Ultrasonic NDT for NII at Elevated Temperatures

Project Summary

Reduction of down-time related costs and improvement in safety of operation is making NII increasingly attractive for the O&G sector. The overall benefit to the industry from deploying NII is estimated to be £242M per annum, however not all pressure vessels are suitable for NII due to varying limitations of technology.

At ambient temperatures (up to 70-80°C) ultrasonic UT is reasonably unaffected by temperature; however above 80°C there are challenges in performing UT at higher temperatures which this project seeks to address. By outlining and verifying the performance of high temperature UT methods for NII, including Probability of Detection (PoD), false calls and sizing accuracy this project will provide an industry recognised guidance document for carrying out NDT at elevated temperatures.

OUTCOMES

The overall benefit to the industry from deploying NII is estimated to be £242 million per annum from fewer days of lost production. It is conservatively estimated that 10% of vessels operate at temperatures above 80°C inferring an additional potential benefit to the UKCS of £24 million per annum from this project.