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Dye as detection?

Published by , Editorial Assistant
World Pipelines,


Kevin Parker, Managing Director, OceanTools Ltd, UK, introduces an optical leak detection system that is typically one hundred times as sensitive as the human eye.

Dye as detection?

Hydrostatic testing of subsea pipelines is essential for the early detection of leaks. Failure to identify and rectify pipeline leaks can have obvious operational repercussions, but also incur financial penalties in recognition of the potential environmental damage that a leak could cause.

One approach to leak detection is to add dye to the water during hydrostatic testing. Any dye that escapes from the pipeline can be detected by ROV or diver. For larger leaks it is sufficient to illuminate the dye to stimulate it to fluoresce, then observe the result with the human eye. The OceanTools DyeLighter® range of leak detection lamps use high intensity LEDs to stimulate dyes in this way. The human observation process can be augmented using a dye detection camera such as the OceanTools C3-DDC, which contains filters tuned to the specific wavelength of the light emitted by the illuminated dye. This should allow leaks to be detected more easily, but still ultimately relies on human judgement and subjectivity.

Detecting smaller leaks is far more of a challenge as they may not be visible to the human eye even when fluoresced using a DyeLighter. OceanTools set out to develop a world-leading dye detection system with this in mind, combining their in-house skills with world-leaders in optical technology from Aberdeen University (UK). With an accelerated development programme …

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/equipment-and-safety/07042023/dye-as-detection/

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This article has been tagged under the following:

ROVs and AUVs news UK pipeline news