Pipeline inspection is currently highly time-consuming and requires considerable expertise.
By developing our hyperspectral imaging technology for pipeline inspection, we can automate the process to a greater extent and provide high quality data by registering more information than the human eye can detect.
Pipeline inspection using UHI offers:
- damage detection
- detection and classification of pre-defined events on a pipeline
- detection of foreign objects on or alongside pipelines
- reporting
What that means for you:
- detection of damage and conditions difficult to see with the naked eye
- less time spent on video inspection
- higher inspection quality
- comparison with multiple inspections possible
Let the machine do the repetitive work
Hours of visual inspection of a video stream from pipeline inspection is demanding and tiring for survey personnel. What’s more, subjective opinion will always influence video stream analysis, meaning different people can interpret what they see differently.
Machine vision is tireless, always objective, always precise and more detailed than human vision. Even a well-trained human eye has problems differentiating objects from each other in cloudy water with poor visibility.
How it works
Ecotone has built up a database of spectral signatures for unwanted occurrences on a pipe, such as bare metal, rust, damage and missing coatings. The hyperspectral image stream from inspection is compared with the spectral database, and non-conformities specified with unambiguous colour codes.
The technology is also being developed to identify the unique hyperspectral signature of other objects in the vicinity of the pipe.
Example – Field Joint and Zinc Anode
UHI RGB visualized image – hover your mouse to see it UHI classified.
Pipeline inspection with Ecotone technology
Software and hardware are integrated in the existing systems. We are currently working on focused development with Statoil Petroleum and Norske Shell to devise a new method of performing pipeline inspection.
The project is partially-funded by the Research Council of Norway/Demo2000 and is designed to produce a tool for advanced pipeline inspection with hyperspectral imaging by the end of 2018.
Contact us if you are interested in collaboration or to discuss the potential offered by hyperspectral imaging.