The development of ultrasonic technologies for solving subsea condition monitoring challenges

1
The development of ultrasonic technologies for
solving subsea condition monitoring challenges
2
Going Subsea means new challenges

• Subsea Trees
• Subsea Pumps
• Subsea Processing
• Subsea Manifolds
• Subsea Templates
• Subsea
• ROV Tie-in Systems
• Risers
• Pipelines

3
ClampOn

• Ultrasonic Intelligent Sensors
• Sand Monitoring
• PIG Detection
• Leak Monitoring
• Vibration Monitoring
• Condition Monitoring
• Corrosion-Erosion Monitoring
• Well Collision Detector

4
Design Life 30 years

• The systems are installed down to thousands of
  meters water depth
• It costs a fortune in lost production if a sensor
  breaks down
• So how should a reliable system be designed?

5
ClampOns Subsea Philosophy
Titanium body Jumper interface High pressure
chamber with silicon oil Glass-metal
penetrator Atmospheric chamber Electronic beam
weldings No o-rings, gaskets or mechanical
seals!
6
Working Principle Passive Acoustic sensors

• An advanced microphone picking up signal at
  specific frequencies

• Filters out noise not related to signal of
  interest(i.e. flow, mechanical noise etc.)

• Non-intrusive design can be retrofitted

• Immediate results real time readings

• Used for sand, pig and leak detection

7
Sand Monitoring

• Keep sand production under control!(planned or
  unplanned)
• Optimize production (ref. MSFR and MASR)
• Minimize sand removal cost
• Avoid erosion issuesSafety, Maintenance cost,
  Environmental consequences
• Avoid reservoir damageor even well collapse?
• Always subsea on subsea trees!

8
What can a sand detector do?

• Qualitative MeasurementNo need for other input
  Standalone system
• Sand AlarmFirst sand production, screen failure
  etc.
• Sand production trendingFinding Maximum Sand
  Free Rate (MSFR)

• Quantitative Measurement Requires input of flow
  data / flow speed
• How much sand are you producing
• Finding Maximum Acceptable Sand Rate (MASR)

9
Example Subsea vs. Topside
A comparison of the signals from the subsea- and
the topside sensors - shows a significant
difference in both signal amplitude and time!
10
Challenging data?
11
ClampOn SandQ

• Makes quantification of sand possible without
  external flow information input
• Uses active transmission to measure velocity

12
SandQ Subsea

• SandQ will have the same basic design layout as
  the DSP Compact
• Rated for 3000 Meters
• SandQ subsea with same specifications as topside
  model
• Simultaneous measurement of Particles, Flow and
  Vibration 3D
• Designed for installation in existing funnel/clamp

13
Subsea PIG Detector
Deepwater version Compact version
14
ClampOn DSP PIG Detector

• Real time detection of PIG passing.
• Can monitor the debris in-front / after the PIG
  when passing.
• Indicates the efficiency of the PIG cleaning
  operation.

15
ClampOn DSP Leak Monitor

• Identification of leaks from critical areas,
  primarily valves.
• Quantifies leaks
• Detects internal leaks in a valve
• Can also be used on flanges, bends, joints etc.

Picture 1, A Leak Monitor mounted on a PSV in the
pressure bench at Statoils Kollsnes Refinery.
16
Case

• Challenge
• Two subsea 20 ball valves that have not been
  operated for 25 years!
• The two flow lines have different pressure rating
  
• Client need to increase the export in the flow
  line
• The cross over should be closed and no cross-flow
  should be present acceptance criteria was 5
  SCM/h (similar to a new valve!)
• The installation is at 200 meters water depth and
  all operations should be ROV operable

17
Tampen Link
18
ClampOn Leak Detector w/data logger and Battery.
Operates for 45 days. Dual element system 4
data point stored every minute Pressure tested
to 200 Bar
19
Field results from cross over.
Signal after removing ROV and bleeding off gas
activity - what we have left is the leak
signature.
The leak rate is then calculated from this raw
value level _at_ 32 dP Bar ?gt8 -lt32 SCM/h
Conclusion A minor leak in valve B
20
ClampOn DSP Vibration Monitor 3D

• Measure G-forceDC 1024 Hz3 axis X - Y - Z
• Measure Acoustic Noise1 262 kHz

21
Vibration WHY?

• High wellhead pressure
• Slugging / flow conditions
• Subsea Pumps
• Subsea Processing
• Drill-thru operations at existing subsea wellhead
• Collision or different loading conditions
• Condition Monitoring
• Separate sensor or added function to other
  ClampOn instrument

