Pipe Inspection Robot With In-Pipe Coating Cure and IR NDE
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accessing and maintaining the interior cavity of pipes, especially those with high temperatures, pressures, and obstacles, is challenging due to their size and shape, making routine inspection and repair difficult for conventional maintenance apparatus.
Innovation Solution
A motorized apparatus with a body assembly, leg assemblies, and maintenance devices such as a sprayer, heater, and infrared sensor, designed to fit within the pipe and travel through it, allowing for coating application, heating, infrared imaging, and non-destructive evaluation while engaging with the pipe's interior surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional maintenance apparatus are used for pipe inspection and repair, then the apparatus can perform basic maintenance functions, but they cannot access pipes with high temperatures, pressures, and obstacles due to size and shape constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The motorized apparatus employs dynamically adjustable leg assemblies that can extend and retract to adapt to varying pipe diameters and navigate transitions between different pipe sizes. The driven members on the leg assemblies can engage with the pipe interior surface to provide propulsion and stabilization, enabling the apparatus to dynamically adjust its configuration to access previously unreachable areas while maintaining operational stability
Solution Approach 2:
The motorized apparatus integrates multiple maintenance functions including coating application, heating for cure, and infrared inspection within a single platform. This multi-functional design allows the apparatus to perform inspection, repair, and validation operations in one traversal, eliminating the need for separate equipment and enabling access to hostile environments that would require multiple specialized apparatus
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional maintenance operations are performed sequentially (coating application, then cure, then inspection), then each operation can be performed thoroughly, but the total maintenance time is excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus maintains continuous operation by performing coating application, heating for cure, and infrared inspection in an integrated sequence without removing the apparatus from the pipe or interrupting the process. The heater and infrared sensor operate concurrently with the coating application, allowing the coating to begin curing while the apparatus moves to the next section, thereby eliminating idle time and maintaining continuous productive action throughout the maintenance operation
Solution Approach 2:
The infrared sensor begins inspecting the coating cure process while the heater is still actively curing the coating, rather than waiting for the cure to complete. This preliminary inspection approach allows for real-time monitoring and validation of the coating quality during the cure process, eliminating the need for separate post-cure inspection steps and reducing total maintenance time while maintaining quality assurance
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 efficient inspection and repair of pipes by reducing the time required for maintenance operations through concurrent coating cure and non-destructive evaluation, facilitating access to previously inaccessible areas and handling various pipe sizes and transitions.
Implementation Method 1
a heater configured to heat the interior surface of the pipe
Implementation Method 2
heating the interior surface of the pipe at the work location using the heater to begin a cure of the at least one coating material
Implementation Method 3
an infrared sensor configured to generate infrared images of the interior cavity of the pipe
Implementation Method 4
generating one or more infrared images of the work location using the infrared sensor while using the heater to cure the at least one coating material
Implementation Method 5
a sprayer configured to apply at least one coating material to the interior surface of the pipe
Data Source
AI summary
A system for use in maintaining a pipe includes a motorized apparatus including a body assembly and at least one maintenance device. The at least one maintenance device includes a sprayer, a heater, and an infrared sensor. The system includes at least one controller configured to apply the at least one coating material to the interior surface of the pipe at a work location using the sprayer, heat the interior surface of the pipe at the work location using the heater to begin a cure of the at least one coating material, generate one or more infrared images of the work location using the infrared sensor while using the heater to cure the at least one coating material, and perform a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of the work location based on the one or more infrared images.