Pipeline Testing Process

Innovative Inspection Process

Resolves Pipeline Inspection Problems!

There are a number of problems with the old dead weight system of testing oil pipelines. But the biggest problem may be that there is no way to tell which sections of the pipeline are most likely to have future problems. If you are not able to monitor the pipeline more often, and more efficiently, leaks are more likely to go undetected, which means you are losing product as the leak creates a more costly cleanup.

And it’s not just small refineries that have to worry about the cost of cleanups and lost product. The bigger the pipeline, the bigger a leak can go undetected. So the more oil you’re moving, the more oil you can expect to lose from an undetected chronic release.

What if there was a way to test your pipe consistently at low cost that would allow you to detect leaks now and gauge the strength of different sections of the pipe for the future? At ATS Environmental, we have developed a pipeline-testing method that fixes many of the problems with the old volumetric testing process:

• Time: Traditional volumetric testing requires you to shut down your pipe for several days, once every 5 years. Our test method would require you to take your pipeline out of service just a few hours annually. Even over 5 years, that’s less the 24 hours of downtime.  It would be easy to
• Cost: A basic hydrostatic volumetric test costs tens of thousands of dollars, because it requires a team of testers to be there for several days. We can send a few men out for an afternoon to test the same pipeline at a cost of just $350 an hour.
• Environmental: Hydrostatic testing leaves the pipeline owner with thousands of gallons of water to dispose a byproduct we do not generate.
• Accuracy: When volumetric testing shows a leak, the testers then have to send out for more people and equipment in order to find the leak. This can take several additional days. Our crew  can jump right into action utilizing our MDleak® locating method saving the pipeline owner thousands of dollars in identifying the leak location..
• Evaluation: Hydrostatic testing can only tell you whether or not you have a leak. If you use our PHDleak™ method over the course of 2 to 3 years, we can help direct your maintenance dollars to the pipeline sections that  are most at-risk for leaks, so you can monitor your pipeline more effectively and more efficiently.
• Pressure: While hydrostatic testing requires you to test pipelines at 150% of working pressure, we feel that annual testing at 100% operating pressure is better for the environment and healthier for the longevity of the pipeline. When you are not purposefully trying to break the pipe, you can test utilizing the product used in the pipeline.
• Variables: Hydrostatic  tests take hours to complete and can provide faulty test results due to temperature fluctuations and other variables. Our test takes 24 minutes and is not impacted by temperature at all.

The hydrostatic testing methods are costly and time-intensive. Worst of all, it does next to nothing to help you understand how your pipeline works and where it is likely to leak.

Our test provides information on how your pipeline is performing, so you can figure out where and when leaks are most likely to occur. And since our testing method saves the pipeline owner days in testing, you can run better tests more often and still at less total cost.

Contact one of our specialists and find out more about how our pipeline inspection system works.