Con Ed and National Fuel install NYSEARCH’s Real-Time Corrosion Monitoring System

In late June, both Con Ed and National Fuel completed installations of a flexible sensor tape containing an array of micro-linear resistance corrosion sensors on live steel transmission main to monitor any evidence of corrosion in real-time. This innovative system, which also is used in the aerospace industry for monitoring corrosion in cockpits, has been under development by NYSEARCH’s contractor, Analatom, for several years and has been tested both in the laboratory and at the NYSEARCH/NGA test bed located in NYSEG’s training facility in Johnson City, NY. The corrosion sensor array for gas pipeline applications has advanced to a pre-commercial system that can provide real-time corrosion mass loss information through wireless communication and a solar panel control station above the monitored site. Shown on this page are pictures from the two installations at National Fuel and Con Edison. In the case of National Fuel, the sensor system was placed longitudinally along the pipe (just underneath the coating) and in the case of Con Ed, it was installed circumferentially just under the coating to monitor corrosion activity near the girth welds. The value of this technology is the potential for detection of active corrosion sites in designated areas and for any advance information that there may be a future corrosion problem nears welds or along pipe.

The current plan is for Analatom to monitor these sites remotely for any corrosion activity as part of the NYSEARCH project for over a (6)-month period. Currently, these sites, are communicating data on a daily basis for Analatom’s review at their home office in Santa Clara, Ca.

About NYSEARCH

For over thirty years, NYSEARCH has worked as a consortium of natural gas Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) who have a common interest and need for research and technology development and demonstration. Today, as part of the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), NYSEARCH manages over (30) projects in various stages of development for LDCs, transmission companies, federal agencies and their manufacturing and commercial partners. NYSEARCH is located in Parsippany, NJ and NGA is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.