In the oil and gas industry there are innumerable welded tubes and pipes that must be inspected and monitored throughout their entire service life. Traditional inspection methods such as x-ray and particle inspection are often time consuming and limited to surface or breaking defects.

Phased array technology has been used for many years in medical diagnosis. Recently, phased array systems have been increasingly used in industrial settings to provide new levels of information and visualisation in common ultrasonic tests.

In traditional ultrasonic testing a single element transducer is used to transmit, receive and detect defects. Instead of using a single element beam, phased array uses an array of beams where each individual probe element is pulsed at slightly different times.

A typical phased array transducer consists of an assembly of 16 to 256 single elements. Using sophisticated software, the Omniscan gauge controls the phased array signals, enabling the gauge to drive the multi-element probe, receive and digitise the returning echoes, and plot that echo information in various standard formats.

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Unlike conventional flaw detectors, phased array systems can sweep a sound beam through a range of refracted angles or along a linear path, or dynamically focus at a number of different depths, thus increasing both flexibility and capability in inspection set-ups.

There are many advantages to using phase array technology. The method allows for software control of angle beam, multiple angle inspections, greater flexibility for inspection of complex geometry and high speed scans with no moving parts.

The ultrasonic phased array Omniscan from Olympus is a versatile instrument, which is used in other advanced inspection solutions from Olympus, such as automated weld inspections using WeldRover, PV-100 inspections, and the small diameter Cobra scanner.

Olympus is a supplier of Inspection Maintenance Systems to the Australian market. The Olympus product range covers optical, electronic and precision engineering products used in remote visual inspections (RVI) and non-destructive testing (NDT) including:

  • Videoscopes;
  • Ultrasonic and eddy current flaw detectors;
  • Thickness gauges;
  • Ultrasonic phased array; and
  • Automated inspection systems;

Olympus is proud to announce that the company will exhibit at the 2010 APIA Convention in Darwin continuing to provide support to the pipeline industry.