A novel smart caliper foam pig for low-cost pipeline inspection—Part A: Design and laboratory characterization G. Canavese a,b,n , L. Scaltrito b,e , S. Ferrero b,e , C.F. Pirri a,b , M. Cocuzza b,d , M. Pirola c , S. Corbellini c , G. Ghione c , C. Ramella b , F. Verga f , A. Tasso g , A. Di Lullo g a Center for Space Human Robotics@PoliTo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Corso Trento 21,10129 Torino, Italy b Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24,10129 Torino, Italy c Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni (DET), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24,10129 Torino, Italy d CNR-IMEM, Parco Area delle Scienze 37, 43124 Parma, Italy e Microla Optoelectronics, Campus Tecnologico Località Baraggino, 10034 Chivasso, TO, Italy f Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Ambiente, del Territorio e delle Infrastrutture (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24,10129 Torino, Italy g Eni E&P, via Emilia 1, San Donato Milanese, MI, Italy article info Article history: Received 14 April 2014 Accepted 9 January 2015 Keywords: Oil pipeline Pigging Utility pigs Pipeline integrity abstract Pipeline pigging for in-line inspection is a fundamental practice in the oil and gas industry. Yet, the so- called “smart pigs” used for this purpose are expensive and delicate and the risk related to their possible blocking inside the pipeline is non-negligible, hence their deployment is rather infrequent (generally, just once in several years). In this paper, we present a new, low-cost and low-risk foam pig with inspection capabilities similar to those of a multi-channel caliper pig (i.e. able to detect, locate and size inner diameter changes and deformations) together with additional features that allow to detect internal roughness changes (e.g. due to corrosion) and perform some pH/salinity determinations, also useful for corrosion assessment purposes. One implementation of the new tool makes use of a foam pig “carrier”, providing the required push with a good capability to surpass restrictions, equipped with specialized sensors and modules for data acquisition and storage. Another implementation, called “skeleton caliper pig” and suitable to prevent the massive displacement of condensates from gas lines, deploys the light plastic system without any foam pig carrier, pushed by the gas velocity alone. In the paper we will discuss the design, construction and field testing of this new low-risk inspection pig. & 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The oil and gas industry has developed an efficient global distribution network for both crude and refined products invol- ving pipeline, tanker, barge, truck and rail transportation. Pipelines are the most economical transportation method and are most suited to movement across long distances, for example, over continents (Trench, 2001). Pipeline infrastructures are vulnerable to several degradation factors, including construction defects, aging-related issues (corro- sion, creep, cracking, etc. or so on), third-party damage and weather/environment related threats (earthquakes, severe tem- perature conditions, rough seas, etc. or so on). Accidental failure of oil and gas pipelines, beyond causing significant economic losses, represents a major environmental hazard and a potential threat to life and must therefore be prevented through effective pipeline integrity management practices. These include proper pipeline maintenance and cleaning to avoid obstructions and maintain efficient operative conditions together with periodic non- destructive inspections to assess both internal and external pipe- line status to find possible flaws and damages before they become cause for concern (Kishawy and Gabbar, 2010; Menon, 2011). Pipeline inspection gauges (commonly called pigs) play a key role in pipeline infrastructure management, by both cleaning and carrying out inspection procedures. In the current scenario of pigging proto- cols, the cleaning and inspection purposes are accomplished by two definitely different types of pigs: the cleaning pigs and the instru- mented In-line Inspection (ILI) pigs (Kishawy and Gabbar, 2010; Menon, 2011; Tiratsoo, 1999; Quarini and Shire, 2007). Cleaning pigs are used to remove debris and wax inner pipe accumulations, and are available in a number of different shapes, materials and densities. Foam or polyurethane pigs are flexible tools and can easily travel through multi-diameter and/or bended pipelines and are particularly suitable for removing wax (Quarini and Shire, 2007; Hoffmann and Amundsen, 2013). Mandrel pigs are more long-life tools composed of a metal (i.e. or e.g. steel) body Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2015.01.008 0920-4105/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 110907394; fax: þ39 110907399. E-mail address: giancarlo.canavese@polito.it (G. Canavese). Please cite this article as: Canavese, G., et al., A novel smart caliper foam pig for low-cost pipeline inspection—Part A: Design and laboratory characterization. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2015.01.008i Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