EngD, 2018 intake

University: University of Bristol

Sponsor: Baker Hughes, a GE Company

Background: Undergraduate Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol, graduating in June 2018.

Characterizing the implementation trade-offs for advanced Ultrasonic Phased Array signal processing

Phased Array ultrasound technology has been used to assess the integrity of pipelines during inline inspections for more than a decade but has always used relatively basic processing adapted to simple pipeline features. Recently, advanced ultrasonic phased array processing based on the so-called full matrix capture algorithm allows improved pipeline feature assessment at the cost of requiring sophisticated hardware and the management of high data rates and volumes. In the scenario where pipeline inspection gauges record data over several hundreds of km at mm-scale axial resolution, storing all recorded data in raw form will exceed data handling and storage capabilities for the foreseeable future. Thus, online processing is required that allows a scalable tradeoff between data compression ratio and offline data quality such that meaningful design choices based on available hardware capabilities can be made. This project will investigate ways to optimise the performance tradeoff.