Regular and comprehensive maintenance and inspections of offshore platforms and other subsea infrastructure– such as pipelines – are central to efficient oil and gas operations. However, the high-risk nature of working offshore necessitates the development ofsafer inspection methods.
Cutting-edge technologies and the adoption of advanced inspection techniques are driving this development, helping to address the shortcomings of conventional methods while enhancing accuracy, efficiency, and safety. The key areas of innovation transforming oil and gas monitoring and maintenance include automated inspection systems, non-destructive testing, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and robot inspections, and machine learning and AI.
Traditional inspections typically rely on manual processes and human judgment, leading to missed defects, increased downtime and higher operational costs, as well as limited data analysis due to inconsistent documentation.
Advancements in robotics and automation have enabled operators to perform inspections and maintenance on subsea assets remotely, greatly improving worker safety and operational efficiency.
Underwater ROVs can also be integrated with a variety of non-destructive testing tools and methods, allowing for various techniques to quantitatively inspect, measure, and evaluate the safety and integrity of critical infrastructure and systems.
In late May, Woodside conducted the first remote subsea inspection at its Shenzi development in the United States’ Gulf of Mexico, 195 kilometres offshore Louisiana.
With remote inspections, Woodside eliminates the need for full crews to be on board inspection vessels, drastically cutting the time workers are exposed to hazardous offshore environments.
Charina Choochert, Principal Integrity Engineer at Woodside, said subsea inspections were a critical part of the company’s Gulf operations.
She said: “Whereas reports would [previously] take up to six months for analysis, we can now review live recordings, identify anomalies, and take action quickly.
“It also means we can reinspect in real time, and we don’t have to wait for the next inspection campaign.
“We are thrilled that we have been able to take a significant step forward for subsea integrity management by transitioning to remote subsea inspections.”
The remote inspection was Woodside’s first-ever in the United States and may be one of the first approved by the American Bureau of Shipping.
Incorporating automation and remotely controlled robots to conduct inspections can have a transformational effect, as oil and gas facilities can have an array of subsea assets and kilometres of piping where failures can occur.
There are many different types of inspection robots with varying degrees of autonomy, allowing maintenance personnel to inspect assets remotely.
These include unmanned ground vehicles, flexible robot arms, small-scale robotics systems for internal pipeline inspections, wall-climbing robots, and autonomous surface/ underwater vehicles.
Conventional subsea inspections and maintenance often require human divers to perform complex tasks in dangerous conditions, starting with potentially low visibility in murky or dark water that can lead to entanglement, hypothermia, and physical exhaustion.
While there may be some tasks that ROV technology still cannot perform and therefore require a diver, an ROV can play an important role simply by being deployed before the diver to plan the type and location of the tasks that may be required.
Researchers from Khalifa University’s Centre for Autonomous Robotic Systems in the United Arab Emirates, in collaboration with the UAE government agency, the Technology Innovation Institute, recently developed a swarm of robotic ‘fish’ that can be used for underwater monitoring and inspection of offshore infrastructure.
The project utilised 30 autonomous remote-controlled underwater robots that were designed to navigate together using advanced communication. These can be deployed for ocean monitoring, offshore inspections, environmental surveys, and the exploration of subsea wrecks and mines.
Five of the 30 robots are ‘special’ robotic fish integrated with sensors and communication channels to the remote operator, while the 25 normal robots communicate with each other, enabling robot recovery in case of an emergency.
Researchers at the University of Houston (UH) are developing an autonomous subsea inspection robot designed to identify potential pipeline leaks and structural failures. This innovation aims to make the inspection process safer and more cost-effective while also protecting subsea environments.
Current inspection techniques often require a well-trained human diver and substantial time and money, with the challenges exacerbated if the inspection target is deep underwater.
Named SmartTouch, the technology in development consists of remotely operated vehicles equipped with multiple stress wave-based smart touch sensors, video cameras and scanning sonars that can swim along subsea pipelines to inspect flange bolts.
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement notes that bolted connections have accelerated the rate of pipeline accidents that result in leaks.
Zheng Chen, the Bill D. Cook Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UH and co-principal investigator, explained: “By automating the inspection process with this state-of-the-art robotic technology, we can dramatically reduce the cost and risk of these important subsea inspections.
“[This] will lead to safer operations of offshore oil and gas pipelines as less intervention from human divers will be needed.”
A SmartTouch prototype has been tested in the lab and in waters near Houston, with the experiments demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach for inspecting the looseness of subsea bolted connections.
Prof Chen added: “Ultimately, the project will push the boundaries of what can be accomplished by integrating robotics and structural health monitoring technologies.
“With proper implementation, the rate of subsea pipeline failure and related accidents will decrease, and subsea operations will be free to expand at a faster rate than before.”
