Dexon TechnologyPipeglide started as a problem.
An industrial chemical company installed its process pipelines beneath a platform at sump water level.
The positioning placed these pipelines in a difficult transition zone, where part of the pipe is constantly wet, part exposed to humid air, and all of it difficult to access.
A perfect corrosion cocktail.
Using traditional inspection methods would have required:
Scaffold installation under the platform
Lowering the sump water level
Confined space controls
Significant manpower exposure
Operational disruption
In short: high risk, high cost, and significant downtime.
The engineering question was simple:
Can we inspect pipeline integrity here – without scaffolding and without draining the sump?
The Answer: Pipeglide
Pipeglide provides a robotic, phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) platform that glides along the surface of the pipe, delivering continuous inspection data along its entire length.
Pipeglide attaches to the line using magnets and “glides” along its length, moving in and out of water with ease.
The inspection platform requires two inspectors: one to operate the machine and another to monitor the data.
The Five Pain Points Pipeglide Solved
1. Downtime & Operational Disruption
Traditional methods impact plant operations. Pipeglide eliminates the need for water drainage and scaffold installation, dramatically reducing preparation time.
2. Manpower Exposure & Safety Risk
Since Pipeglide is remotely controlled, inspectors no longer have to deal with confined-space entry and scaffold work at awkward elevations.
Less exposure equals lower risk.
3. Data Gaps in Transition Zones
Air-water boundaries are notoriously difficult for ultrasonic stability. Pipeglide maintains coupling and integrates PAUT for continuous, high-resolution data.
4. “Pass/Fail” Is Not Enough
Visual or spot UT informs spotty integrity decisions.
Pipeglide delivers quantitative outputs:
Remaining wall thickness
Cross-sectional imaging
Optional weld-zone assessment
Fitness-for-service inputs
Pipeglide delivers engineering-grade integrity data – with less headache and risk.
What started as a site-specific constraint is now a scalable inspection platform for:
Surface-level pipelines
Petrochemical facilities
Restricted-access areas
High-downtime environments
Dexon has spent the last 30 years flaunting inspection constraints, and Pipeglide is the latest example of our innovations overcoming obstacles to deliver better results.