“ON/OFF” CIPL SURVEY

_____________________________________________________________________

1.0 “ ON / OFF” CLOSE INTERVAL POTENTIAL LOGGING [ CIPL ] SURVEY

1.1 OBJECTIVE

The “ ON / OFF “ CIPL survey Is carried out to ascertain the protection level along entire length of pipeline and to
identify anomalies, if any , because of which the pipeline is unprotected.

1.2 TECHNIQUE

The current drained by TRU is interrupted to get cyclic interruption at frequency of 4 sec ON and 1 sec OFF. The
ON and OFF PSP readings are logged at approximately 1M gaps on pipeline ROW to obtain plot of ON / OFF PSP
readings vs CHAINAGE (M) for analysis.

1.3. EQUIPMENT

(a) CIPL Logger

(b) Copper – Copper sulfate reference cell on rod
(c) Reels of wire
(d) Software for downloading data from logger
(e) Pipeline Locator

1.4. METHODOLOGY

1.4.1. Pipeline Location

The exact alignment of the pipeline was first marked using a Fischer TW-6 Pipe locator. The Transmitter of the
pipeline locator in inductive mode when held above pipeline induces an audio frequency signal in the pipeline.
The Receiver of the locator when moved horizontally over and across pipeline at about 10M from transmitter
gives a sound when the horizontal search coil of the receiver cuts the flux generated by the signal induced in
the pipeline .
When it is exactly above the pipeline No sound or NULL point is detected because the search coil of Receiver is
tangential to the flux lines. Thus a NULL point with sound heard on either side indicates position of pipeline.
Thus two operators one holding Receiver horizontally and locating the pipeline moves in front while another
operator follows 10M behind him with Transmitter held vertically above the pipeline .
 “ON/OFF” CIPL SURVEY
_____________________________________________________________________

1.4.2. CIPL SURVEY

The CIPL survey is carried out on pipeline ROW as follows :-

 The TRU is set to operate in AVCC mode at existing setting .

 The current interrupter in TRU shall be activated for for cyclic interruption of output at 4 sec ON and 1 sec OFF .
 Outer end of a thin reel of wire was connected to the pipeline at a TLP while the inner end was connected to
the POSITIVE terminal of a CIPL data logger.
 A copper - copper sulfate reference cell fixed to bottom of a rod with terminal on top of rod is connected to
NEGATIVE of the data logger
 The survey is carried out by an operator moving on the pipeline ROW with the CIPL logger and reference cell
rod followed by a helper unwinding the reel of wire
 The operator first initializes the survey in logger by entering the TLP No from which connection has been taken
and the direction of survey i.e. FORWARD for lower TLP No to higher TLP No and Backwards for vice versa.
 The operator places the reference cell on soil above pipeline near starting TLP and observes the PSP reading
on the display of logger to confirm that all connections are proper. The operator then starts the survey by
pressing “ ACQ” button of logger which initiates scanning of readings every 250 milliseconds for 6 seconds
which appear on display of logger. At end of 6 seconds which includes one complete interruption cycle, the ON
and OFF reading appears on display of logger . The operator stores the ON and OFF reading by pressing the
STORE button and moves 1 M ahead to next point where he repeats the process of acquisition and storing of
data. Thus the operator goes on logging the data every 1M till he reaches the next TLP where he ends the
survey. If the operator during the survey finds that the ON and OFF reading may not be correct due to any
extraneous reason such as loose connection etc, he can repeat acquisition of data at the point without storing
erroneous data. The operator enters the various features such as Markers , KM posts , Road crossings, Canal
crossings etc in logger whenever these landmarks are encountered. Sometimes the breaking of wire due to
movement of cattle etc may require ending of survey at a point between TLPs . In such a case the survey from
destination TLP is done backwards till point where survey was discontinued in forward direction.
 The data stored in the logger is downloaded in PC and a plot of the ON and OFF PSP reading vs CHAINAGE
obtained using the software .
 “ON/OFF” CIPL SURVEY
_____________________________________________________________________

1.5 CIPL PLOT

The ON / OFF CIPL profile of entire pipeline is obtained from survey .
The Vertical axis is PSP in NEGATIVE volts
The Horizontal axis is distance or CHAINAGE in M along pipeline ROW
The Blue plot is of “ ON “ PSP readings
The Red plot is of “ OFF” PSP readings
The Pink horizontal line (URV) at -1.18V on plot is the upper limit of “OFF” PSP
The Green horizontal line (LRV) at -0.85V on plot is the lower limit of “OFF” PSP
The window between pink and green watermark define the desirable range for OFF readings
 “ON/OFF” CIPL SURVEY
_____________________________________________________________________