Typical Data Storage Requirements

The amount of measurements recorded during flux leakage inspection can be quite large. To estimate the data, multiply the number of sensors times the total distance divided by data recording interval. Examples are shown below:

Number

of Sensors

Distance

Data Recording interval

Amount of data

160

100 miles

0.2 inches

5,068,800,000

250

200 km

2.5 mm

20,000,000,000

250

200 miles

0.1 inches

31,680,000,000

300

800 km

2 mm

120,000,000,000

Digital storage systems are capable of recording on the order of 25 gigabytes (25 billion data points) with 256 unique signal levels (1 byte = 8 bits which means 28 unique levels). Operating temperature, shock and vibration loading and other constraints affect the recording and must be carefully considered by pigging vendors when implementing a recording system.