Header Information

NPRP 08 - 276 - 2 - 091
NPRP 02
Qatar University
Award Closed
30 Sep 2009
Dr. Uvais Qidwai
3 Year(s)
30 Apr 2014
Resubmission
Innovative Robot for NDT Applications in LNG/LPG Tank Floor Inspection

Project Summary
Liquefied Natural-Petroleum Gas (LNG) is the prime product in Qatar and is a speciality of RasGas Company in Qatar. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Field/Plant Condensate are also by products of LNG production. Both LNG and LPG are usually stored at -160 degrees Celcius which poses a major issue in maintaining the tank since the tank must be shutdown for a period of 10-14 days before the tanks can be safe for human ingress. The maintenance cost for such an operation can be significantly reduced if the shutdown period can be decreased. We propose to do this by deploying a specially designed robot, capable of working at very low temperatures and in hazardous conditions, thus, replacing the need for risking human personnel during initial stages of inspection and at the same time reducing the shutdown cost. At the time of writing this document, this cost is about 15-20 million dollars per day. A number of Robotic Inspection systems exist today. However, all of these solutions are for external inspection of metallic walls of the tank. To the best of our knowledge, no solution exists for the inspection of the floor which sits on a solid concrete flooring and virtually impossible to be accessed from outside. The proposed solution here, therefore, targets predominantly the floor inspection from inside of the tank. Main objectives of this project will be to get an edge over sensors technology and visual inspection capabilities applicable for low temperatures storage.
Non-destructive testing of LNG/LPG tanks is a crucial expertise in any natural gas production system. Qatar, especially has a major reserve of natural gas and with the Government's plan to make Qatar the Gas Capital of the world, this production is bound to increase requiring more and more of such storage tanks for storing the liquefied gas at cryogenic temperatures. Since maintenance can not be taken as an optional procedure, the routine shutdowns are essential part of the plant operation. For routine maintenance of such tanks, they are shutdown for at least two weeks to warm them up slowly in order to bring the cryogenic temperatures to humanly-possible range. This, of course, means loss of production for two weeks which typically amounts up to 20 Million dollars per day!!! Since, the proposed robot will allow the inspection to take place at a very low temperature, without any need for human operators to go in, the loss of production can be saved by as many as 10 days which is quite significant amount (roughly 200 million dollars). To the best of our knowledge, no such system exists in the world at the moment and Qatar will be the first country to have such a robot built indigenously. Like any other robotic design, human safety is inherent in this system as well and it improves on the performance level of safety inspection for the tank as well.
Inspection Robot; Ultrsonic Nondestructive Testing; Hazardous Environment Robot; Cold Laser illumination; Low-lux imaging
Basic research
2. Engineering and Technology
2.02 Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering
Robotics and Automatic Control
Yes
No

Institution
Qatar University
Qatar
Performance Site
Qatar University
Qatar
Submitting Institution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States
Collaborative Institution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States
Performance Site

Personnel
Lead PI
Dr. Uvais Qidwai
Qatar University
Co-Lead PI
Dr. Uvais Qidwai
Qatar University
Co-PI
Prof. KAMAL YOUCEF-TOUMI
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Outputs/Outcomes
Conference Paper
Project based Learning in Engineering Education: A Boe-bot experience
DOI:QNRFOLDPUB12
Conference Paper
TF based Signal Restoration of LU signals with applications in NDT
DOI:10.1109/ISIEA.2011.6108729
Conference Paper
Fuzzy Time-Frequency Classifier for Magnetic Flux Leakage Inspection System with Applications in NDT of Pipes and Sheets
DOI:QNRFOLDPUB92