Monitoring of the Position of a Pipe Inspection Tool in a Pipeline

Abstract

Apparatus and a method for monitoring of a pipe inspection tool in a pipeline, the apparatus comprising at least one sensor carrier apparatus being locatable along and in close proximity to a pipeline, a plurality of acoustic sensors being locatable on the sensor carrier apparatus, a pipeline inspection tool which is moveable through the pipeline being detectable by means of the acoustic sensors, and the location of the pipeline inspection tool being able to be determined by means of the acoustic sensors.

1 . An apparatus for monitoring a pipeline inspection tool as the pipeline inspection tool travels through a pipeline, the apparatus comprising:
 an acoustically-sensitive cable locatable proximate to and outside the pipeline and extendable along a length of a continuous section of the pipeline, the acoustically-sensitive cable comprising one or more acoustic sensor arrays locatable proximate to and detachable from the pipeline and configured to detect an acoustic signature of the pipe inspection tool as the pipeline inspection tool is movable through an inside of the section of the pipeline and to provide a signal based on the detected acoustic signature, wherein the acoustic signature comprises at least one of a continuous passive acoustic signature and an active acoustic signature; and   a data interpretation device configured to determine information related to a state of the pipeline based on the acoustic signature as the pipe inspection tool moves through the pipeline.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the acoustic signature comprises at least one of periodic signals or coded signals. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more acoustic sensor arrays are configured to determine a location of a problem in the pipeline. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more acoustic sensor arrays comprise serially-arranged sets of discrete sensing elements. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising signal processing equipment connectable to interrogation electronics and configured to receive and detect the acoustic signature of the pipe inspection tool. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising interrogation electronics connectable to the acoustically-sensitive cable and signal processing equipment and configured to determine the location of the pipeline inspection tool. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a time-domain device for associating a time at which the pipe inspection tool passes a particular location in the pipeline with time stamps of an on-board logging system to provide a positional correlation of an on-board log with a location in the pipeline. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more acoustic sensor arrays are usable to detect and collect background data through the pipeline before the pipe inspection tool is moved through the pipeline. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pipe inspection tool comprises an instrumented pipe inspection tool. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the acoustically-sensitive cable comprises a fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         11 . A method for monitoring a pipeline inspection tool as the pipeline inspection tool passes through a pipeline, the method comprising:
 connecting interrogation electronics to an acoustically-sensitive cable comprising one or more acoustic sensor arrays, the acoustically-sensitive cable and the one or more acoustic sensor arrays locatable proximate to, detachable from, and outside the pipeline and extending along a length of a continuous section of the pipeline;   generating a passive acoustic signature of the pipeline inspection tool as the pipeline inspection tool moves through an inside of the section of the pipeline;   transmitting an active acoustic signature from an acoustic transmitter of the pipe inspection tool as the pipeline inspection tool moves through the inside of the section of the pipeline;   detecting the active acoustic signature of the pipeline inspection tool moving through the section of pipeline using the acoustically-sensitive cable and the interrogation electronics; and   determining information relating to a state of the pipeline based on the active acoustic signature of the pipe inspection tool as the pipe inspection tool moves through the pipeline.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining at least one of a progress of the pipe inspection tool through the pipeline and a condition of the pipeline based on noise from the pipe inspection tool when passing through the pipeline and/or based on collecting information actively transmitted by the pipe inspection tool. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising connecting the interrogation electronics to the one or more existing acoustic sensor arrays locatable along at least a section of the pipeline. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining a location of the pipe inspection tool using the one or more acoustic sensor arrays and calculating a speed of the pipe inspection tool by relating the location of the pipe inspection tool to time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the active acoustic signature is emitted from the pipe inspection tool. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising transmitting and receiving the active acoustic signature at signal processing equipment. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining the location of the pipeline inspection tool using the interrogation electronics. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising detecting and collecting background data through the pipeline before the pipe inspection tool is moved through the pipeline. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising associating a time at which the pipe inspection tool passes a particular location in the pipeline with time stamps of an on-board logging system to provide a positional correlation of an on-board log with a location in the pipeline. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining a location of a problem in the pipeline using the one or more acoustic sensor arrays.