EXPLORATION • DRILLING • FIELD SERVICES
components that require a long life span in service, there is a need to assess ‘worst case’ design loading conditions, as well as through-life fatigue loading. Te design of FPSOs also requires an assessment of dynamic loadings associated with combined response to winds, waves and near-surface currents. An evaluation of spatial and temporal variation in through- depth ocean currents and water density is also necessary for oil spill contingency planning. Te availability of high quality, long-term oceanographic datasets can greatly minimise the uncertainties within the concept feasibility phase and allow for an optimum design to be delivered. If a design engineer is faced with
high levels of uncertainty in the ocean conditions, then a more conservative design with high factors of safety built in is likely. Equally, an engineer may unwittingly ‘under-design’ a component because of a lack of awareness of conditions. Either
scenario is not ideal. Te more detailed information you have for informing the design process, the less uncertainty there is in the conditions that you are designing the subsea components to withstand. Metocean support is equally crucial within the installation process. Tere are various stages of this process that can be extremely sensitive to strong currents for example, and will therefore create operational limits. Oil and gas majors will use expensive installation vessels and subsea ROVs during the installation process. If detailed information regarding the environmental conditions has not been made available, this can cause extended and very costly delays that can quickly escalate from one day to the next. Terefore, detailed statistical analysis of favourable conditions to help complete the different phases of installation is key. To help support oil and gas majors with offshore engineering design and
To conduct successful exploration demands detailed knowledge of ocean conditions
UNDERWATER GLIDER AGREEMENT A
shtead Technology has secured a global asset management agreement with Blue Ocean Monitoring to store, maintain and supply
underwater gliders for ocean data monitoring. The deal will see Blue Ocean Monitoring expand its
service offering globally with Ashtead providing asset management services and project support from its offices in Aberdeen, Houston and Singapore. Unlike autonomous vehicles (AVs), which are driven
by conventional propellers, the gliders operate using either buoyancy or wave motion propulsion mechanisms, which allows for longer deployment periods and the collection of large datasets continuously over extended time scales. The gliders are capable of transmitting data in real- time and can be deployed and recovered easily, at a fraction of the cost of traditional vessel-based or fixed- mooring monitoring approaches, lowering both project costs and health, safety and environmental risks.
Simon Illingworth, managing director of Blue
Ocean Monitoring says: “Initially used extensively for academic and military applications, these gliders are now increasingly being embraced by the oil and gas community for a wide range of purposes. “Oil and gas applications include pipeline leak
detection, oil spill response, decommissioning studies, dredge/construction plume monitoring, environmental monitoring and metocean studies. l
www.engineerlive.com 11
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