Paper Status Tracking
Contact us
[email protected]
Click here to send a message to me 3275638434
Paper Publishing WeChat

Article
Affiliation(s)

1. London South Bank Innovation Centre (LSBIC), TWI Ltd, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge CB21 6AL, United Kingdom
2. Integrity Management Group, TWI Ltd, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge CB21 6AL, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Petrochemical storage tanks are generally inspected when the tank is offline mostly to assess the extent of underside corrosion on the tank floor. Emptying, cleaning and opening a tank for inspection take many months and are very expensive. Inspection costs can be reduced significantly by inserting robots through manholes on the tank roof to perform non-destructive testing (NDT). The challenge is to develop robots that can operate safely in explosive and hazardous environments and measure the thickness of floor plates using ultrasound sensors. This paper reports on the development of a small and inexpensive prototype robot (NDTBOT) which is designed to be intrinsically safe for zone zero operation. The robot “hops” across the floor to make measurements, without any external moving parts. The paper describes the design, experimental testing of the NDTBOT and presents results of steel plate thickness measurements made under water.

KEYWORDS

Storage tank inspection, NDTBOT, in-service inspection.

Cite this paper

References

About | Terms & Conditions | Issue | Privacy | Contact us
Copyright © 2001 - David Publishing Company All rights reserved, www.davidpublisher.com
3 Germay Dr., Unit 4 #4651, Wilmington DE 19804; Tel: 1-323-984-7526; Email: [email protected]