22
DSP Corrosion-Erosion Monitor

• Working Environment
• Uniform/General corrosion
• Pitting corrosion
• Erosion due to sand or chemicals
• Crevice corrosion
• Selective attack/leaching corrosion

23
History

• 2004 First Version
• Piezoelectric transducers
• Transducers glued onto flow line
• 2007 Second Version
• EMAT transducers
• No coupling between transducers and flow line
  (dry contact)
• 2010 Subsea Version
• Second version marinized

24
What Does it do?

• Real-time monitoring of average wall thickness
• Covers up to 60 of measuring area
• Measures up to 56 individual paths
• Detects changes larger than 1 of WT

25
How does it work?

• Non intrusive, dry contact transducers
• Electro Magnetic Acoustic (EMAT)
• Acoustic Guided Lamb Waves (AGLW)

26
(No Transcript)
27
Signal interpretation Coverage area

• The CEM does not only measure the wall thickness
  directly in-between the two transducers a wider
  area is monitored.
• Coverage area is dependent on transducer
  separation, wall thickness, frequency and sound
  velocity.

28
Subsea configurations

• Pre installed
• ROV installed
• Fully interfaced
• Battery powered
• Internal data storage
• Charged by ROV
• Wireless communication

29
Pre installed

• Transducers installed topside
• Main unit (processor) installed/retrieved by ROV

30
Retrofit

• All components installed by ROV

31
Field case Retrofit subsea sand monitoring

• Challenge
• The existing intrusive system is not working
• The field starts producing particles
• Water Depth 600 meters

32
ROV operable basket with Clamp/funnel, harness,
battery and data logging
33
High Flexibility

• Non-intrusive, cost-effective installation
• ROV Retrofit
• Designed for 4500 meters depth
• Battery pack internal logging
• Multifunctional (Sand, PIG, vibration etc.)

34
(No Transcript)
35
Questions?

• Olav Brakstad
• Sales Manager
• ClampOn AS

olav_at_clampon.com www.ClampOn.com
36
ClampOn Ultrasonic Spectrum Analyzer Well
Collision Detector
37
Experience

• Previous experience has proven that ClampOn
  topside sensors can detect down hole events. One
  example would be the detection of perforation
  guns firing at depths of 13,000 to 15,000 feet
• The collision risk mitigation procedure was also
  recently put into operation by a major operator
  in the Gulf of Mexico with great success

38
Procedural Goals

• Prevent drill bit from colliding with existing
  well casing during sidetrack drilling operations
• Give engineers physical proof of drill strings
  proximity to existing wells
• Prevent environmental damages caused by collision
• Help to increase safe drilling speed and decrease
  downtime caused by collisions

39
Installation

• Easy non-invasive installation of hardware
• No hot work permit required
• Intrinsically safe sensor
• No production shut-down to install
• Minimal impact to daily operations on the
  platform
• Mounted on conductor pipe

40
Operation

• Topside sensor monitors ultrasonic signals
  generated by drill string
• Sensors are mounted on existing wells which will
  be in close proximity to drill bit
• Ultrasound is digitized allowing for frequency
  analysis in real-time

41
Establishing a Base Line

• Raw value readings are monitored throughout
  drilling operation
• ClampOn techs establish base line values as
  drill string progresses
• The lowest values will be seen prior to milling
  operations

42
Milling Operations - Base Line Readings

• Significantly higher raw value signals will be
  detected as the mill cuts through the casing
• Data collected at this point will be vital in
  determining the drill bits proximity to existing
  wells

43
Sidetrack Drilling Begins

• Raw value signal will decrease after completion
  of milling operation
• ClampOn techs begin 24 hour monitoring as
  drilling continues
• Dramatic increases in raw value readings will be
  closely monitored

44
Drill Bit Approaches Existing Well

• Topside sensors mounted on the existing well will
  begin to detect higher ultrasonic noise
• Raw value signals will begin to increase
• ClampOn techs can now notify drillers of
  collision risk level

45
Collision Averted

• Real time generated trends from frequency data
  are closely compared to engineers normal risk
  mitigation calculations
• Raw value trends are analyzed and collision seems
  possible
• When the signal continues to increase, drilling
  is halted
• After further analysis the drill bit is
  repositioned to veer away from the corresponding
  well and drilling is resumed and possible
  collision averted