Pressure pipeline inspection method for large petrochemical device based on unmanned aerial vehicle and digital ray technology

Abstract

The invention discloses a pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical device based on an unmanned aerial vehicle and a digital ray technology, and the inspection method comprises the following steps: operating the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to a weld joint of a to-be-inspected pipeline, folding a tool clamp around the pipeline, and enabling a radiator on the tool clamp to correspond to one side of the pipeline; the emitter emits X-rays, the X-rays penetrate through a heat preservation layer of the pipeline and the inner wall of the pipeline and then are received by the detector on the other side of the pipeline, and images are remotely transmitted to a ground control end. The detection of one side of one pipeline is completed, the other side of the pipeline is detected by the radiator after the tool clamp is closed, and the step 2 is repeated; after the two sides of one pipeline are detected, the tool clamp is opened, the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to lift the tool clamp and slowly lands to the ground, and one-time high-altitude pipeline detection work is completed; the device has the technical characteristics of simple structure, convenience in inspection, low cost, high efficiency, high safety and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a pressure pipeline inspection method, and more specifically, to a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical device based on unmanned aerial vehicles and digital ray technology, and belongs to the field of petrochemical industry. Background Art

[0002] Pipelines in the petrochemical industry need to be laid over a large area. For example, the pipelines of the Zhejiang Petrochemical Pipeline Gallery are estimated to be 1,500 kilometers long, and the affiliated pipelines of nearly 100 sets of chemical refining units are even larger in scale. Most of the pipeline equipment is pressure pipelines within the scope of the "Special Equipment Catalog" promulgated by the State Council, with a height of 5-150m. According to the requirements of the "Special Equipment Law" and TSG D7005-2018 "Rules for Periodic Inspection of Pressure Pipelines-Industrial Pipelines", regular statutory inspections are required.

[0003] Routine inspections require equipment shutdown, cooling, removal of insulation layers, erection of high and dense scaffolding, surface polishing and other preparatory work. Inspection and testing personnel need to carry X-ray machines or radioactive sources to perform routine X-ray inspections on pipeline welds. The use of radioactive sources for inspections requires the approval of the Environmental Protection Bureau. After the film is exposed, it needs to be washed, which pollutes the environment, and personnel within a certain range need to be cleared. After the inspection, personnel need to be re-arranged to go up to do anti-corrosion treatment to restore the original insulation state. However, the scale of pipelines in the petrochemical industry is large, so the workload is extremely large, film washing is time-consuming, and the overall maintenance cost has increased dramatically. The competent department is the Special Equipment Inspection Institute of the local Market Supervision Bureau. When inspecting a long-distance pipeline, inspectors take into account safety and actual operation issues, and take meeting the inspection ratio as the main consideration. They usually choose easy-to-inspect parts for spot inspections. For difficult-to-inspect parts such as high altitude, they usually avoid or repeat the inspection of inspected parts, which to a certain extent causes defects to be missed, leaving safety hazards for the overall goal of green petrochemicals with long-term safe and stable operation. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical plant based on drones and digital ray technology, which has the technical characteristics of simple structure, convenient inspection, reduced cost, improved efficiency and high safety.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0006] The present invention provides a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical device based on an unmanned aerial vehicle and digital ray technology, and the inspection method comprises the following steps:

[0007] Step 1: Use a drone to carry a fixture, operate the drone to fly to the weld of the pipeline to be inspected, close the fixture around the pipeline, and adjust the position of the fixture so that the emitter on the fixture corresponds to one side of the pipeline; the fixture can slide on the pipeline, and the fixture is equipped with an emitter and a detector corresponding to the emitter; the pipeline wraps the pipeline body and the insulation layer wrapped on the pipeline body;

[0008] Step 2: The radiator on the fixture emits X-rays, which penetrate the insulation layer and inner wall of the pipeline and are received by the detector on the other side of the pipeline. The detector remotely transmits images to the ground control terminal to display the pipeline weld status in real time.

[0009] Step 3: After completing the inspection on one side of a pipe, open the fixture, lift it up by the drone, rotate it 180° and land it again at the starting pipe position, then close the fixture and use the emitter to inspect the other side of the pipe, and repeat step 2;

[0010] Step 4: After completing the inspection on both sides of a pipe, the fixture is opened, lifted by the drone, and slowly descends to the ground, completing a high-altitude pipeline inspection;

[0011] Step 5: The control end saves the detection record.

[0012] Preferably, before operation step 1, all pipelines to be inspected are scanned using a camera on the drone to obtain pipeline layout data, and the pipeline layout data to be inspected is imported into the drone to realize drone route setting.

[0013] Preferably, a guide rail is installed along the fixture, and the radiator can slide up and down on the guide rail on the fixture. The radiator slides up and down on the rail and emits X-rays.

