As important as today's fire sprinkler and other process piping systems are, the current methods of inspecting those systems are rather antiquated and not nearly as effective as should be for such a critical system. Often times, Facility Managers or Property Owners only get partial information, forcing them to make under-educated decisions and consequently making unnecessary repairs, or more importantly, relying on substandard pipe to protect their property, equipment, products, and staff.

                     The Sonic Difference

Sonic Pipe Inspection has taken a huge leap forward with this issue, by offering a technology that provides a very high level of detail in a cost effective manner, unattainable by any other means available today, all while working behind the scenes and not interrupting your daily operations.

Sonic's Predictive Maintenance Program incorporates both traditional UT ultrasonic "time of flight" thickness testing along with its proprietary patented Localized Guided Wave scanning system to quickly, simply, and accurately detect and monitor anomalies within a piping system.

This unique patented Localized Guided Wave system identifies areas of pipe that show indications of internal corrosion or other issues. The scanning head is placed on the exterior of the pipe, which excites guided ultrasonic waves into the pipe and receives the resulting sound wave information. Sonic then compares the measured waveforms against a database of ultrasonic signatures for pristine pipe of equal diameter, schedule, and alloy. The difference between the two wave forms will reveal the internal condition of the pipe. 

The signal on the left shows a good signature and the signal on the right is from bad pipe.

To the left, you can easily see the measured signal on bottom closely matches that of the baseline on top, whereas on the right, you can see the signal degradation between the baseline and measured signals.

Any areas of concern are then further inspected with the ultrasonic thickness gauge to generate a second set of data, providing additional insight as to the conditions detected inside the pipe. Ultrasonic thickness testing is a highly accurate and proven resource, but it alone cannot detect corrosion build up, ice, or anomalies other than wall thinning.

The combination of Sonic Pipe Inspection's patented Localized Guided Wave technology and traditional ultrasonic UT thickness measurements has proven highly successful in finding corrosion nodules and wall thinning in both wet and dry systems, air pockets trapped in wet systems, water pockets left in dry systems, as well as ice plugs in refrigerated systems.

While scanning, Sonic Pipe Inspection technicians mark the exact area of pipe where readings are taken, making it quick and easy to reference those areas in the future. All data collected is then compiled into detailed reports and referenced to the markings on the pipe. For more information on the reports, click here.