Patent ID: 9134278
Filing Date: 2015-09-15
Classification: F16L,F17D,G01M,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for monitoring a tubular pipe which transports hydrocarbons containing corrosive gases, the pipe comprising: an internal polymer sheath through which the hydrocarbons pass, the sheath having an inner surface past which the hydrocarbons pass and having an opposite radially outer surface and having a thickness between the inner and outer surfaces, the sheath being comprised of a polymer through which the corrosive gases are liable to diffuse radially from the inner surface through the thickness toward the outer surface thereof; reactive-compound elements dispersed throughout the thickness of the sheath between the inner and the outer surfaces thereof, and the reactive-compound elements reacting with the corrosive gases which diffuse through the sheath such that the reactive-compound elements are operable to neutralize the corrosive gases diffusing through the sheath in a neutralizing reaction; the incorporated reactive-compound elements and their neutralizing reaction with the corrosive gases and the radial diffusion of the corrosive gases forming a first layer radially outward from the inner surface of the sheath in the thickness of the sheath, and the first layer is where the reactive-compound elements have reacted with the corrosive gases, such that the first layer gradually extends further radially through the thickness of the sheath from the inner surface as reactions occur, and also forming a second layer of the sheath radially outward of the first layer and toward the outer layer and occupying a residual thickness of the sheath with the reactive-compound elements dispersed in it, wherein the reactive-compound elements in the second layer have not reacted with the corrosive layers, such that the second layer extends from in between the first layer and the second layer and extends radially outwardly through the residual thickness toward the outer surface of the sheath; the method comprising: passing the hydrocarbons containing corrosive gases through the internal sheath and in contact with the inner surface thereof for additionally causing radial diffusion of the corrosive gases outwardly through the thickness of the sheath and for causing neutralizing of the corrosive gases by the reactive-compound elements in the sheath, and thereby developing an interface layer in the thickness of the sheath between the first and the second layers; determining the position of the interface between the first and second layers by application of ultrasound to the internal sheath and sensing the ultrasound applied to the sheath for measuring in real time the progression of the diffusion of corrosive gases through the thickness of the internal sheath by determining the position of the interface.