Flexlife have been granted a UK Patent for ‘Assessing the condition of a tubular using Ultrasonic means’, this Patent relates to the use of short pulse Ultrasonic beams to determine Annulus Flooding and any corrosion of the Tensile Armour Wire of Flexible Risers and Flow-lines.
By obtaining accurate information on the Tensile Armour Wire condition, the results enable calculations to be carried out giving an accurate assessment of the remnant life of the Flexible, in some cases preventing a Flexible being replaced with the consequential operational downtime/loss of production, resulting in significant cost savings for the Operator. In the event of damage to the outer sheath Flexlife’s Patented Armadillo Clamp repair solution can be used, the company said.
Flexlife have made a significant investment developing Ultrasonic Scanning and subsequent projects have delivered over £6m GBP in revenue to the company over the past 3 years, with a further £3.5m GBP of potential projects currently in Flexlife’s sales pipeline for 2015/16.
Flexlife CEO Garry Millard said: “The granting of this Patent is a significant endorsement of Flexlife’s technology, which forms an intrinsic part of Flexlife’s business, supported by our Engineering, Delivery and Integrity Management, and Positive Pressure Annulus Testing, Armadillo Repair Clamps and FlexGel technologies.”