Applus+ RTD Australia has recently announced a further expansion of its specialized
NDT capabilities with a re-energized and dedicated team...Advanced NDT & Subsea Inspection. This new facility is designed to support global subsea operations from its local Applus+ RTD Perth base.
The Advanced NDT Group has been providing a range of subsea inspection services. With continuing growth in the global market however, the need for subsea inspection activities combined with
asset integrity management has grown too. This has led to the creation of a dedicated division focused on this critical area for inspection services... Advanced NDT & Subsea Inspection. Key to the success of this new operation is the way inspection technologies can be used with deployment vehicles.
The success of the new Advanced NDT and Subsea Division's capabilities can be clearly demonstrated by case studies on two challenging projects:
- RTD INCOTEST, 500 meters subsea in the Gulf of Mexico: The purpose of the inspection was to test for evidence of corrosion under marine growth plus external coating an internal wall loss at selected locations on a 13.5 kilometre subsea flow line. This involved inspection of the various flow lines connecting subsea wells, manifolds and risers in a complex network. The inspection took equipment down to depths of up to 500 meters (1650 feet) below sea level, and as such utilized a third party ROV to deploy the specialized subsea RTD INCOTEST equipment which had been developed by the Australian-based Applus+ RTD Advanced NDT and Subsea Division team.
- RTD INCOTEST, 800 meters subsea in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa: this particularly challenging project was carried out by ROV-deployed RTD INCOTEST facilities in several hundred locations over a 9 kilometres length of subsea pipeline. Most of the lines were in places that proved difficult to access, as well as being insulated by a covering of marine growth. RTD INCOTEST proved to be the ideal solution for inspection requirements as it allowed testing of thickness profiles of the lines, bends and valve arrangements. The inspection was carried out using a third party ROV, and was intended to detect evidence of corrosion on the pipelines with insulation and external cladding up to 60mm thick. The original scope of the work was extended to cover various jumper line intersections, and the complete project which was carried out in water 800 metres deep (2640 feet), was a success and delivered valuable data and inspection results.