Underwater remotely operated vehicles ROV s

- Introduction - Deep Sea Concept - Offshore Infrastructure. - Underwater inspection - Remotely operated vehicles ROV

Introduction
The oil and gas industry is expanding into deeper and more difficult locations Number of subsea developments is growing Despite continuing work on design and manufacture of more reliable hardware, failures and wear and tear persist Need to carry out remotely a number of tasks relevant to installation, inspection, maintenance, workover and recovery Focus on safe and cost-effective techniques

Offshore infrastructures The concept of deep sea

Industry community point of view
definition Deep sea means 1000 to 2000 m (3000 to 6000 ft)Ultra-deep sea means 2000 to 3000 m motivations Deep sea activitiesare driven by economical factors (oil price, political and trategical factors) fields of Basically only oil industry and interest cable communication companies are involved in deep sea activities. Ocean mining and waste disposal activities presently in stand-by

Scientific community point of view

Deep sea means up to 6000 m, in order to cover the major area of interest study and comprehension of basic local (regional scale) and global phenomena (large/earth scale, such as global change, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis ) Many disciplines interested in deep sea (physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, biology, seismics, geophysics, etc.) each with different approaches and requirements relevant to observation and acquisition methods.

What is a "ROV"
A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) as an underwater robot that allows the vehicle's operator to remain in a comfortable environment while the ROV performs the work underwater. An umbilical, or tether, carries power and command and control signals to the vehicle and the status and sensory data back to the operators topside. In larger systems, a subsea garage and tether management system (TMS) are often included.

Underwater Vehicles
- Remotely operated vehicles ROVs - Autonomous underwater vehicles AUVs 1- ROVs are for commercial use and communicate with support ship via cable. The main function of the cable is to transmit video picture and electricity to power the ROV propellers and accessories. 2- AUVs communicate with support ship via acoustics or underwater sound waves. AUVs are primarily used for research and military applications.

What can ROVs do ?

Diver Observation ensure diver safety and provide assistance Platform Inspection to monitor the effects of corrosion, fouling, locating cracks, estimating biologic fouling, etc. Pipeline Inspection follow underwater pipelines to check for leaks, determine overall health of the pipeline and insure the installation is acceptable Surveys both visual and acoustic surveys are necessary prior to installing pipelines, cables and most offshore installations Drilling Support everything from visual inspection, monitoring installation, operational support and repair when necessary using multiple manipulators Construction Support a natural follow-on to drilling support. Tasks can become more complex with the use of manipulators, powered tools and cutters Debris Removal offshore platforms can become a "trash dump" underwater. ROVs provide a cost effective method of keeping the area clean and safe Platform Cleaning one of the most sophisticated tasks using manipulators and suction cups for positioning and 100-horsepower systems driving brushes, water jets and other abrasive devices Subsea Installations - support the construction, operation, inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea installations, especially in deep water Telecommunications Support (Inspection, Burial or Repair) from towed plows that bury cables for protection from trawlers and anchors to sophisticated vehicles that can locate, follow, retrieve and rebury subsea telecommunication cables Object Location and Recovery - Search, location, and recovery of lost objects

ROVs for scientific use (ultra-deep)

Vehicle Dolphin 3K Hyperdolphin Depth 3000 3000 Operating institution JAMSTEC JAMSTEC Builder JAMSTEC ISE Support vessel Natsushima Kaiyo

Quest
Tiburon ROPOS Jason

4000
4000 5000 6000

MARUM
MBARI CSSF WHOI

Shilling
MBARI ISE WHOI

opportunity
West.Flyer opportunity Atlantis II/ opportunity

Victor
ISIS UROV 7K Kaiko

6000
6500 7000 11000

IFREMER
SOC JAMSTEC JAMSTEC

IFREMER

Atalante
opportunity

JAMSTEC JAMSTEC Kairei

What is an ROV

ROV Camera

7 d.o.f Manipulator

Types of ROVs
ROVs can vary in size from small vehicles fitted with one TV camera (used for simple observation), up to complex work systems that can have several dexterous manipulators, video cameras, mechanical tools and other equipment. They are generally free flying, but some are bottom-founded on tracks Towed bodies, such as those used to deploy side scan sonar, are not considered ROVs