[0014] Preferably, if the pipeline to be inspected is located in a narrow environment, the detector in step 2 is selected as a film, and the weld inspection result is displayed after exposure and washing.

[0015] Preferably, the one pipeline described in step 3 is a single pipeline or a pipeline formed by connecting several single pipelines.

[0016] Preferably, the detector is arranged close to the pipeline.

[0017] Preferably, the tooling fixture comprises a left half ring and a right half ring that can be assembled with the left half ring to form a circular ring, and rolling mechanisms that can roll along the pipeline are embedded on the inner walls of the left half ring and the right half ring, and in the radial direction of the pipeline, the rolling mechanism can automatically extend and retract to act on pipelines of different diameters.

[0018] Preferably, the rolling mechanism includes a plurality of mounting plates, on which a plurality of ball bearings that can rotate at a fixed point are mounted, and a plurality of slots are provided on the left half ring and the right half ring, each mounting plate is respectively arranged in a slot, and a reset spring is connected between the mounting plate and the bottom of the slot, and the reset spring is used to push part of the mounting plate out of the slot so that the left half ring and the right half ring can be engaged on pipes of different diameters and can be driven to fly by a drone.

[0019] Preferably, the control terminal can be a mobile phone or a computer.

[0020] Beneficial effects: By combining drones with digital ray methods, pressure pipelines of petrochemical plants in harsh and complex environments can be accurately inspected, and the safe use of pressure pipelines of various media can be fully controlled without stopping the device, saving a lot of maintenance time and maintenance costs. The traditional method removes the insulation first and then inspects, and the defect detection rate is low. This technical method subverts the traditional method and can detect defects first, judge safety hazards, and then remove the insulation for maintenance, which is accurate and efficient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the installation of the tooling fixture of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of partially disassembling the fixture of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the rolling mechanism structure on the right half ring of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing the inspection effect of the present invention on a horizontal high-altitude pipeline.

[0025] Figure 5 It is one of the actual inspection effect diagrams of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6 It is a diagram showing the inspection effect of the present invention on a longitudinal high-altitude pipeline.

[0027] Figure 7 This is the second actual inspection effect diagram of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 8 This is one of the schematic diagrams of the connection method of the tooling fixture and drone of the present invention.

[0029] Fig. 9 This is the second schematic diagram of the connection method of the tooling fixture and drone of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0031] In the prior art, it is necessary to manually build dense scaffolding according to each weld 10 or the position to be inspected, and perform preparation work such as surface grinding on the pipeline. The inspection and testing personnel carry equipment such as X-ray machines or radioactive sources to perform conventional X-ray inspection on the pipeline welds. According to the technical solution of this application, this application can ensure the long-term safe and stable operation of petrochemical equipment, which can not only meet the statutory inspection requirements in the "Special Equipment Law" and TSG D7005-2018 "Rules for Periodic Inspection of Pressure Pipelines-Industrial Pipelines", but also be safer, more efficient, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly on the basis of traditional inspection and testing, without stopping the equipment, saving major overhaul time, and using new methods combined with new technology detection methods to replace or supplement traditional detection methods.

[0032] like Figure 1-8 The figure shows a specific embodiment of a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical device based on drones and digital ray technology. The embodiment is a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical device based on drones and digital ray technology. The inspection method includes the following steps:

[0033] Step 1: First, use the camera on the drone to scan all the pipelines 3 to be inspected to obtain the arrangement data of the pipelines 3, and import the arrangement data of the pipelines 3 to be inspected into the drone to realize the drone route setting. This belongs to the prior art here, and this application will not be described in detail. It can be realized based on the existing drone technology; use a drone (this application does not make specific restrictions on the type, specification, and model of the drone, and can be selected according to actual needs) to carry a fixture, and operate the drone to fly to the weld of the pipeline 3 to be inspected, and close the fixture around the pipeline 3. The fixture can be closed by screws or magnetic suction, and the position of the fixture is adjusted so that the emitter 1 on the fixture corresponds to one side of the pipeline 3; the fixture can slide on the pipeline 3, and the fixture is equipped with an emitter 1 and a detector 2 corresponding to the emitter 1; the pipeline 3 includes a pipeline body and an insulation layer wrapped around the pipeline body;

[0034] Step 2: The radiator 1 on the fixture emits X-rays, which penetrate the insulation layer of the pipeline 3 and the inner wall of the pipeline 3 and are received by the detector 2 on the other side of the pipeline 3. The detector 2 remotely transmits images to the ground control terminal to display the weld status of the pipeline 3 in real time.

