Advances in Autonomous Deepwater Inspection

Abstract

Advances in autonomous inspection of deepwater subsea facilities are examined to illustrate the favorable enhancement of safety, reliability, reduction in risks, economic benefits and superior data products compared to conventional means. These benefits provide operators with significant improvements over general visual inspection by the addition of sensors that produce 3D models of the structure being inspected. Examples are provided illustrating test data from operations conducted from 2011-2013.Additional benefits include rapid response when a loss of well containment requires large standoff distances between the host vessel and the sensing platform. Three dimensional georegistered models of the entire scene can be rapidly collected within hours of the incident providing responders with a clear vision of the underwater scene along with in-situ status of critical components.Introduction of new sensors support even more advanced capabilities leading to autonomous metrology, hydrocarbon detection tracking and fingerprinting, non-contact corrosion potential measurement, thermal measurements and three dimensional underwater scanning lasers.Application to deepwater life of field inspection will be presented with evidence gained from offshore trials in 2011 and 2012. This emergent technology supports Subsea Facility Inspection Repair and Maintenance, Integrity Management Inspections of Marine Risers, Moorings and anchors, Subsea Pipelines, Flowlines, Umbilicals, and supporting subsea infrastructure.

Review of Underwater Sensing Technologies and Applications

“…However, diver’s observations are time-consuming and high-risk. The inspections in marine areas are conducted by ROVs, which are equipped with 3D sonar, and LiDAR [ 127 ]. As humans increasingly explore the oceans, more targets need to be searched, detected, and maintained.…”