P-CAT™ – Pipeline Condition Assessment Technique for Water and Sewer Mains

Annual Conference

Recent advances for assessing the remaining life of ageing water and sewer pipelines are a key consideration when developing a maintenance plan for those systems. One common method currently employed is to replace pipelines after a certain number of ruptures have occurred. This method can result in the unnecessary replacement of up to 90% of a pipeline that is still within its economic service because only 10% is badly deteriorated.

P-CAT™ is a cost-effective technique for the condition assessment of pipelines over long distances with a spatial accuracy of up to 10 – 20 m. It is a non-invasive screening tool that can applied to a wide range of pipe materials and sizes. Testing can quickly be done with no excavation work and minimal disruption to services.

This pipeline condition assessment technique can provide a pipeline’s sub-sectional condition (remaining wall thickness) and perform localised fault detection, including the identification of gas pockets, blockages, unknown off-takes and the sealing status of valves. This is done using a controlled hydraulic pressure event which is introduced to the system using an existing pipeline asset such as an air valve or scour valve. Using p-CAT™ within the early stages of a project can locate the key deteriorated sections to implement pin-point methods for subsequent investigation. With adequate pressure, transient condition assessment and analysis can be applied to sewer, raw and potable water, providing detailed results on difficult pipelines where other technologies cannot.

The following technical paper shows the procedure of applying the p-CAT™ transient analysis technique to both water and sewer rising mains. It details the testing, analysis and results of the conducted pipeline wall condition assessment and the accompanying localised pipeline fault detection. A summary of any suggested rehabilitation and maintenance based on the case studies’ condition assessment results is also included.

Conference Papers

4.30 PCAT Pipeline Condition Assessment Technique for Water and Sewer Mains.pdf

pdf
1 MB
06 Nov 2017

4.30pm Dr Y Kim.pdf

pdf
5 MB
06 Nov 2017