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Innovative hardware and next-generation digital capabilities combine for the benefit of crucial infrastructure class, writes Stuart Clouston, Global Product Line Manager Pipeline Inspection, Baker Hughes Process & Pipeline Services, US.
ipeline integrity, safety and regulatory compliance are the watchwords for a global pipeline market seeking to maximise efficiencies and showcase safety at a time of increasing energy demand Inspection and management technologies have therefore never been more important, whether dictated by regulatory regimes, market imperatives or operational requirements – or some combination of those elements. Innovative pipeline inspection smart pig technology, together with digital capabilities, artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis and engineering expertise are, perhaps like never before, being used to detect defects, map maintenance and highlight future problems. This is why companies including Baker Hughes Process & Pipeline Services (PPS) put so much faith in inline inspection solutions: a complete picture of the overall condition of an asset, over time, is the best way to provide confidence in its integrity lifecycle.
A difficult landscape Pipelines are a crucial, integrated and expanding segment of the world’s industrial and energy infrastructure. The global market for management and inspection of the network is already estimated to be worth multiple billions of dollars and is widely expected to more than double by 2030. Baker Hughes alone had, by the end of 2021, inspected more than 2.5 million km of pipeline, including 600 000 km under the
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