Sahli Hussein, El-Sheimy Naser
MMSS Research Group, Geomatics Engineering Department, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW. Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Sensors (Basel). 2016 Apr 21;16(4):567. doi: 10.3390/s16040567.
Pipeline inspection gauges (pigs) have been used for many years to perform various maintenance operations in oil and gas pipelines. Different pipeline parameters can be inspected during the pig journey. Although pigs use many sensors to detect the required pipeline parameters, matching these data with the corresponding pipeline location is considered a very important parameter. High-end, tactical-grade inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used in pigging applications to locate the detected problems of pipeline using other sensors, and to reconstruct the trajectories of the pig. These IMUs are accurate; however, their high cost and large sizes limit their use in small diameter pipelines (8″ or less). This paper describes a new methodology for the use of MEMS-based IMUs using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the pipeline junctions to increase the position parameters' accuracy and to reduce the total RMS errors even during the unavailability of above ground markers (AGMs). The results of this new proposed method using a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based IMU revealed that the position RMS errors were reduced by approximately 85% compared to the standard EKF solution. Therefore, this approach will enable the mapping of small diameter pipelines, which was not possible before.
管道检测规（清管器）已被用于油气管道的各种维护作业多年。在清管器运行过程中，可以检测不同的管道参数。尽管清管器使用许多传感器来检测所需的管道参数，但将这些数据与相应的管道位置匹配被认为是一个非常重要的参数。高端战术级惯性测量单元（IMU）用于清管应用中，以利用其他传感器定位检测到的管道问题，并重建清管器的轨迹。这些IMU精度很高；然而，它们的高成本和大尺寸限制了它们在小直径管道（8英寸及以下）中的使用。本文描述了一种使用基于微机电系统（MEMS）的IMU的新方法，该方法利用扩展卡尔曼滤波器（EKF）和管道连接处来提高位置参数的精度，并即使在地面标记（AGM）不可用的情况下也能降低总均方根误差（RMS）。使用基于微机电系统（MEMS）的IMU的这一新提出方法的结果表明，与标准EKF解决方案相比，位置RMS误差降低了约85%。因此，这种方法将能够绘制小直径管道的地图，这在以前是不可能的。
