Cathodic Protection Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

“The lack of breakthroughs in wireless underwater communication
and battery capacity is prolonging the wait for a fully autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV), one that will not need a $ 100,000/day vessel
and crew, a heavy tether for power and control or hours to complete
a task that might take minutes onshore”

“Surveying the field in the search for fully autonomy”
by Bruce Nichols // Offshore Engineer, January, 2013

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

- Pressure capability and hence the operational capacity of O&G
pipelines deteriorates rapidly over their lifecycle.

- Increasing environmental awareness following BP Deep water
Horizon spill necessitates a more diligent approach to maintenance

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

New regulatory and audit requirements:

- Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS)
by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation & Enforcement (“30 CFR Part 250”)
- American Petroleum Institute’s (API)
Recommended Practice 75 (RP 75)

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

The 13 elements of RP 75 that the Workplace Safety Rule makes
mandatory are as follows:

- …. Audits: rule strengthens RP 75 provisions by requiring an
audit every 4 years, to an initial 2–year reevaluation; and then
subsequent 3-year audit intervals….

www.bsee.gov

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

- Visual inspection
- Cathodic potential reading
- UT (ultrasonic compression wave) - contact method
Flooded member detection (FMD) – unsafe method
- EDDY Current
- Sonar Leak Detection
- Magnetic
- etc.

The Challenge

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

Cathodic Protection
Underwater Automatic Inspection Technology

- Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is very slow and costly
- High CAPEX and OPEX for ROV and mother ship
- Associated CAPEX risk due to loss of or damage to ROV

The Challenge

Petronas (Malaysia) example

Inspection video

- Visual control

- Inspection video recording

- Cathodic potential recording, CP-gram formation

Petronas (Malaysia) example

- Visual control
- Inspection video recording
- Cathodic potential recording, CP-gram formation
- Cost of work – 75,000 -100,000 UDS/day
- Productivity – 6-8 km/day (depends on weather conditions)

Petronas (Malaysia) example

Disadvantages:
- high CAPEX & OPEX
- high risks (ROV loss)
- limited area of operations (shallow water limitation)

Advantages:
- existing and proven technology
- installed ROV, survey equipment, and vessels
- the pool of trained staff

To create low CAPEX/OPEX system for CP inspection
and visual inspections using
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) as carrier.

MMI X-3A

- System allows pipeline operator to inspect greater pipeline
   lengths more frequently.
- System allows multiple AUV operations from single mother-ship

Advantages:
- low CAPEX & OPEX
- low risks
- unlimited area of operations
        (deep and shallow water)
- proven worldwide tendency of the
        development - carrier for any
        inspection equipment

Disadvantages:
- lack of underwater communications
- llack of battery capacity
- new technology
- needs the investments
- has to be implemented

“BaltRobotics,Ltd.”
has developed and tested a proprietary system that
has applications particularly for low cost underwater
Cathodic Protection (CP) inspection of Oil and Gas
pipelines using AUV as a carrier.

OUR PROJECT

- The System can be used with a Vessel much smaller than ones that follow
ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle).

- The System delivers the possibility to inspect several sections of the pipeline
with ONE Vessel operating several AUVs. It decreases the total costs
of the inspection.

- The System can be used with the higher waves (rough weather: rain, wind, etc.)
in comparison to ROV-based technology.

- The System delivers more effectiveness of the inspections in
comparison to ROV-based technology – one operator can inspect more
distance of the pipelines.

- The CP Protection Inspection Report will include 3-D Video Images
that are matched with the measurements of CP Potentials measured.

- AUV could carry any underwater inspection equipment

- Unique Autonomous Underwater Vehicle AUV was developed

- Proprietary Underwater Wireless Acoustic Communications
technology system was developed as integral element.

- Proprietary Video Compression was developed

All systems were tested successfully

- Sea laboratory was created on the board of Company owned
  Vessel “MAEKSA”
- High Data Rate Ultrasonic full duplex Modem
- Ultrasonic Doppler Velocity Log
- Underground Magneto Vision System for pipelines
  (to search for buried pipelines)
- Navigation and Autopilot System for AUV

“The lack of breakthroughs in wireless underwater
communication and battery capacity is prolonging the
wait for a fully autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV),
one that will not need a $ 100,000/day vessel and crew,
a heavy tether for power and control or hours to complete
a task that might take minutes onshore”

Underwater wireless
video data
communication:

- Distance – 300 m
- Depth – 300 m

Undersea Wireless Video

Testing in depth

Testing mission

Black Sea, Crimea,
Ukraine, 20-30,August,2011

- Proprietary Technology was designed and developed in-house

- Technology prototype was built and tested successfully
in the Black Sea

- Fully equipped, vessel based operational test laboratory – aboard
“Maeksa” ship (66 tons) is ready for operations

- Successful testing were carried out in Malaysia, Ukraine, Bulgaria

Development finished. 
Ready for testing

- Ultrasonic Video Transmission Channel;
- Ultrasonic Modem – circuitry, emitter,
  doppler equalizer;
- Video-data compression processing system;
- Acoustic Command Channel
  (low data transmission rate/long range);
- Inertial Navigation System (INS) - controls AUV
  in autonomy mode;
- Doppler 4-beams Log – combined
  with INS for Auto-Pilot;
- “Magnetic Vision” system to search
  for pipeline (incl. buried ones);
- Depth –till 200 m.
- Distance in autonomic mode – till 10 km
- Fully automatic inspection mode
- Life cycle in sea bottom lying – till 2 months

- Low OPEX of the technology proposed deliver possibility
of “flexible price”/”increased margin”  

- Increased productivity of the new technology proposed
(per 1 vessel) – 3-4 times  

- Longer “working year”: Increased from 80-100 days to 100-120 days.

“BaltRobotics” (http://www.baltrobotics.com )

- is a scientific design, development, and engineering business,
specializing in the area of the competences that includes:

engineering in robotics, telecommunication, navigation
(GPS, land, underwater).