Advancing UT: Integrated Data Loggers as a Comprehensive Digital Solution

Advancing UT: Integrated Data Loggers as a Comprehensive Digital Solution

Ultrasonic testing (UT) is fundamental to the non-destructive testing (NDT) methods that keep oil and gas operations running efficiently. Without UT, there would be much more guesswork in predictive maintenance for pipeworks and pressure vessels, and oil and gas operators would find themselves facing more failures, large fines, lost product, and angry communities. While UT keeps our operations efficient and safe, the question we must always ask is: are we fully leveraging the advantage offered with UT? How can we utilize the newest advances in UT to resolve efficiencies? Can UT pay the data dividend promised? The answer lies in a look back at earlier methods of UT testing to find lessons learned and a way forward.

Data and the human condition

In the past, technicians monitoring corrosion rates and damage in the field took readings using UT data loggers, wrote their findings down on paper, then returned to the office to transcribe the results into Excel spreadsheets.This tried-and-true method is highly inefficient – both in the field and the office. 

In the field, technicians already have their hands full, lugging UT devices and clipboards with paper checklists out to hundreds of pipes and pressure vessels. Each environment, whether up-, mid-, or downstream, is accompanied by some level of hazardous risk, that risk increasing with every moment the technician remains in the field, in confined spaces, or across long stretches of land. 

Back in the comfort of the office, man hours would slip away as teams transcribed the data from their checklists into Excel spreadsheets where the data would often sit on the shelf collecting dust until it was needed again. Transcribing the data could take hours from device to paper, paper to Excel, Excel spreadsheets into reports, and eventually moving data from reports into existing systems of record. Often structured according to the service providers’ personal standards, inspection data often needed to be reformatted, adding to the lengthy transcription process. Additionally, with manual transcription comes the all-too familiar problem of human error.

It is human nature to make errors, especially when transcribing long sheets of data for hundreds of assets, then reformatting it. Sometimes, teams would discover along the way that some necessary data might be missing, requiring time and money to send crews back out to verify or fill in the data to be transcribed again. 

Finally, once data was added into Excel and other systems, the data often ended up siloed – with multiple systems and data formats, many software systems lacked the ability to communicate with each other. Meticulously recorded information was effectively lost – if you can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. This meant time and money spent to verify or (maddeningly) recreate existing work.

Connectivity, flexibility and success

Over the last decade, as technology has advanced in the field, in our computers and in our testing devices. Dozens of companies have adopted the latest and greatest UT data loggers with one essential enabling function: Bluetooth capability. 

Equipped with wireless Bluetooth capabilities, the newest models of UT gauges are elevating the NDT inspection process to new levels. Bluetooth allows devices to instantly share feedback without needing to leave the site, get online, or carry unwieldy paper checklists. Teams can quickly gather information, and send the data into the necessary systems for reporting and retention purposes. By instantly providing information from the field, data loggers equipped with UT can expedite the inspection process tenfold – but organizations need interconnected data management systems to maximize the full potential of these devices and the efficiencies they can provide. 

Some of the latest UT data loggers come with their own software tools or portals, but frequently, these systems are lacking in integrations, security, or depth of functionality. Some are difficult to integrate with existing systems of record like IDMSs or APMs, while others might connect, but with great security risk to the data. Many of these software solutions lack depth of functionality, simply becoming receptacles for data that sit siloed or require long transcription processes, not unlike the spreadsheets of yore. 

These devices also lack the ability to adapt to any other new technologies, severely limiting the scope of reporting and insights possible as AI, digital twin, and other groundbreaking advancements enter the scene. Today, this may not pose a critical issue, but as regulations adapt to the latest technologies, and organizations continue to see platform and operational costs increase, these integrations will become a way of life. Organizations that are locked into specific technologies and cannot adapt will fall behind. Flexibility leads to success.

Complex inspections require comprehensive solutions

The ultimate solution for organizations adopting the latest UT technologies to maximize operational and tech stack efficiencies lies in platform agnostic, all-in-one software like HUVR’s Reliability Automation Platform. 

Seamless integrations with Bluetooth-enabled UT devices means instant data transfer from device to checklist to reporting and other systems; no middleman or additional transcription needed. Readings feed directly into the system, and advanced systems like HUVR can tell technicians instantaneously if their measurements align with expected corrosion rates and historical CML data.

Software like HUVR also stores key operating procedures and regulatory documents for easy reference, and ensures data in the field is collected in a consistent, standardized way for clean analysis and reporting. No additional transcription, no interpretation. Clean data comes in and effective long-term reporting goes out.

Information from UT loggers with comprehensive data solutions like HUVR can also easily be supplemented with the latest advanced technologies. Open API allows for seamless integrations with robotics in the field for remote data capture, AI for quick analysis, and any new tech that enters the scene, making operations future-proof for quick adaptation as inspections become more complex and varied over time. It also makes communication with existing systems of record a simple process, ensuring data is never trapped in one system or sitting in silos for extended periods of time. 

HUVR’s Reliability Automation Platform also allows for supplemental information like photos, videos, or other media to simplify data interpretation, and deepen insights for long-term use. 

The dividends of investing in data

UT data loggers are starting to embrace their full potential with the latest advancements in Bluetooth technology and quick integrations with all-in-one data management systems. Connectivity allows teams to conduct UT inspections with ease, making a complex process much simpler, more efficient, and more cost effective overall. The key is investing in your data at the outset, through devices and systems. But by future-proofing your operations with the right platforms, products, and people, your teams can gain deeper insights for a much lower cost overall.

Ready to explore your UT digital solution options? Reach out to a HUVR expert to see if the UT data logger integration with HUVR’s Reliability Automation Platform is right for your team.