Pipeline Inspection Services
Next-Generation
Pipeline Integrity Screening Technology
Non-Contact Magnetometry (NCM)
UTI’s Non-Contact Magnetometry (NCM), an advanced inspection solution that enables operators to assess pipeline integrity through a non-invasive and highly efficient external evaluation process. The technology is designed for buried, aboveground, offshore, and subsea pipelines while allowing inspections to be performed without interrupting normal operations.
By measuring and analyzing variations in magnetic fields around pipeline assets, NCM detects indicators associated with mechanical stress, corrosion-related damage, metal loss, and other potential integrity concerns. Inspection data is collected and analyzed in real time, with detected anomalies accurately identified and GPS-located from the surface.
NCM provides significant value for pipeline networks where traditional in-line inspection (ILI) methods cannot be implemented. It enables rapid assessment of large pipeline systems, allowing operators to identify priority areas, optimize inspection programs, and focus maintenance and repair efforts on locations with the highest integrity risk.
Technical Advantages
- Non-invasive external pipeline assessment without excavation or interruption of operations.
- No requirement for production shutdowns, pigging activities, or internal pipeline access.
- Detects stress-related conditions and material behavior changes that may remain undetected by conventional inspection approaches.
- Identifies potential integrity threats, including corrosion, metal degradation, fatigue-related damage, weld-related concerns, geometric variations, and localized defects.
- Provides real-time anomaly identification with accurate GPS coordinates to support efficient verification and maintenance activities.
- Applicable for a wide range of pipeline environments, including buried, aboveground, offshore, and subsea systems.
- An ideal solution for challenging pipelines that are unpiggable, inaccessible, or unsuitable for conventional inspection methods.
Operational and Business Advantages
- Allows continuous pipeline operation by reducing the need for inspection-related shutdowns.
- Provides rapid and economical screening of extensive pipeline networks.
- Enhances maintenance strategies by identifying high-priority areas requiring further attention.
- Minimizes unnecessary excavation, detailed inspection activities, and costly pigging operations.
- Supports proactive integrity management programs while improving safety performance, regulatory compliance, and asset reliability.
- Helps extend pipeline operational life through early identification and management of potential integrity risks.
Supporting Pipeline Integrity Management Programs
Non-Contact Magnetometry (NCM) acts as an effective screening and prioritization technology, enabling operators to quickly evaluate pipeline systems and determine areas that require additional engineering assessment.
By integrating NCM technology with conventional inspection practices, pipeline operators can establish a more effective integrity management approach that improves inspection efficiency, reduces operational risks, optimizes maintenance costs, and enhances the long-term safety and reliability of pipeline infrastructure.