Easy Deployed Distributed Acoustic Sensing System for Remotely Assessing Potential and Existing Risks to Pipeline Integrity

Overview

Fast Facts
Project No.	955
Contract No.	693JK32150002CAAP
Research Award Recipient	Colorado School of Mines Office of Research Services 1500 Illinois Street Golden, Colorado 80401, USA Golden, CO 80401
AOR/TTI	Zhongquan Zhou Nathan Schoenkin Brady Dague Nusnin Akter
Researcher Contact Info	Dr. Yilin Fan, Assistant Professor, Petroleum Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines; 1600 Arapahoe St., Golden, CO-80401; Phone: 303-273-3749;Fax: 303-273-3189; Email:yilinfan@mines.edu Co-PI: Dr. Ge Jin, Assistant Professor, Geophysics, Colorado School of Mines; 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401; Phone:303-273-3455; Fax: 303-273-3189; Email: gjin@mines.edu Co-PI: Dr. Ali Tura, Professor, Geophysics, Colorado School of Mines; 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401; Phone:303-273-3454; Fax: 303- 273-3189; Email: alitura@mines.edu Co-PI: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins, Professor, Petroleum Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines; 1600 Arapahoe St., Golden, CO 80401; Phone: 303-384-2607; Fax: 303-273-3189; Email: jmiskimi@mines.edu

Financial and Status Data
Project Status	Active
Start Fiscal Year	2021 (09/30/2021)
End Fiscal Year	2025 (09/29/2025)
PHMSA $$ Budgeted	$665,370.00

Main Objective

Investigate the feasibility of using DAS to detect and locate pipeline integrity risks based on vibration, and the effectiveness and robustness of risk assessment using different cable deployment methods, especially easy deployed cables inside the pipeline.

Public Abstract

As a recent trending technology for remote pipeline integrity monitoring, DFOS has established advantages in several aspects compared to other technologies such as ILI, robots, and pressure tests. It can provide continuous, remote, and real-time monitoring, that enables quick responses at remote areas to avoid catastrophic damage and has the potential to track the growth or change of risks. The current study is to investigate the feasibility of using distributed acoustic sensing with cable inside a pipeline to detect and locate the potential and existing risks to pipeline integrity from the vibration signals. The risks to be investigated include liquid accumulation at a lower spot, dynamic slugging at low liquid loading conditions, corrosion at pipeline interior surface, dent, infrastructure damage, and leakage. Three different types of cable will be installed inside the pipeline, and two other cables will be deployed externally serving as the reference. Four pipeline installation conditions will be tested, namely sand buried, laid on the ground, densely supported, and sparsely supported. The ultimate goal of this research is to explore the feasibility of DAS in pipeline integrity monitoring with an easy deployment method, which has the potential to reshape the future pipeline integrity monitoring system. If successful, this technology will benefit dramatically the industry and community.

Anticipated Results: The project is expected to use of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) with cables inside the pipeline to detect and locate various risks through vibration signals.

Potential Impact on Safety: The DAS technology could serve as a highly advanced tool for detecting a variety of pipeline threats in real time, including corrosion and dent/pipe deformation, liquid accumulation, and leak detection.