[0035] Step 3: After completing the inspection on one side of a pipe 3, the fixture is opened, the drone is lifted up, rotated 180° and landed again at the starting position of the pipe 3, and then the fixture is closed and the emitter 1 inspects the other side of the pipe 3, and step 2 is repeated;

[0036] Step 4: After completing the inspection on both sides of a pipe 3, the fixture is opened, the drone is lifted up by the drone, and slowly descends to the ground, completing the inspection of the high-altitude pipe 3; the control end can be a mobile phone or a computer;

[0037] Step 5: The control end saves the detection record.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment, a guide rail is installed along the fixture, and the radiator 1 can slide up and down on the guide rail on the fixture. The radiator 1 slides up and down on the rail and emits X-rays, so that the detection area is large and the detection result is accurate, and all areas on one side of the tube 1 can be completely covered.

[0039] A preferred implementation method is that if the pipeline 3 to be inspected is located in a narrow environment, the detector 2 in step 2 is selected as a film, and the weld inspection result is displayed after exposure and washing, so as to avoid the use of the detector 2 being limited by the gap between the pipelines. The present application does not make detailed restrictions on the lifting method of the drone and the fixture, which can be a connecting rod connection, a wire rope connection, etc.

[0040] The technical method recorded in this application has overturned the traditional method. For example, if there are 1000 pipes in a project and 150 of them need to be randomly inspected, the device must be shut down and cooled down first, and scaffolding must be erected, insulation removed, and surface polished for all 150 pipes to be inspected, and then manual inspection must be conducted. After the rework of those with excessive defects is qualified, all the removed parts must be re-corroded, insulation restored, and scaffolding removed, etc., which is time-consuming and labor-intensive and has a low defect detection rate; the technical method recorded in this application can first conduct a large-scale aerial inspection of 150 or even more pipes, intuitively discover defects and judge the degree of safety hazards based on digital imaging, and then erect scaffolding and remove insulation for the parts that need to be repaired, which is accurate and efficient.

[0041] The multi-layer long-distance pipelines in large petrochemical plants, and the pipelines attached to large towers, reactors, and storage tanks are huge in my country. Taking Zhejiang Petrochemical as an example, the average annual inspection and testing cost is more than 80 million. If this method is used to detect surface corrosion and buried defects in welds under the insulation layer, it can reduce downtime and maintenance time, and can even be detected during the period when the device is not stopped, which is not affected by temperature, effectively saving costs for the company. It has broad application prospects. If it can be further developed and applied, the market economic effect will be huge.

[0042] In a preferred embodiment, the pipeline 3 in step 3 is a single pipeline 3 or a pipeline 3 formed by connecting a plurality of single pipelines 3 .

[0043] The fixture in the present application includes a left half ring 4 and a right half ring 5 that can be assembled with the left half ring 4 to form a circular ring. The inner walls of the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5 are embedded with rolling mechanisms that can roll along the pipe 3, and in the radial direction of the pipe 3, the rolling mechanism can automatically retract to act on pipes 3 of different diameters; specifically: the rolling mechanism includes a plurality of mounting plates 6, on which a plurality of fixed-point rotatable balls 7 are mounted, and a plurality of notches 8 are provided on the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5, each mounting plate 6 is respectively arranged in a notch 8, and a reset spring 9 is connected between the mounting plate 6 and the bottom of the notch 8, and the reset spring 9 is used to push part of the mounting plate 6 out of the notch 8 to enable the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5 to be engaged on pipes 3 of different diameters and to be driven by a drone to fly; the detector 2 is arranged close to the pipe 3;

[0044] Principle / operation method: When the fixture is put on the pipe 1 with a larger diameter, the mounting plate 6 will compress the reset spring 9 and deeply embed into the notch 8, and fit on the pipe 1 (specifically, on the insulation layer of the pipe 1) through the mounting plate 6 ball 7. When encountering a pipe 1 with a smaller diameter, under the action of the reset spring 9, most of the mounting plate 6 will be pushed out of the notch 8, and fit on the pipe 1 through the mounting plate 6 ball 7. The structure is simple and practical. Moreover, the structural design of the rolling mechanism in the present application makes it possible for the mounting plates 6 at different positions to be embedded in the notch 8 to have different depths when encountering a pipe bent into an arc, so that the fixture can still be well clamped on the pipe 1, and will not affect the rolling movement of the fixture on the pipe 1 driven by the drone.

[0045] A specific operation: For example, for a longitudinal high-altitude pipeline, the selection of drones can be as follows: Figure 8 As shown, the propeller blades of the drone are located on both sides of the drone. The drone of this form is equipped with a fixture to avoid collision with the pipeline, slowly approach the pipeline sideways, clamp the pipeline with the fixture for inspection, and change the scanning mode from longitudinal to transverse. The exposure principle is the same as above. The design and technical solution of this application is only for the selection of drones, without creative design, and relies on the existing technology of drones.

