Patents by Inventor Richard Clark McNealy

Richard Clark McNealy has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7706988
    Abstract: A method of predicting at least one physical change in crack geometry of a crack in a pipeline based on in-line inspection operating pressure is presented. In one method, a first test on a pipeline is performed at a first pressure, which obtains a first set of test data. A second test is performed on the pipeline at a second pressure, obtaining a second set of test data. The first and second sets of test data are compared for any difference. A run comparison software processing device may be employed. In other methods, finite element analysis of crack-like dimensions is performed to predict Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) for a given set of crack dimensions for a surface-breaking crack and inline pipe inspection operating run pressure. Another method predicts probability of detection of a crack associated with a given CMOD as a function of pressure in successive inspections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Blade Energy Partners, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Clark McNealy, Ming Gao
  • Publication number: 20090234590
    Abstract: A method of predicting at least one physical change in crack geometry based on ILI operating pressure, the method comprising a) performing a first test on a pipeline at a first pressure P1; b) obtaining a first set of test data on the pipeline at P1; c) performing a second test on the pipeline at a second pressure P2; d) obtaining a second set of test data on the pipeline at P2; and e) analyzing the first and second sets of test data for difference in feature signature at P1 vs. P2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2008
    Publication date: September 17, 2009
    Inventors: Richard Clark McNealy, Ming Gao
  • Patent number: 7414395
    Abstract: The method for detecting stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of pipelines, comprising the steps of: identifying pipeline locations and pipeline conditions that are amenable to inspection by a magnetic flux inline tool and by a TFI tool; performing two inspections on the pipeline, one inspection performed using the magnetic flux inline (MFL) tool and an other inspection performed using the TFI tool; aligning signal features resulting from the two inspections; identifying TFI signals occurring above a specified threshold; identifying MFL signals for a section of pipeline corresponding to the identified TFI signals; for the identified TFI signals, determining whether the MFL signals are below a second threshold level; designating the sections of the pipeline corresponding to identified TFI signals above the threshold and below the second threshold as a potential corrosion feature; identifying TFI signals that exceed a defined metal loss percentage; measuring a width and length of the signal features, and if the widt
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2008
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ming Gao, Sergio Limon, Richard Clark McNealy, Ron Sherstan
  • Publication number: 20070222436
    Abstract: The method for detecting stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of pipelines, comprising the steps of: identifying pipeline locations and pipeline conditions that are amenable to inspection by a magnetic flux inline tool and by a TFI tool; performing two inspections on the pipeline, one inspection performed using the magnetic flux inline (MFL) tool and an other inspection performed using the TFI tool; aligning signal features resulting from the two inspections; identifying TFI signals occurring above a specified threshold; identifying MFL signals for a section of pipeline corresponding to the identified TFI signals; for the identified TFI signals, determining whether the MFL signals are below a second threshold level; designating the sections of the pipeline corresponding to identified TFI signals above the threshold and below the second threshold as a potential corrosion feature; identifying TFI signals that exceed a defined metal loss percentage; measuring a width and length of the signal features, and if the widt
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2006
    Publication date: September 27, 2007
    Applicant: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ming Gao, Sergio Limon, Richard Clark McNealy, Ron Sherstan