Parametric study of the corrosion of API-5L-X65 QT steel using potentiostat based measurements in a flow loop

Low-carbon steel is widely used in industrial pipelines, and corrosion studies are focused mostly on erosion-corrosion, its prediction and control. In this paper, the corrosion rate in pipelines is modeled using a flow loop and measured by linear polarization resistance method (LPR) using a 3-electrode corrosion setup for API-5L-X65 QT steel. Optical microscopy and SEM studies are conducted to examine the surface of the sample and the corrosion products. The effect of NaCl concentration on the corrosion rate is studied at different pH, temperature range, and flow velocities with dissolved oxygen content in the solution maintained at 6 mg/L (6ppm). The corrosion rate is found to be varying from 1 mil per year (0.0254 mmyr−1) to 10 mils per year (0.254 mmyr−1), and the corrosion rate increases with the flow velocity and reaches a maximum at Reynolds Number above 10,000. Further increase in fluid velocity shows corrosion is flow insensitive, and uniform corrosion is predominant in the region

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Improved Structural Health Monitoring Using Random Decrement Signatures

Detection of structural damage phenomena such as cracks, delaminations, or loose fasteners is important because it increases safety and may allow significant reduction in operational costs. Many structural health monitoring techniques are based on detecting changes in vibration features obtained from the measured response. The technique presented in this work is based on the random decrement signatures calculated from the random response. No knowledge of input signal is required. Random decrement signatures have been used for damage detection purposes in the past. The significance of this work is that it explores the possibility of identifying the type of damage and focuses on detection of opening and closing cracks. Statistical features of the signatures are used to detect the presence of nonlinearity that often occurs due to onset of damage. A numerical study was performed where simulated measurements were obtained from a finite element model of a frame containing a damaged member. The results of this numerical study showed that the new technique is able to detect crack type damage in a complex structure. It was able to highlight the damaged spar, but it was not able to precisely locate the damaged member in the spar. The results suggest that reliability of damage detection depends on the amount of noise in the measurements. Experimental validation was performed using a cantilever beam experiment. The damaged beam used in the experiment contained a real fatigue crack instead of saw cuts that are often used to simulate damage. The technique was shown to be able to detect damage when excitation level was greater than 1.0g RMS. The exact location of damage is not always detected reliably, as sometimes a segment of the structure adjacent to the actual damaged segment is indicated. The advantage of the new technique is that it is model-free and could be used on structures excited by ambient forces that are difficult or sometimes impossible to measure

Effect of Magnetic Field on the Corrosion of API-5L-X65 Steel Using Electrochemical Methods in a Flow Loop

Limited studies have been conducted on the effect of a magnetic field on the corrosion behavior of steels. Investigating the effect on pipeline material in the oil and gas industries will be beneficial regarding corrosion prediction and control. In this work, the effect of a magnetic field on the corrosion process of API 5L X65 carbon steel was investigated in a well-developed flow loop using potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Using permanent magnets and a well-designed corrosion electrode set-up, the corrosion mechanism of API 5L X65 steel was studied at different magnetic orientations and different flow conditions in a NaCl solution. The surface morphology of the corroded samples was studied using a scanning electron microscope, and the micro-morphologies of the corrosion deposits and the surface elemental composition were analyzed. The results show that the presence of a magnetic field increases the corrosion rate of API 5L X65 carbon steel, and that flow velocities and magnetic orientation have a significant influence on the anodic corrosion current. The results of the polarization curves indicate a negative shift in the Tafel curve, leading to an increase in the corrosion rate with the introduction of a magnetic field in the flow system. The results of the EIS show that the charge transfer rate is decreased when a magnetic field is applied. This work provides important direction in terms of the understanding of the combined effect of magnetism and flow on the corrosion in pipelines used in the oil and gas industries

Detection of Internal Metal Loss in Steel Pipes and Storage Tanks via Magnetic-Based Fiber Optic Sensor

