Reliability-Based Preventive Maintenance Strategy for Subsea Control System

Abstract

The subsea control system, a pivotal element of the subsea production system, plays an essential role in collecting production data and real-time operational monitoring, crucial for the consistent and stable output of offshore oil and gas fields. The increasing demand for secure offshore oil and gas extraction underscores the necessity for advanced reliability modeling and effective maintenance strategies for subsea control systems. Given the enhanced reliability of subsea equipment due to technological advancements, resulting in scarce failure data, traditional reliability modeling methods reliant on historical failure data are becoming inadequate. This paper proposes an innovative reliability modeling technique for subsea control systems that integrates a Wiener degradation model affected by random shocks and utilizes the Copula function to compute the joint reliability of components and their backups. This approach considers the unique challenges of the subsea environment and the complex interplay between components under variable loads, improving model accuracy. This study also examines the effects of imperfect maintenance on degradation paths and introduces a holistic lifecycle cost model for preventive maintenance (PM), optimized against reliability and economic considerations. Numerical simulations on a Subsea Control Module demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed models.