American Journal of Operations Research, 2015, 5, 274-287 Published Online July 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajor http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajor.2015.54021 How to cite this paper: Alobaidi, W.M., Alkuam, E.A., Al-Rizzo, H.M. and Sandgren, E. (2015) Applications of Ultrasonic Techniques in Oil and Gas Pipeline Industries: A Review. American Journal of Operations Research, 5, 274-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajor.2015.54021 Applications of Ultrasonic Techniques in Oil and Gas Pipeline Industries: A Review Wissam M. Alobaidi 1* , Entidhar A. Alkuam 2 , Hussain M. Al-Rizzo 1 , Eric Sandgren 1 1 Systems Engineering Department, Donaghey College of Engineering & Information Technology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA Email: * wmalobaidi@ualr.edu Received 8 May 2015; accepted 3 July 2015; published 6 July 2015 Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract The diversity of ultrasound techniques used in oil and gas pipeline plants provides us with a wealth of information on how to exploit this technology when combined with other techniques, in order to improve the quality of analysis. The fundamental theory of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology is offered, along with practical limitations as related to two factors (wave types and transducers). The focus is limited to the two main techniques used in pipe plants: First, straight beam evaluation and second, angle beam evaluation. The depth of defect (DD) is calculated using straight beam ultrasonic in six different materials according to their relative lon- gitudinal wave (LW) velocities. The materials and respective velocities of LW are: rolled aluminum (6420 m/s), mild steel (5960 m/s), stainless steel-347 (5790 m/s), rolled copper (5010 m/s), an- nealed copper (4760 m/s), and brass (4700 m/s). In each material eight defects are modeled; the first represents l00% of the material thickness (D), 50.8 mm. The other seven cases represent the DD, as 87.5% of the material thickness, 75%, 62.5%, 50%, 37.5%, 25%, and 12.5%, respectively. Using angle beam evaluation, several parameters are calculated for six different reflection angles (βR) (45˚, 50˚, 55˚, 60˚, 65˚ and 70˚). The surface distance (SD), ½ skip distance (SKD), full SKD, and 1 ½ SKD, ½ sound path (SP) length, full SP, and 1 ½ SP are calculated for each βR. The relationship of SKD and SP to the βR is graphed. A chief limitation is noted that ultrasound testing is heavily dependent on the expertise of the operator, and because the reading of the outcome is subjective, precision may be hard to achieve. This review also clarifies and discusses the options used in solving the industrial engineering problem, with a comprehensive historical summary of the in- formation available in the literature. Merging various NDE inspection techniques into the testing of objects is discussed. Eventually, it is hoped to find a suitable technique combined with ultra- sonic inspection to deliver highly effective remote testing. * Corresponding author.