Fluidized Sensor for Pipeline Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for mapping the geographic position and path of occluded pipelines are limited by their inability to traverse sharp angled turns and other internal obstructions, often providing only vertical profiles and requiring knowledge of the pipeline's location, which hinders accurate and efficient repair efforts.
Innovation Solution
A tri-axial inertial sensor system mounted on a fluidized vehicle in a sphere-in-sphere configuration, allowing for omni-directional movement within the pipeline, with an internal orientation stabilizer and data recording capabilities to generate a three-dimensional profile of the pipeline.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wheeled or track-based pigs are used for pipeline inspection, then the system can provide vertical profile data over long straight distances, but the system cannot traverse sharp angled turns, valve structures, or other internal obstructions
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system is divided into separate functional components: the fluidized vehicle body, the internal sphere containing sensors, and the fluid medium. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the vehicle for fluid dynamics, the sphere for sensor stability, and the fluid for omnidirectional movement capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static wheeled/track-based platform to a dynamic fluidized platform. The internal sphere can rotate freely within the external sphere, allowing the sensor orientation to dynamically adapt to any pipeline configuration including sharp turns and vertical sections.
2Measurement precision
If traditional wheeled pigs are used, then the system structure is simple and robust, but the system is limited to providing only vertical profiles and cannot generate three-dimensional pipeline maps
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system employs a nested sphere configuration where an internal sphere containing tri-axial inertial sensors is positioned within an external sphere. This nested structure allows the internal sphere to rotate independently while maintaining a compact, hydrodynamic outer form suitable for fluidized movement through pipelines.
Solution Approach 2:
The system upgrades from two-dimensional vertical profiling (single-axis acceleration measurement) to three-dimensional pipeline mapping by incorporating tri-axial inertial sensors that measure acceleration along all three spatial axes, enabling complete spatial reconstruction of the pipeline path.
3Measurement precision
If the sensor system uses fixed orientation mounting, then the device complexity is reduced, but the system cannot accurately track position and orientation changes in pipelines with varying inclines and turns
Solution Approach 1:
The orientation stabilizer transitions from a fixed mounting structure to a dynamic system where the internal sphere can rotate freely within the external sphere. This dynamic configuration allows the sensor platform to maintain stable orientation relative to the pipeline axis even when the pipeline itself changes direction or inclination.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid medium acts as an intermediary between the external sphere and the pipeline wall, allowing the sensor system to decouple from direct mechanical contact with the pipeline. This fluid intermediary enables the internal sphere to maintain stable orientation independent of the pipeline's geometric changes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate three-dimensional mapping of pipeline paths, overcoming the limitations of traditional wheeled systems and providing positional information for efficient pipeline repair and maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
A quantity of fluid fills the spatial gap between the outside surface of the internal sphere and the inside surface of the external sphere in a manner that permits omni-directional free rotational movement of the internal sphere within the external sphere
Implementation Method 2
Within the internal sphere are contained a tri-axial inertial sensor, a time keeping device, a data processing device, a data recording device, and a power source
Data Source
AI summary
A system for facilitating the mapping of a partially or fully occluded (hidden) pipeline containing a gas, a liquid, or a liquid-gas mixture. The system includes a sensor device having an internal sphere with a generally smooth outer surface and an internal orientation stabilizer. Within the internal sphere are contained a tri-axial inertial sensor, a time keeping device, a data processing device, a data recording device, and a power source. The internal sphere is centered and held within an external sphere having an inside diameter that is incrementally larger than the outside diameter of the internal sphere. The external sphere has a generally smooth unobstructed inner surface and fully encloses the internal sphere. A quantity of fluid fills the spatial gap between the outside surface of the inside sphere and the inside surface of the external sphere in a manner that permits omni-directional free rotational movement of the internal sphere within the external sphere. The use of the sensor involves the process of downloading data that has been stored within the data recording device of the internal sphere after it has traveled its path through the pipeline to be mapped.