Method and apparatus for inspecting and monitoring pipe

1. An ultrasonic sensor assembly for detecting a characteristic of a pipe, the ultrasonic sensor assembly including:

a first transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe and attached to the pipe;

a second transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe and attached to the pipe at a spaced location from the first transducer ring; and

a test apparatus operatively connected to the first and second transducer rings and being configured to communicate with the first and second transducer rings;

each of the first and second transducer rings being configured to transmit a first wave longitudinally along the pipe and receive a reflection of the transmitted first wave from the characteristic, the test apparatus and the first transducer ring further being configured to use results related to the reflection of the transmitted first wave to guide a second wave along the pipe that is received by the second transducer ring.

2. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first transducer ring and second transducer ring are spaced apart along the pipe to define an inspection region extending between the first transducer ring and the second transducer ring.

3. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 2 , wherein the characteristic of the pipe is positioned within the inspection region.

4. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 3 , wherein the first and second transducer rings are each configured to transmit the waves in a direction towards the inspection region.

5. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second transducer rings each include a plurality of transducers configured to transmit the waves.

6. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of transducers are configured to transmit the waves at substantially the same time.

7. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second transducer rings are configured to detect a circumferential location of the characteristic.

8. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first and second transducer rings are configured to detect an longitudinal location of the characteristic.

9. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 8 , wherein the characteristic includes corrosion.

10. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 8 , wherein the characteristic includes a crack in the pipe.

11. An ultrasonic sensor assembly for detecting a characteristic of a pipe, the ultrasonic sensor assembly including:

a first transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe and attached to the pipe;

a second transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe and attached to the pipe at a spaced location from the first transducer ring; and

a test apparatus operatively connected to the first and second transducer rings and being configured to communicate with the first and second transducer rings;

each of the first and second transducer rings being configured to transmit a first wave longitudinally along the pipe and receive a reflection of the transmitted first wave reflected from the characteristic, the test apparatus and the first transducer ring further being configured to use results related to the reflection of the transmitted first wave to guide a second wave along the pipe that is received by the second transducer ring;

wherein the waves received by the transducer rings are configured to be analyzed to detect a dimension and location of the characteristic of the pipe.

12. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 11 , wherein the location of the characteristic of the pipe includes a circumferential location of the characteristic.

13. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 11 , wherein the location of the characteristic of the pipe includes a longitudinal location of the characteristic.

14. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic includes corrosion of the pipe.

15. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 11 , wherein the first transducer ring and second transducer ring are spaced apart along the pipe to define an inspection region extending between the first transducer ring and the second transducer ring, the characteristic of the pipe being positioned within the inspection region.

16. The ultrasonic sensor assembly of claim 15 , wherein the first and second transducer rings are each configured to transmit the waves in a direction towards the inspection region.

17. A method of detecting a characteristic of a pipe, the method including the steps of:

providing an ultrasonic sensor assembly including first and second transducer rings attached to and spaced apart along a length of the pipe and including a test apparatus operatively connected to the first and second transducer rings and being configured to communicate with the first and second transducer rings;

providing the first transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe;

providing the second transducer ring encircled to circumscribe around the pipe;

transmitting one or more first waves into the pipe from each of the first and second transducer rings;

receiving a reflection of the one or more transmitted first waves reflected from the characteristic by the first and second transducer rings;

transmitting one or more second waves into the pipe from the first transducer ring including using the reflection of the one or more transmitted first waves to guide the one or more second waves and receiving the one or more second waves with the second transducer ring; and

detecting the characteristic of the pipe based on the waves received by each of the first and second transducer rings.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of detecting the characteristic of the pipe includes detecting a circumferential location of the characteristic.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of detecting the characteristic of the pipe includes detecting a longitudinal location of the characteristic.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of detecting the characteristic of the pipe includes detecting dimensions of the characteristic.