[0046] A specific operation: For overhead horizontal high-altitude pipelines, the following can be used: Fig. 9 The lifting drone shown in the figure can be rotatably connected between one end of the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5 in the fixture, and the rotation is driven by a motor to realize the opening and closing of the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5. If the connection between the left half ring 4 and the right half ring 5 can be rotated 90° (such as Fig. 9 As shown), for pipes parallel to the ground, the pipes can be longitudinally engaged.

[0047] Furthermore, the UAV power supply design: no need for long-distance flight, mainly up and down take-off and landing, the maximum vertical distance is about 200 meters. In order to reduce weight, the whole device can be powered by ground wires instead of batteries, so that the power of the X-ray machine is stable and the power supply of the UAV is stable.

[0048] This application uses digital ray detection technology (DR detection), which can directly observe the welding quality and corrosion of the internal welds of the pipeline without removing the insulation layer device or stopping the machine, and issue an inspection report, which is safe, energy-saving and efficient. Digital ray detection has the characteristics of reducing environmental pollution, high efficiency, low cost caused by no consumable materials, interchangeability of digital images and convenient storage, and is suitable for popularization and use. The drone in this application can be designed with a self-protection mechanism. When an accident occurs and the drone falls, the self-protection mechanism can be automatically triggered during free fall, and it can land stably on the ground.

[0049] Finally, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and there are many variations. All variations that can be directly derived or associated with the content disclosed by ordinary technicians in this field should be considered as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical plant based on drones and digital ray technology, characterized in that The inspection method comprises the following steps: Step 1: Use a drone to carry a fixture, operate the drone to fly to the weld of the pipeline (3) to be inspected, close the fixture around the pipeline (3), and adjust the position of the fixture so that the emitter (1) on the fixture corresponds to one side of the pipeline (3); the fixture can slide on the pipeline (3), and the fixture is equipped with an emitter (1) and a detector (2) corresponding to the emitter (1); the pipeline (3) includes a pipeline body and a heat-insulating layer wrapped around the pipeline body; Step 2: The radiator (1) on the fixture emits X-rays, which penetrate the insulation layer of the pipeline (3) and the inner wall of the pipeline (3) and are then received by the detector (2) on the other side of the pipeline (3). The detector (2) remotely transmits images to the ground control terminal to display the weld condition of the pipeline (3) in real time. Step 3: After completing the inspection on one side of a pipe (3), the fixture is opened, the drone is lifted up, rotated 180° and landed again at the starting position of the pipe (3), and then the fixture is closed and the emitter (1) inspects the other side of the pipe (3), and step 2 is repeated; Step 4: After completing the inspection on both sides of a pipe (3), the fixture is opened, lifted by the drone, and slowly descends to the ground, completing the inspection of the high-altitude pipe (3); Step 5: The control end saves the detection record.

2. According to claim 1, a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology is characterized by: Before operation step 1, all pipelines (3) to be inspected are scanned using a camera on the drone to obtain the arrangement data of the pipelines (3), and the arrangement data of the pipelines (3) to be inspected are imported into the drone to realize the drone route setting.

3. A pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A guide rail is installed along the fixture, and the radiator (1) can slide up and down on the guide rail on the fixture. The radiator (1) slides up and down on the rail and emits X-rays.

4. According to claim 1, a pressure pipeline inspection method for a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology is characterized by: If the pipeline (3) to be inspected is located in a narrow environment, the detector (2) in step 2 is selected as a film, and the weld inspection result is displayed after exposure and washing.

5. The pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 1 is characterized by: The pipeline (3) described in step 3 is a single pipeline (3) or a pipeline (3) formed by connecting a plurality of single pipelines (3).

6. The pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 1 is characterized by: The detector (2) is arranged close to the pipeline (3).

7. The pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 1 is characterized by: The fixture comprises a left half ring (4) and a right half ring (5) which can be assembled with the left half ring (4) to form a circular ring. The inner walls of the left half ring (4) and the right half ring (5) are both embedded with rolling mechanisms which can roll along the pipeline (3). In the radial direction of the pipeline (3), the rolling mechanisms can automatically extend and retract to achieve the effect on pipelines (3) of different diameters.

8. The pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 7 is characterized by: The rolling mechanism comprises a plurality of mounting plates (6), a plurality of balls (7) capable of rotating at a fixed point are mounted on the mounting plates (6), a plurality of notches (8) are provided on the left half ring (4) and the right half ring (5), each mounting plate (6) is arranged in a notch (8), and a return spring (9) is connected between the mounting plate (6) and the bottom of the notch (8), and the return spring (9) is used to push a portion of the mounting plate (6) out of the notch (8) so that the left half ring (4) and the right half ring (5) can be engaged with pipes (3) of different diameters and can be driven to fly by the drone.

9. The pressure pipeline inspection method of a large petrochemical plant based on drone and digital ray technology according to claim 1 is characterized by: The control terminal can be a mobile phone or a computer.

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