PDO uses robot to test its pipelines

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has successfully checked the integrity of its vital crude oil export pipelines using a robot.

The robot has confirmed that the ageing conduits are in fair condition, according to a report by the ONA.

The onshore and offshore pipelines through which the country's oil flows to tankers in Mina Al Fahal bay were constructed in the late 1960s by PDO. Since then, there had been no satisfactory way of gauging the condition of the interior of the lines – something that has been the source of concern to PDO given the critical job they perform.

The problem was that the export lines (as well as a pipeline that feeds the Oman Refinery Company) could not be inspected the conventional way. The interior of most pipelines is usually checked for flaws with a tool that is inserted at one end of the pipeline and retrieved at another point. As the tool proceeds down the pipeline it measures and records data on the state of the lines. However, the export lines do not have an "end" out of which these tools can be extracted.

The solution came in the form of a crawling robot provided by the firm RTD.

Nicknamed "Sojourner", the machine could inch its way down the pipeline and then be put into reverse to crawl out again. During its journey the robot emits ultrasonic waves to probe the inner surface of the pipeline for corrosion and other damage, feeding the data back in "real time" to sophisticated computer software for analysis.

Suleiman Al Harthy, project leader, said: "We were operating in a live line, so we had to work in close cooperation with the people of several departments - Coastal Engineering and Construction, Terminal and Port Operation, and Fire Fighting Operations. Everyone did a tremendous job."

Graham Barker, infrastructure manager, said: "The potential for significant environmental pollution caused by a pipeline leak is always there," and fixing a sub-sea leak, of course, is that much more difficult should the worst occur. The good news is that this tool has told us that, despite their long time in service, all the onshore and offshore lines examined are for the most part in very good shape."