A monitoring solution was developed for detection of material loss in metals such as carbon steel using the force generated by permanent magnets in addition to the optical strain sensing technology. The working principle of the sensing system is related to the change in thickness of a steel plate, which typically occurs due to corrosion. As thickness decreases, the magnetostatic force between the magnet and the steel structure also decreases. This, in turn, affects the strain measured using the optical fiber. The sensor prototype was designed and built after verifying its sensitivity using a numerical model. The prototype was tested on steel plates of different thicknesses to establish the relationship between the metal thickness and measured strain. The results of experiments and numerical models demonstrate a strong relationship between the metal thickness and the measured strain values

Compliant Mechanism-Based Sensor for Large Strain Measurements Employing Fiber Optics

We propose a sensor design for measurement of large strains where direct application of a fiber optic strain gauge is impossible due to the stiffness mismatch between the optical fiber and the structure under test. The sensor design is based on a rhombus type compliant mechanism, which functions to attenuate input strain and transfer it to the ends of the sensing beam with the mounted optical strain gauge. We developed an analytical model of the sensor, which allows us to relate actuation forces, input displacement/strain, and output strain. The analytical model was verified with the finite element analysis and validated against an experimental prototype. The prototype sensor was able to handle input strains exceeding ±2.5 × 105 µε. Potential application areas of the proposed sensor include compliant elastomeric structures, wearables, and soft robotics

Analytical Modeling Tool for Design of Hydrocarbon Sensitive Optical Fibers

Pipelines are the main transportation means for oil and gas products across large distances. Due to the severe conditions they operate in, they are regularly inspected using conventional Pipeline Inspection Gages (PIGs) for corrosion damage. The motivation for researching a real-time distributed monitoring solution arose to mitigate costs and provide a proactive indication of potential failures. Fiber optic sensors with polymer claddings provide a means of detecting contact with hydrocarbons. By coating the fibers with a layer of metal similar in composition to that of the parent pipeline, corrosion of this coating may be detected when the polymer cladding underneath is exposed to the surrounding hydrocarbons contained within the pipeline. A Refractive Index (RI) change occurs in the polymer cladding causing a loss in intensity of a traveling light pulse due to a reduction in the fiber’s modal capacity. Intensity losses may be detected using Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) while pinpointing the spatial location of the contact via time delay calculations of the back-scattered pulses. This work presents a theoretical model for the above sensing solution to provide a design tool for the fiber optic cable in the context of hydrocarbon sensing following corrosion of an external metal coating. Results are verified against the experimental data published in the literature

Corrosivity Sensor for Exposed Pipelines Based on Wireless Energy Transfer

External corrosion was identified as one of the main causes of pipeline failures worldwide. A solution that addresses the issue of detecting and quantifying corrosivity of environment for application to existing exposed pipelines has been developed. It consists of a sensing array made of an assembly of thin strips of pipeline steel and a circuit that provides a visual sensor reading to the operator. The proposed sensor is passive and does not require a constant power supply. Circuit design was validated through simulations and lab experiments. Accelerated corrosion experiment was conducted to confirm the feasibility of the proposed corrosivity sensor design

External Corrosion Detection of Oil Pipelines Using Fiber Optics

Oil flowlines, the first “pipeline” system connected to the wellhead, are pipelines that are 5 to 30.5 cm (two to twelve inches) in diameter, most susceptible to corrosion, and very difficult to inspect. Herein, an external corrosion detection sensor for oil and gas pipelines, consisting of a semicircular plastic strip, a flat dog-bone-shaped sacrificial metal plate made out of the same pipeline material, and an optical fiber with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, is described. In the actual application, multiple FBG optical fibers are attached to an oil and gas pipeline using straps or strips or very large hose clamps, and, every few meters, our proposed corrosion detection sensor will be glued to the FBG sensors. When the plastic parts are attached to the sacrificial metals, the plastic parts will be deformed and stressed; thus, placing the FBG sensors in tension. When corrosion is severe at any given pipeline location, the sacrificial metal at that location will corrode till failure and the tension strain is relieved at that FBG Sensor location, and therefore, a signal is detected at the interrogator. Herein, the external corrosion detection sensor and its design equations are described, and experimental results, verifying our theory, are presented