CC BY
10PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
УДК: 53.05
Nuruyev I.M., Nazarov M.S., Sattarov R.H., Heydarov N.N., Sadigov A.Z., Institute of Radiation Problems of ANAS Kazimov M.H.
Science and Technological Park of ANAS DOI: 10.24412/2520-6990-2022-34157-7-13 RADiATiON MONiTORiNG OF OiL AND GAS PiPELiNES
Нуруев И.М., Назаров М. С., Саттаров Р.К., Гейдаров Н.Н., Садыгов А.З.,
Институт Радиационных Проблем НАНА
Казымов М.Х.
Научно-Технологический Парк НАНА
РАДИАЦИОННЫЙ МОНИТОРИНГ НЕФТЯНЫХ И ГАЗОВЫХ ТРУБОПРОВОДОВ.
Abstract.
It is known that when transporting oil and gas raw materials through pipelines, the solution of such problems as corrosion and leakage of pipes is considered an urgent issue. Oil companies constantly conduct periodic monitoring. However, companies face many challenges in terms of time, ensuring the safety of technical personnel, and depending on weather conditions to identify pipeline defects in hard-to-reach places. To solve such problems, a specially designed drone was proposed. The radiation background in hard-to-reach places is determined using a Geiger-Muller counter installed on the drone. The results obtained are analyzed using a special program written on a tablet integrated into the control unit.
Аннотация.
Известно, что при транспортировке нефтегазового сырья по трубопроводам актуальным вопросом считается решение таких проблем, как коррозия и протечка труб. Нефтяные компании постоянно проводят периодический мониторинг. Однако, перед компаниями стоит множество задач по срокам, обеспечению безопасности технического персонала, а также в зависимости от погодных условий по выявлению дефектов трубопровода в труднодоступных местах. Для решения подобных проблем был предложен специально разработанный беспилотник. В труднодоступных местах радиационный фон определяется с помощью счетчика Гейгера-Мюллера, установленного на дроне. Полученные результаты анализируются с помощью специальной программы, установленной на планшете, интегрированном в блок управления.
Key words: Drone; Geiger-Muller counter; control block; electronics; oil and gas pipeline.
Ключевые слова: дрон; счетчик Гейгера-Мюллера; блок управления; электроника; нефтяных и газовых трубопроводов.
Introduction
The protection, protection or monitoring of especially important enterprises by certain methods has recently been considered one of the most pressing issues. This is done by specially trained personnel. Observation of some objects complicates the work of personnel and forces the use of special technical means. In reservoirs, mountainous areas, forests and deserts, near swamps, on the front lines, in border zones (to fight smugglers), in areas with a high radiation background, monitoring by personnel is completely inappropriate. In addition, since the monitoring of these territories using a portable radiometer can have a negative impact on human health, we consider it expedient to remotely control this process using a drone. This should be done
by autonomous or remotely controlled monitoring systems. For this reason, it is considered relevant to develop multi-copter drones that can be equipped with multifunctional radiation monitoring systems. Using the quadcopter configuration of drones, the above problems can be solved. To do this, a radiometer (with a Geiger-Muller counter [1]) and an additional GPS are integrated on the quadrocopter.
Specially designed system (quadcopter, radiometer and GPS), can be jointly controlled at a distance and take measurements online. The system mainly consists of the following 3 main parts:
1. Control block.
2. A quadcopter with a radiometer installed on it.
3. Geiger-Muller counter
Depending on the terrain, it takes off from a certain height with a detector attached to the bottom of the drone and sends the operator the dose value and the coordinate corresponding to each dose in real time. The remote control, controlled by the operator, is equipped with a tablet and a special program for analyzing incoming data. The program analyzes the data in real time and visualizes on the screen both a graph of the dependence of the radiation dose on time, and the coordinate corresponding to each dose. In addition, the incoming
Electronics
Each of the pulses from the Geiger-Muller counter is corrected as information in a certain time interval (within 10 seconds) according to the Fig. 2. To count these pulses, control the high voltage circuit and transmit the information received via telemetry, a module consisting of two boards is attached to the back of the Heger counter (Fig. 1). To obtain a high voltage, a simple cascade is assembled, consisting of a pair of diode-capacitor (Fig. 2). An LM2903 microcircuit [3] was
addition, the video image from the camera is broadcast live to the remote control monitor to visualize hazardous areas. If necessary, video data is stored in the memory of the aircraft or remote control.
