MILTON KEYNES, UK— TSC Subsea’s U.K. team and Norwegian scientists have developed the ART vPush system for acoustic deepwater hydrate detection.
The main aims of the design were to speed up inspection without compromising detection capability and sizing accuracy.
The tool employs TSC’s ART technology on a moving platform to assess pipeline contents over complete pipe runs. Data, collected in real time, undergoes processing with various algorithms to monitor signals from the far side of the pipe, which indicate if hydrates are present.
Although the system is typically deployed using an ROV manipulator, it can also be fitted directly onto the ROV and is operable in water depths down to 3,000 m.
Aside from detection of, or screening for, hydrate in subsea pipelines, the system can also perform wall thickness measurements on subsea pipelines.
TSC collaborated with DOF Subsea Norway to complete the project for an unnamed operator offshore Angola.
The team, tasked with locating hydrate in a pipe, used the ART vPush to scan 12 km of 8-inch 3LPP coated water injection line in 1,300 m water depth. They were able to locate the hydrate plug and scan for exact measurements, TSC added.
06.23.2022
