PipeLine Underground Trenchless Overhaul

(PLUTO)

PI: Todd Danko, GE ResearchTeam Members: Warren Environmental, Garver

Improve pipeline longevity and maintenance efficiency by developing a

minimally invasive, long-range, structural pipeline rehabilitation system

Total Project Cost: $7.1M

Length 36 mo.

Project Vision

GE Research

High-Level Approach

• Access: Dexterous pipe crawler system with tether managing features for scalable

range extension

• Prepare: Selective surface preparation for high-speed deployment, and structural

liner independence from host with intimate bonding to service connections

• Material and Process: Water, wastewater and fuel sector proven epoxy for long-

life, structurally independent pipe linings

• Inspect: Advanced inspection technologies paired with deep learning analytics for

detecting life limiting defects

Technology Impact

• Long-Range: Up to 1000 m one-way travel, minimizing excavations & reducing

interruptions

• Fast: 1000 m pipeline inspection coating and validation ~36 hours

• Longevity: 75+ year service life is as good or better than new pipe installation

PipeLine Underground Trenchless Overhaul (PLUTO)

PLUTO: Minimally Invasive, Long-Range, Structural Pipeline Rehabilitation

Project Goals

• Minimally Invasive Structural Pipeline Rehabilitation: Apply structurally

independent liner to leaking iron and steel pipelines, reducing gas pipeline

transmission loss

• Economical Infrastructure Maintenance: Rehabilitate existing pipe infrastructure

through sparse access points rather than replacement through continuous pipeline

excavations → ½ to 1/20th of the cost of full pipe replacement

Project Objectives & The Concept

Approach - Access▸Train of dexterous pipe crawlers→ Scalable access range

▸Leading crawler – pulls tether (with material, power and comms), carries and controls inspection, cleaning and application tools

▸Trailing crawlers – carry tether, ensure easier flow of repair material (by heating, possibly pumping)

▸Pipe crawler can traverse a wide variety of pipes diameters

▸Localization - fuse multiple sensors (direct tether length measurements, wheel odometry, external sources)

Approach – Prepare▸Surface preparation with laser ablation - rapidly heating very

thin layers of the surface of the repair site causing surface materials to vaporize, leaving a clean surface

▸Selective cleaning the pipe’s inner surface in only locations where it is desirable to adhere a coating (such as service tap

points)

– Lining creates a floating inner pipe independent from the host pipe

– Prepares surface for sealing to non-lined components

Surface preparation with Laser ablation

Approach – Material▸Enhance baseline material – Warren Environmental existing

S-301-14 structural epoxy - cost effective, proven hydrocarbon resistant, two-part thixotropic epoxy. Currently used for spray-in-place pipe (SIPP) applications in the water and fuel systems

▸Properly installed epoxy adequately resists anticipated loading and potential failure mechanisms

▸Formulation with no solvents and can be applied at a wide range of thicknesses in one pass

▸If necessary - use fibers to reinforce by embedding aramidor s-glass microfibers compatible with pumping and deposition system

Approach – Material Deposition▸Treat pipe as a former to deposit new pipe inside of

▸Rotating deposition/spray lining tool with 1 coat deposition

▸Crawler body articulation allows coating of leading and trailing edges at joints

Approach – Material Deposition (cont.)▸Initial lining material thin film set time of 2 hours at 77 °F

(less time with increased temperature). Ready to transmit gas by the time the pipe has been sealed

▸New lining creates a new inner pipe with an expected service life of 75 years.

▸Thick lining entombs particulates left in the pipe after surface preparation

Approach – Inspect (pre and post coating)▸While-light visual inspection methods (segmentation,

classification) ▸NDT approaches designed to work with coating material and

additives to improve health monitoring – Active infrared thermography (IRT)– X-ray back scatter technologies

▸Automatic defect recognition translated from team’s deep industrial inspection and surveillance background

▸Potentially technologies - EMAT, MFL and RFT systems to provide quantifiable condition assessments of host pipe wall thickness and detailed defect identification

