a better opportunity to locate such three dimensional
defects.
These small area solid state sensor semiconductors are packaged as IC's and provide
signal amplification at the defect location. Packaging them as IC's also provides
durability and hence longevity for the devices. The sensors have specific qualities which
allow them to be used as both extremely accurate flaw detectors and wall loss indicators
(loss of metallic area). These small area sensors can be incorporated into new or existing
mechanical devices generically referred to as pipe inspection equipment.
Using semiconductor sensors to locate wall loss provides 100% coverage of the tubular
under inspection. The sensors are extremely sensitive to the change in magnetic field
due to loss of metallic area. That portion of the pipe under observation needs only to
have a 5% to 10% reduction of wall thickness to provide a significant signal to the chart
recorder. The diameter of the defect needs only to be the approximate size of a quarter.
Suspected rod wear in tubing or formation wear in drill pipe may be detected from upset
to upset.
Electronics:
In conjunction with the use of these localized flux sensing devices for flaw or wall loss is
state-of-the-art upstream electronics. This sophisticated electronics processes incoming
signals from the sensor arrays of both the flaw and wall loss portions of the system. Both
the flaw and wall loss inspection systems locate areas of suspected flaw or wall
reduction, simultaneously. Unique signal processing characteristics of this equipment
allow normally noisy tubulars to be quieted. This clarifies the signal output and provides
an extremely good signal-to-noise ratio. A graphic chart recorder depicts the area and an
indicator light alerts the inspector to the clock position where the signal originated.
Properly calibrated, both flaw and wall loss renditions are characterized by linear
outputs. Defect prove-up is accomplished by traditional non-destructive testing methods,
using magnetic particles and ultrasonic wall measurement device. The chart is then
interpreted by the inspector.
Repeatability:
Consistency of defect rendition is another important QA consideration. Since the
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semiconductor IC's are capable of identical output signals, the suspected flaw is basically
rendered on the chart at the same amplitude no matter where the defect encounters the
active transducer surface.
Case History:
For example, there have been instances of relocating a specific tubular test standard.
The artificial defects had not been ground out after initial calibration of the electronics.
Even though the original inspector was not running the inspection unit, the previously
cut notches provided a rendition that was unmistakable on the chart since the SOP
(standard operating procedure) calibration was the same. Even after use in three wells,
the tubular test standard's fingerprint was recognizable. Repeatability is achievable using
semiconductor sensors. Semiconductor "...signals are directly proportional to the actual
magnitudes of the magnetic flux density and have uniform sensitivity over a wide
frequency range". 2 Conversely, search coils (used in older EMI equipment) respond
differently for each frequency component they encounter.
These small area, semiconductor transducers "...can reveal each local portion of the
distorted magnetic field distribution in detail... (and) they can resolve these local
differences better (than search coils). These small detectors provide better resolution of
small discontinuities (defects), as any small sensor would". 3
With search coils loss of sensitivity also occurs as portions of the winding are raised from
the test material surface. Conversely, the semiconductor sensor can enhance the
electromagnetic coupling of the field because of its small, thin profile which "...can be
placed flat upon the test material surface, whereas the larger coil pickups usually
extend farther away from the surface." 4
"Some inspection systems employ ...(solid-state) sensors in both their transverse and
longitudinal inspection heads:
a) Transverse Heads
Such heads traditionally have 8 or 16 coils encircling the tube. The sensitivity therefore
goes down as the OD of the tube is increased. i.e. the longer coil used in the larger OD
heads will have a poorer signal to noise ratio than the shorter coils used in the smaller
OD heads, for the same size of pit or fatigue crack. With (semiconductor IC) elements,
where there may be over 100 around the circumference of the tube, this problem does
not exist.
b) Rotating Heads
Much existing equipment employs coil arrays in which the coils are 0.5 - 0.75 inches long.
(Semiconductor)... elements are much smaller than this, and so two advantages arise.
(i) in systems which count the number of sensors which detect MFL, (magnetic flux
leakage) a more accurate indication of the length of the defect can be obtained.
(ii) the largest indication from the array may be better related to the depth of the
defect than is the case with a flat coil array". 5
HARD TO LOCATE DEFECTS:
A major complaint often is heard concerning the search coil inspection unit's
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performance especially for defect location of off-axis cracks of up to 45 degrees.
Conventional units have extreme difficulty locating defects which are over 10 degrees
off perpendicular to the magnetic field. When locating these defects at all, the DC
current level on the magnetizing coil and amplifier settings are so extreme that the
background noise masks the defect and can reduce greatly the signal-to-noise ratio;
often no better than "2 to 1" initially. Conversely, small area semiconductors can resolve
these defects up to 45 degrees left or right hand at normal current and amplifier
settings.
Another advantage to the pipe inspection company is not having a radioactive source
acting as a wall loss device. The elimination of government intervention into a business,
not needing to provide radiation badges, pay annual fees or keep current records of
individual's exposure to gamma radiation reduces the cost burden on any company.
CONCLUSION:
Difficulties in flaw detection including wall loss location have led to state-of-the-art
advancements in electromagnetic inspection (EMI) systems using sophisticated
semiconductor sensors. Inspection companies should note that these sensors are
available in new equipment or as a retrofit for existing pipe inspection equipment.
Small area solid-state sensors are now being used in inspection equipment world-wide to
provide a less costly and more efficient way in which to identify specific suspected
defects or wall loss, electromagnetically, i.e. (without the use of a radioactive device).
When used in a standard pipe inspection unit these sensors can reveal localized portions
of a diverted flux field more accurately than search coils. In addition these small area
sensors are capable of revealing 5% to 10% wall loss areas, the size of a quarter. This
state-of-the-art pipe inspection equipment aids the inspector in providing a pedigree for
the tubular products they inspect.
Installed in a typical EMI inspection system, these sensors replace the less efficient
search coil and gamma radiation tools normally used to inspect used drill pipe and used
tubing. The results of this application of semiconductors as flux sensors afford greater
quality control of used tubular products. The ultimate benefit is in providing increased
safety at the well-head.
REFERENCES:
1. McMaster, Robert C., Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Second Edition; Volume
Four, 1986.
2. American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Nondestructive Testing Handbook,
Second Edition; 1989, Editors: Schmidt, J. Thomas and Skeie, Kermit.
3. Stanley, Roderic, Magnetism & Mythology which Surrounds It; Second Edition.
4. Hull, Barry & John, Vernon, Non-Destructive Testing; First Edition, 1988.
5. McMaster, Robert C., Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Volume II; 1959.
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FOOTNOTES:
#1 Reference #1 above, pg. 252
#2 Reference #1 above, pg. 322
#3 Reference #1 above, pg. 323
#4 Reference #1 above, pg. 323
#5 Reference #3 above, section 10, pg. 3
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