Material and methods
Hager-Muller counters are considered to be among the first recorders used in experimental measurements. In this work, a Geiger-Muller counter type Gamma 8 counter [2] was used (Fig. 1). Table 1 lists the technical parameters of the Geiger-Muller counter
used as a comparator. The signal controlling the detector is provided by said controller and its frequency is adjusted according to 16 kHz. To develop arbitrary electronic circuits that perform any function, regardless of their purpose, it is necessary to first develop the electrical circuit of these circuits, and then the topology. The schemes that are used in this work (Fig. 2) were developed in the following order. First, the board layout (proteus ISIS) and topology (proteus ARES) were designed using the Professional Proteus 8 platform.
data is archived in the program and helps to easily find detector. the dose at any time interval or at any coordinate. In
Table 1
№ Parameter Index
1. Mass 1 kg
2. Data transmission distance 10 km
3. Data measuring time 1 sec.
4. Data transmission 10 sec.
5. Operation voltage for electronics 5 V
6. Operation voltage for tube 350 - 400 V
7. Operation temperature -20 ^ +50 °C
Figure 1. Geiger-Muller counter
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Figure 2. Scheme developed on Professional Proteus 8
In the future, the boards were manufactured in stages on the LPKF S-63 machine. Below (Figure 3 a, b, c) are the boards prepared by us for analyzing information from the Geiger-Muller counter and sending this information to the tablet via telemetry.
a
b c
Figure 3: a) kontroller board b) signal generator c) voltage amplifier
Using the circuits built into the radiometer, it is possible to analyze the events coming from the detector and determine the time dependence of the number of pulses recorded by the detector at one time. The time dependence of these events (280-380 pulses/sec) is determined by the following equation [4]:
D= CPM x 0.0057 uSv/hour (1)
Here D is the dose, CPM (count per minute) is the number of pulses registered in one minute interval. According to special software written on the STM32F108 controller, the number of events recorded in the Heger
counter in 10 seconds is determined and transmitted to the control unit. In addition, the STM32F108 [5] controller operates in the timer mode. As can be seen from the graph below, under normal conditions, the voltage is stable at 400 V. If a particle falls on the counter, the voltage drops sharply and after a certain time returns to its previous state and stabilizes. Each of these voltage drops is counted as a number and graphically observed as pulses on an oscilloscope.
Figure 4. Pulse waveform
The events registered by the detector were observed in the form of pulses with a Hantek DSO5202BM oscilloscope (Fig. 4, screenshot). According to formula (1), the impulses registered with a time interval of 1 minute are similarly converted into a dose form, and we can clearly see these results graphically on the monitor of the control unit.
The main technical parameters of the used quadcopter type drone are shown in Table 2. In this project,
the quadcopter configuration of drones was used, and this is sufficient for monitoring, since the maximum payload of the drone is 3 kg. The drone is equipped with two GPS systems. Both are of the GPS U-blox type [6], in addition, the 1st GPS determines its own control and coordinates of the drone, while the other is used only to transmit the coordinates of the values recorded by the Geiger-Muller counter in the area to the system.
Table 2.
Technical characteristics REMS-D
Objective Conventional and thermal imaging photo and video shooting for various purposes, measurement of the radiation background of the area
Drone weight 4.5 - 6.0 kq
Engine number 4
Payload 1.5 - 3.0 kq
Airspeed (Max.) 60 - 72 km/hour
Flight altitude 800 meter
Flight time (without cargo) 27 - 40 min.