Infrared thermography of coatings and substrates

Automatic detection and segmentation

Automatic pit detection

The Team – org chart

8

Core Component Development to Scaled Field Adoption

Coating Material Development

ARPA-E Funded PLUTO Pipe Rehabilitation

Demonstrator System Development

Material Applicator Development

Pre-and-Post-Coating Inspection System Development

Access System Development

Commercial PLUTO Pipe

Rehabilitation System

Maturation

Domain ExtensionWater, Wastewater, Nuclear, Petroleum, Industrial Site

Infrastructure, …

2021 2022 2023 2024+

Pipeline Owner and Regulator Outreach / Acceptance Activities

TEAM PLUTO Independent Effort

ARPA-E Funded Team PLUTO Effort

Project Timeline

Results

https://www.warrenenviro.com/resources/

Epoxy spin casting

Pipe crawler prototype

GE Research

Risks and Path to Economic Viability

Risk: Regulatory Adoption - A successful technical solution is valueless if it is not trusted for deployment by pipeline owners and regulators

• Mitigation: Early and frequent interaction with regulators and pipeline owners through ARPA-E REPAIR program. Cooperatively shape requirements for acceptance.

Risk: Performance - Each system component is unproven in target environment: Access, Materials, Inspection

• Mitigation: Design philosophy and risk reduction activities shape solution that is as simple as possible to achieve goals. Test often with regular critical evaluations of system and approach

Commercial Deployment

▸Full-scale commercialization will begin in years 4 and 5 after field testing is successfully completed

▸Timing allow for early adopters to be identified, and regulatory requirements satisfied

▸Garney Construction is initial planned installation contractor for the rehabilitation system

▸Licensing to other contractors will be considered in the future

Summary

PipeLine Underground Trenchless Overhaul (PLUTO)

• Improve pipeline longevity and maintenance

efficiency by developing a minimally invasive, long-

range, structural pipeline rehabilitation system

• Build a commercial pipe maintenance system for gas transmission and adjacent domains

Project Vision:

GE ResearchTeam:

Anyquestions ?

Thank You

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14

BACKUP

15Insert Presentation Name

The Team –Name Background

Dr. Todd DankoPI / PM

15 years of robotic system development experience. 6 of those in developing minimally invasive industrial inspection & repair systems

Alexander DuncanCrawler Design Lead

Published prior DOE work robotically inspecting pipeline networks. Lead developer on GE Research pipe crawling system

Dr. Steven GraySoftware Lead

Expert in path planning and system autonomy

Dr. Marshall JonesCleaning / Laser Ablation

Pioneer of laser processing including laser cleaning, brazing and welding

Dr. Michael O’BrienEpoxy Coating Chemistry Consultant

34 years of experience as a research chemist focused in thermal and photochemically cured materials

Dr. Vijay NalladegaNon-Destructive Evaluation

Expert in active IR inspection systems used to detect coating defects on metallic aviation components

Walter Dixon IIIAutomatic Defect Recognition / Mapping

Expert in computer vision and automatic defect recognition

John LizziTechnology Transition

20 years of experience in industrial R&D focused on building cyber-physical systems

GE Research

The Team – GE Partners

17

Name Background

Danny WarrenCoating Materials Lead / Technology to market SME

Two-time company founder in pipe maintenance with 38 years of domain experience specializing in pipe and vessel lining materials

Jeff MaierIndustrial regulation and standards /QA/QC /Technology transfer to water industry

20 years in the pipeline and utility sectors specializing in trenchless operations

Greg HarrisTechnology transfer and outreach consultant 24 years in construction and construction

management. Leads strategic management in large construction corporation

Risks and Path to Economic Viability

Risk: Manufacturing - Custom fabrication of components introduces risk simply because a given part has been evaluated in fewer circumstances, reducing confidence in robustness

• Mitigation: Design and simulation tools will be used to reduce the timeline to a validated part, but test and iteration cycles will still be necessary

Risks - Technical Challenges

▸Long distance travel, power transmission, material supply & communications

▸Prolonged surface preparation timeline

▸Rehabilitated pipe validation

Potential Partnerships

‣ Invite collaboration with teams with complementary technologies:

– Localization technologies

– Materials

– Smart material additives

– Sensing and mapping capabilities