Electromagnetic ultrasonic guided wave long- term monitoring and data difference adaptive extraction method for buried oil-gas pipelines

An increasing number of buried oil-gas pipelines are generated in recent years and defects occur with higher probability in their long-running process. This work proposes an electromagnetic ultrasonic guided wave (EUGW) long-term monitoring scheme for buried oil`-gas pipelines and a data difference adaptive extraction method for the monitoring data. The T (0,1) mode guided wave is selected because of its non-dispersive characteristic. For the electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT), a circumferentially magnetized nickel strap is bonded on the pipe to provide the bias magnetic field and the excitation coils are winded on the nickel strap to provide the dynamic magnetic field. A detection stub is planted on the ground and the connector of buried coils is installed in the stub. The difference array is constructed and adaptive gain and attenuation are performed in the data difference adaptive extraction method. The EUGW long-term monitoring scheme is on-site applied for buried oil pipes in Jinan city, Shandong province, China. The EMAT is installed and buried with the pipe, and the periodical detection is conducted from December 2015 till now, once per month. A pit is found and verified by excavation at the distance 9.25 m from the buried EMAT on the flow direction. On-site detection results show that the data extraction method can dramatically improve the signal to noise ratio of the monitoring data and accurately extract the difference and variation of the pipe's structural health condition that occurred in the long-term service. The EUGW long-term monitoring scheme is proved to be a feasible method with prosperous prospect for the structural health monitoring of buried oil-gas pipelines.