Magnet pipeline scanner proves a real attraction

Sep 10 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

A DEVICE made in Northumberland to find leaks in energy pipelines has won global acclaim after being used on over 30 international projects in just nine months since its launch.

It was the fruit of two years of labour for researchers at the GE Oil & Gas plant in Cramlington, but the hard work put into the New MagneScan has certainly paid off.

The technology, which uses powerful magnets to spot leaks or corrosion in pipelines, has been used as far afield as Alice Springs, Australia, as part of an international roll-out of the product.

In Italy, it was used to inspect a 20-mile jet fuel pipe from the town of Trecate to Malpensa International Airport, near Milan, while it has completed the inspection of an additional 1180 miles of pipeline around the world.

The technology uses powerful magnets to create magnetic fields within the steel pipelines and, in areas where there is corrosion or missing metal, the magnetic field leaks from the steel. Any defects are then logged by the device’s on-board computer for future analysis.

GE Oil and Gas spokesperson John Bucci said: “This innovative technology is proving successful because it has much better corrosion assessment capabilities than other similar devices, and it can carry out inspections quickly, which limits disruption for our clients.

The magnetic flux leakage technology was originally invented by British Gas on the site of what is now GE’s Cramlington base.

GE, which turned the site into a global centre of excellence for magnetics in 2002, now employs around 200 people at the plant, which produces inspection projects for customers worldwide.

In North America, the New MagneScan device was used to inspect 227.5 miles of a Kansas pipeline which transports around 30,000 barrels of crude oil every day.