Subsea CT scanner for flowlines, Discovery™, has completed the first deepwater deployment on Shell-operated flowlines in the Gulf of Mexico.

Discovery™ was developed by Tracerco, part of the FTSE100 Johnson Matthey Plc. The technology is used to establish the integrity of subsea pipeline assets.

In total, Discovery™ scanned ten flowlines including jumpers, steel catenary risers, and pipe in pipe flowlines all of varying diameters. Over 250 CT scan images over a pipeline length of 50,000 feet, at depths down to 4,200 feet, were generated. In the Gulf of Mexico, based on such data, Shell was able to build a complete profile of their pipeline, which helped to confirm the condition of the asset, Tracerco explained.

Jim Bramlett, Business Development Manager for Tracerco’s Subsea Technologies division, said: “Using Discovery™ we were able to quickly deliver data, drip feeding the scans through to Shell engineers then providing an in-depth analysis once we had all the information. We understand that for each day a pipeline is out of action, or not performing at peak, there are significant financial implications: safety, speed and efficiency were key drivers in developing this cutting-edge technology.”

Discovery™ scans pipelines from the outside to gain an accurate picture of the condition of the pipe and the flow, with no need to remove the protective coating and no interruption to production, the company added.