Flight time (loaded) 20 - 32 min.
control radius 5 km
Wind resistance 9 - 14 m/sec
Coordinate measurements DGPS
Video transmission distance 5 km
Dimensions (cm) 104 x 104 x 50
Working temperature 0 ^ +40 °C
Figure 5. Visual image of the drone and the Geiger-Muller counter built into its lower part.
The Geiger-Muller counter, controller board, signal generator boards, and voltage amplifier boards mentioned in Figures 1 and 3 are integrated into the drone body at the same time, as shown in Figure 5.
The application software (application) "REMS-D" (Radioecological Monitoring System - Dose) is written on the ".Net" platform (dot_net) and developed using the Windows-10 operating system, which reflects the results of radioecological monitoring. The program
mainly consists of two parts: graphics and tables. After activating the system, the REMS-D program displays information on the monitor in the form of a dose graph and a table with a "start" button. The "Stop" button puts
the program in a passive state. If the radiation dose exceeds the dangerous limit (0.02 ^Sv/h), the corresponding points on the graph and in the table are displayed in red and warn the user in the form of an alarm.
Figure 6. Monitoring results for the developed program.
Note: since the experiment was carried out in a closed laboratory, the GPS coordinates data appeared on the monitor screen as "not assigned".
As can be seen from Figure 6, it is possible to observe the coordinate dependence of the radiation dose using GPS data, as well as display the radiation background graphically. That is, it is possible to determine the dose value (microSvert) from known coordinates (points) with a detector system integrated into the quad-rocopter. At the same time, by means of a special tele-metric system connected to the detector, the coordinate data corresponding to each dose are transmitted over a
if(strlen(henK3) '= NULL ¿4 strlenflatDgl '= NULL ti strlen(hei'W) '=
certain distance, and we observe this information on the tablet of the control cabinet (as in Fig. 6). As can be seen from the figure, the dose value recorded by our system is 0.42 ^Sv/h. Note: The dose price is marked in red in Figure 6. In addition, a graphical representation of the dose limit can be seen on the monitor. If the dose limit exceeds the norm, the system warns the user with a special sound signal.
In Figure 7, using a special program written on the STM32F108 controller, coordinate data is transmitted to the base (control unit) via telemetry connected to the detector.
NULL ii strlen(lonDg) != NULL)(
sprintf (sendString,11^* : ^XStsts^s, %sls$s\r", detectorCount [ ] ,detectorCount! ] ,heniN5,latI>g,latMS,heir£W,lonDg,lonMS)
HAIi_UART_Transmit(Stmart2, (uintS_t*)3endString, Strien(sendString), 300);
memset(buff, '\D', U ); memset (sendString, r\0', . ) ; memset (detectorCount, r\[J', 2) ;
flag = ;
1
sprintf(sendString,"%X:%X$%s\r", detectorCount[1],detectorCount[0],NoGPS);
HMi_UART_Transmit(&huart2, (uint8_t*)sendString, Strien(sendString), 300) ;
memset(buff, T\0T, 110); memset(sendString, '\0', 50); memset(detectorCount, '\0T, 2);
}
flag =0; // we are ready to get new data from the sensor
Figure 7. User program written for the STM32F108 controller.
The control unit is a complex control panel assembled inside the case. Which consists of a monitor, a tablet with a Windows operating system and a control panel. Through the monitor, you can conduct thermal imaging [7] and video surveillance in normal mode. The following table lists the main parameters of the control key used. In addition, the body-mounted system has various drone control modes.
Each part of the presented work on the determination of leaks and background radiation using a thermal imaging camera and a radiometer in pipelines transporting oil and gas is combined into a compact control unit. In addition, each part included in the system is controlled by this block (Figure 8).
Results
As a result, we can say that the development of the project was formed by certain stages according to the following sequence:
• A Gamma 8 Geiger-Muller counter was used as a detector (radiometer).
