A Review on Small-Diameter Pipeline Inspection Gauge Localization Techniques: Problems, Methods and Challenges

Due to its safest-operation, lowest-expense and highest-efficient, the pipeline system plays an important role in oil/gas/water transportation. However, the buried pipeline is sometimes leaked by the corrosion, human destruction, long-term Earth movement and so on. Therefore, the detailed and updated coordinates of the land and marine routed pipeline center-line is of vital importance for pipeline integrated management (PIM). In this paper, we try to review the existing small-diameter pipeline (D<;300mm) localization methods and classifying them into two categories, which is non-gyroscopic based pipeline inspection gauge (PIG) localization technology and gyroscopic based PIG localization technology. In addition, the problem formulation, major techniques of two types of typical localization methods are surveyed and analyzed with details. Finally, the challenges and the potential research directions of the small-diameter PIG localization problems are also analyzed.