Shell and UK-based Tracerco, which developed the inspection system, used the technology to analyse the condition and contents of a 60-kilometre pipe-in-pipe system at the Europa field in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf, the companies announced during the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.
The ROV-deployed inspection tool, dubbed Discovery, uses CT to provide detailed images of so-called “unpiggable” pipelines without having to interrupt operations or remove the pipeline’s protective coating or insulation.