• An experiment was carried out in the laboratory to bring the radiometer into working condition, as a result of which, using the Hantek DSO5202BM oscilloscope, the signals recorded by a radioactive source (Cs-137) were observed.
• The boards for controlling the Geiger-Muller counter shown in Figure 3 were designed and programmed.
• After integrating the boards into the detector (Figure 1), they were brought closer to the radiation source for verification, and the pulses indicated in Figure 4 were observed on the Hantek DSO5202BM oscilloscope. Then the detector and circuits are assembled into a housing (Fig. 1a).
The tablet allows the quadcopter to fly by providing mission-based coordinates, tracking the flight path on a map, and making additional changes to the quad-copter software as needed. The last part to be integrated into the control unit is the control panel. This type of control unit plays a key role in the control of professional surveillance UAVs. Table 3 shows the parameters of the control unit.
Table 3
• At the next stage, a quadrocopter (drone) of a multicopter type was prepared, the parameters of which are given in Table 2. At the same time, the detector system is made in a case and is attached to the lower part of the said drone (Figure 5). Note: Several flight tests have been carried out to bring the drone into full working order.
• Application software (compatible with the Win-dows-10 operating system) "REMS-D" and the control unit shown in Figure 8 have been developed for parallel process control.
• After activating the program written on the ".Net" platform (dot_net), the system switches to the "receiver-transmitter" mode. At the same time, the USB-COMPORT data reception function is automatically activated on the monitor of the control unit (note: the part with the inscription "connected" on a green background in the lower left part of the monitor screen, Fig. 6).
• According to equation (1), the dependence of the dose on the number of events was determined, and this pattern was included in a special algorithm written on the STM32F108 platform (Fig. 7).
Table 4
S/n Date Time Count (1/sec) Dose (^Sv/h) GPS coordinate
1 23.11.2022 14 10:00 3.00 0.01 GPS=4022.4435N,04948.8750E
2 23.11.2022 14 10:10 3.00 0.01 GPS=4022.4436N,04948. 8744E
3 23.11.2022 14 10:20 5.60 0.03 N/A
4 23.11.2022 14 10:30 5.75 0.04 GPS=4022. 4438N,04948.8737E
5 23.11.2022 14 10:40 4.20 0.03 N/A
6 23.11.2022 14 10:50 3.00 0.01 N/A
7 23.11.2022 14 11:00 28.93 0.42 GPS=4022. 4438N,04948.8738E
8 23.11.2022 14 10:10 20.00 0.37 GPS=4022. 4438N,04948. 8740E
9 23.11.2022 14 10:20 6.17 0.05 GPS=4022. 4438N,04948. 8740E
Parameter Index
Tablet Microsoft Surface Pro 4
Weight 5 kg
Information transmission range 60 km
TFT monitor 10 (inch)
Food stress 14.8V (10000mAh)
Detector operating voltage 350 - 400 V
Operating temperature range -20 / +50 0C
Drone control +
Video receiver +
Detector analysis program +
Ability to fly with a mission +
Ability to integrate with other drones +
Cooling system +
«C©1L©qyiym°J©yrnaL» #34(157), 2022 / PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 13 Table 4 presents the results of the experiment. in Fig. 8). When the drone passes over the source durFirst, the source of Cs-137 is placed at an arbitrary point ing the flight, the radiation dose increases graphically in the area for verification purposes. Then the drone is on the monitor of the control unit immediately (lines 7-lifted to a height of 1.5-2 musing the control unit (case 8 of Table 4).
Figure 8. Comparative illustration of marked dose from Cs-137 source and control block
In Figure 8, the exposure dose shown by a real handheld dosimeter "identiFINDER 2" [8] from a source of Cs-137 (marked with a green square in Figure 8) is 0.417 ^Sv/h (green arrow in Figure 9). For comparison, can be seen a similar value close to this indicator on the monitor of the control panel (marked in red in Fig. 6). The Cs-137 source is placed at the same distance between the drone dosimeter and the identi-FINDER instruments.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Scientific Foundation of SOCAR.
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