In-Service Identification of the Heterogeneous Zone in Petrochemical Pipelines by Using Sealed Gamma-Ray Sources

In-service diagnoses of pipeline facilities are important for a systematic maintenance of them. Field applications by using sealed gamma-ray sources $(^{60}Co,\;^{137}Cs)$ were performed to identify the heterogeneous zone in the pipelines of a distillation tower and a flare stack respectively. From the results, the heterogeneous zones in the pipelines were successfully identified. In the case of the pipeline connected to the distillation tower, a vapor pocket was detected in the fluid under hydrodynamic conditions, which could explain the reason for a decrease of the flow rate. In another case, an area with some amount of catalyst deposits was found at the bottom of the gas pipeline which was connected to the flare stack. And these findings provided important information for the process operators. Diagnosis technique by using gamma radiation sources has been proven to be an effective and reliable method for providing information on a media distribution in a facility.