Laboratory Experiment on Non-invasive Investigation of Crude Oil Pipe by Industrial Gamma Computed Tomography

With the inceptive applications for medical purpose, computed tomography (CT) is a rapidly developing technique that is also useful for measuring, imaging and troubleshooting multi-component and multi-phase processes in industry. Gamma ray CT can give two or three dimensional images to exploit density distribution of material in an opaque object. This research aims to utilize first generation Gamma ray scanning system to examine the liquid content and air-oil layer in a pipe line of petrochemical plant. The experimental investigations were carried out by using GORBIT gamma ray CT system with one source-one detector combination. The Cobalt-60 source of 50 mCi was used in the experiments and the transmitted gamma radiation was measured by 2-inch NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The crude oil pipe phantom was created and scanned 64 projections for 180 to get cross-sectional images. The images were reconstructed from the measured data with filtered back projection method by using i-GORBIT and MATLAB software. The GORBIT system presented a good performance to apply in pipe scan at the refineries and petrochemical plants. The experimental gamma ray CT images have sufficient resolution to reveal the density distribution of air and crude oil inside the pipe phantom.