JIP seeking improved health checks for remote pipelines
Monitoring the condition of pipelines is increasingly important for oil companies and regulatory authorities. As oil and gas production pushes into deeper water and more remote and environmentally sensitive areas, the need to ensure pipeline integrity becomes more pressing. Better, faster feedback about the state of a pipeline also helps optimize operation.
The SmartPipe joint industry project (JIP) aims to address these issues by developing both a monitoring system that checks and reports on key parameters in close to real time, and analysis tools for turning this data into meaningful information when compiling the history of a pipeline’s condition.
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The SmartPipe JIP has set itself the goal of monitoring a range of parameters relevant to pipeline operability.
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The project is led by the Sintef research institute and Sicom, a company specializing in subsea communication and integration. Its budget of NOK 43 million (around $8.4 million) is funded by the Research Council of Norway and six operating companies: BP, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Gassco (the operator of much of Norway’s gas pipeline network), Shell, and Total. Also contributing are Roxar, Bredero Shaw-owned Thermotite, and Force Technology. Sintef is being assisted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Monitoring based on pigging and ROV inspection often is expensive, performed infrequently, and may require shutdown of the system, so the new approach fits in well with the “e-field” philosophy for optimizing production operations.
The two business cases chosen for study under SmartPipe are an in-field flowline and a subsea-to-shore flowline, reports project manager, Ole Øystein Knudsen. All the equipment must have a working life of 20 years and be qualified to operate in water depths of 1,000 m (3,281 ft).
Parameters to be measured are wall thickness, stress/strain, temperature, pressure, pipeline position, flow mode, and leakage. When the project started in 2006, the initial focus was on identifying sensors and systems suited for the purpose. The selected sensors – ultrasound devices, strain gauges, accelerometers, and thermo-elements – all work in a non-intrusive fashion and can be sourced readily off-the-shelf.
Power and communications cables are available also, but since cables tend to be vulnerable, the sponsors are keen for alternatives to be developed, i.e. local power generation and wireless communications. So the JIP has chosen two local power solutions: a thermo-electric generator exploiting the temperature differential across the pipewall in cases where the pipeline contents are hot; and a seawater battery using a cathode in conjunction with a sacrificial anode to generate power.
Local power generation will be limited to a few milliwatts, so both sensors and communications elements have been selected for low power consumption. Power consumption also has been optimized by choosing appropriate intervals for the different measurements.
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Volume 68 Issue 8
August 2008
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