Automated ultrasonic inspection specialist Sonomatic is hailing its new MAG-Rover as the first remotely steerable ultrasonic scanner capable of deepwater operations.
Designed and developed in-house over the past four years, the innovative scanner is capable of carrying out topside, splash zone and subsea inspection tasks and working in areas with restricted access around offshore structures, pipelines, caissons, pipework, pressure vessels and columns.
Sonomatic subsea manager Ryan Phipps expects the company to complete its first contracts with the MAG-Rover in 2012. Further work will also be carried out this year to upgrade the scanner’s subsea capability from the current 2000m water depth rating to 3000m.
Phipps said a key advantage was the scanner’s versatility. ‘Our goal, when we designed the MAG-Rover, was that it would address the health and safety issues surrounding high-risk inspection in difficult to access areas and could be used to inspect areas currently out of reach, such as in deepwater subsea fields and splash zone inspections.’
Incorporating the latest developments in ultrasonic performance and signal processing algorithms, the scanner provides ‘exceptional accuracy and reliability of inspection information, allowing operators to make integrity management decisions that are more closely aligned to the actual condition of the equipment inspected’, added Phipps.