Sonsub Innovator and Seabotix microclass ROV

Mini/micro class ROVs

very small in size and weight suitable for observation (represent a good alternative to divers) one person could manage the complete ROV system (including deployment and operation) from a small boat

Deep Ocean Phantom

Seabotix LBV600

ROVs on the market

Number of models Micro Mini General 7 20 43 Max water depth [m] 300 1500 (most 300) 4000 (one model) <2000 (all the other) one to be extended to 6000 5000 (2 models) 4000 (1); 3500 (1) 3000 (11) 3500 (1); 3000 (2) 2500 Max weight [kg] 5 20 500

Work class

29

4500

Trenching / burial ROV

11

38000

Work Class ROVs operating worldwide

Oceaneering International, Inc. Subsea 7 (Halliburton/Subsea) Sonsub (Saipem) Fugro (ex Racal/Thales) Stolt (Stolt/Comex/Seaway) Canyon (Cal Dive) Technip-Coflexip Others (specialty systems, plus systems operated by smaller companies) TOTAL 152 78 59 36 35 23 22 30

435

ROVs for scientific use

These ROVs have lower power (to keep umbilical size small) Typical missions include Instrument placement, retrieval and support. In situ experimentation. Ecological studies and observations (midwater and benthic). Sampling and light coring. Surveys of environmental parameters

UROV7K (Jamstec); Tiburon (MBARI), Kaiko (JAMSTEC)

ROV status and perspectives

Mature technology Suitable to meet all IRM needs of the oil & gas industry (up to 6000 mwd) New developments in deepwater ROVs include - all electric deepwater WorkClass ROV reduce inefficiencies (30% and more) smaller and lighter more reliable (less parts) smaller umbilicals - more sophisticated tooling - advancement in launch and recovery systems

Problems with deepwater ROVs

Cost increase (need of DP vessels) Availability becomes limited Long tether management may become a major problem in large and complex structures

AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles)

AUVs are free-swimming, unmanned submersible vehicles, independent of outside facilities or operators Present applications include
Subsea Survey Subsea Inspection Pipeline Inspection Cable Inspection Oceanographic Sampling Environmental Monitoring Iceberg Profiling Under-ice Surveys Mine Detection and Countermeasures Diver Delivery / Supply Vehicles Downed Airplane / Shipwreck Searches Underwater Photography

AUV current status

AUV industry has begun to emerge from the R&D and prototype phase to small production runs Over the past decade, nearly 200 AUV have been built (mostly experimental) about 20 programs presently active Scientific community and military were the early adopters For the oil&gas industry AUV are now an efficient tool for seafloor survey and mapping, especially in deepwater (up to 3000 m) Cost reduction of up to 30% and better data quality with respect to traditional tools (towfish) Commercial AUV services are now offered (in 2004 C&C logged more than 25.000 km of AUV survey lines for the oil industry) Costs of AUV operations are still significant

Survey AUVs

THE OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION MARKET

Offshore Structures Underwater Inspection

AUV- Conceptual Drawing

AUV Layout

AUV Layout

Remotely Operated Vehicles ROVs

Advantages of ROV Compared to a Diver: - Unlimited depth , up to 6500 meters - Provides Stable Camera Platform - Automatic Inspection - Inspection of long pipelines Components of an ROV System - Control Unit - Cable - Launch & Recovery Unit (winch) - Garage or Top Hat - ROV - camera + lights + propulsors + manipulators & other tools

ROV Control Unit

ROV Umbilical

Components of an ROV System

Control Unit Winch

ROV

cable

Garage

ROV System vs. diver for underwater operations

ROV Classification by Water Depth

ROV electric thruster

Cleaning Manipulator Skid

ROV monitoring installation of riser Section to platform

Side Scan Sonar System

Side Scan Sonar System

Side Scan Sonar System

Side Scan Sonar System

ROV with a TMS - Garage

Top Hat

Garage

ROV Launch & Recovery System

ROV System with Top Hat

Work class ROV System

Workclass ROV fleet worldwide

Work class ROVs

Bottom Trencher

Inspection of Cathodic Protection System using CP Probe

ROV Design