通过可靠的数据和通信实现远程操作调查

远程操作调查可减少船上人员、减少 HSE 暴露并降低总体项目成本。

Ryan Larsen,海洋工程调查服务公司

提出者:

勘探与生产加

编者注:本文的完整版本最初发表于 《E&P Plus》二月 号。请在此处 订阅数字出版物 


前往许多人从未去过的地方一直是海上能源勘探者的梦想。这意味着要在比之前绘制的地图更深的水域、离海岸更远的地方寻找石油和天然气矿藏。

这些特殊项目产生了许多问题:安全、时间和成本。由于运营商努力保持相同(或更好)的勘探结果,因此在恶劣、偏远的环境中确保海上工人的安全至关重要。

油气行业长期低迷,加上全球疫情持续,增加了正常运营的难度。有必要减少离岸人员,以便重要工作人员能够不受阻碍地完成工作并安全地保持社交距离。远程解决方案可以提高工人安全并改善环境条件。

远程操作可以轻松降低动员和物流成本。主题专家 (SME) 可以在专门的陆上基地工作,并与钻井平台或船上的人员进行安全、智能的沟通。

自 2004 年以来,Oceaneering 一直处于远程驾驶和控制技术的前沿,该技术允许在岸上而不是在船舶和钻井平台上驾驶 ROV 等海底车辆。近海通信网络的最新进展确保驻留式 ROV 和 AUV 成为进行近海作业的值得信赖的选择。先进的海底车辆受益于 4G 海上覆盖范围的扩大以及更快、稳定和更具成本效益的卫星通信。此外,更多的海上设施采用直接光纤到岸连接的安装方式,可实现更低的延迟和更高的保真度连接。

Oceaneering 已在休斯敦和路易斯安那州拉斐特投资了远程控制监测站 (RCMS),用于其远程调查作业。在陆上基地工作的中小企业可以提供专业知识并从一个地点远程监控多个项目。这些陆上基地还使客户能够从世界任何地方安全地查看运营情况,并进一步减少专家人员前往海上监控或排除运营故障的需要。

海洋工程
岸上人员通过休斯顿的专用 RCMS 观察 ROS 操作。(来源:海洋工程)

ROS系统

Oceaneering 的远程操作测量 (ROS) 系统可用于执行勘探工作、FPSO 船舶连接、堵塞和废弃、开发以及重新锁定和重新启动活动。该公司还进行远程惯性跳线测量、远程惯性标记浮标组以及声学多普勒电流剖面 (ADCP) 数据的远程监测。

钻机或船舶与陆上基地之间的可靠数据和通信是 ROS 系统的支柱。所需的带宽由项目范围决定,某些操作可以在钻井平台或船舶现有的互联网接入上以低至 256 kbps 的带宽运行。

海洋工程
(来源:海洋工程)

然而,当活动更加先进时,例如跳线计量,需要更多的数据带宽来进行远程监控操作并与动态定位官、ROV飞行员和党组长保持持续联系。

对于跳线计量,获得 A 点和 B 点之间的正确距离(例如,从井场到管汇)至关重要。通过使用惯性技术,ROV 将来回飞行以确保距离,工程师将使用该计算来生产跳线,以适应确切的可用空间。

当钻机到达现场时,海底标记浮标组直接从钻机发射。放下四个标记,然后将导体放在浮标中间。

海洋工程
岸上人员通过休斯敦的专用 RCMS 观察南美海上运营商的 ROS 操作。(来源:海洋工程)

这充当“标记点”的作用,以便钻机可以在正确的位置钻孔。所有这些都是远程完成的,无需派遣额外的测量员。

Oceaneering 也可以在 ROS 活动中应用 ADCP。ADCP 能够监控流经船舶或钻机的水流。水下水流可能极其汹涌,就像河流或被称为涡流的旋转飓风一样。4 至 6 节的水流可能会妨碍作业。ADCP 不仅能够查看钻机上发生的情况,还能监控下方的电流。

该系统为钻井团队提供实时数据,这些数据可以报告给美国国家海洋和大气管理局的国家浮标中心,后者又利用这些数据创建海洋流图。当需要获取数据时,Oceaneering 的经过交叉训练的 ROV 船员会在海上将设备降低到船上。

首次 ROS 活动

2016 年,美国一家大型运营商与 Oceaneering 接洽,希望为海上钻井作业找到一种长期、经济高效的定位解决方案。运营商寻求一种既提高安全性又降低成本的方法。Oceaneering 提出的解决方案将为客户提供从岸上到钻井平台的 24/7 远程访问。

Oceaneering 对运营商的钻井平台进行了为期一天的调查,然后在三天内(即初次调查一周后)将其设备调动并安装到船上。钻机搬迁历时两天,并在 48 小时内交付了初步现场报告和经过认证的位置图。这使得运营商能够确定最终井位、关闭钻井许可证并继续进行现场开发规划。

ROS 套件包括两台具有精确点定位校正服务的 Oceaneering C-NAV3050 GNSS 接收器、一台陀螺罗经、一台 GNSS 航向传感器、一台辅以内部软件应用程序的测量导航、一台具有互联网安全功能的测量远程访问和通信套件。

测试南美洲附近海域

2019 年,另一家运营商联系 Oceaneering,为其打算用于南美近海三井作业的钻井船提供综合钻井平台服务。Oceaneering 在 2019 年夏季的活动中调动了 ROS 系统、ROV 和 ADCP 系统。随后钻井船转移到钻井地点,并于当年秋初开始作业。

与传统操作相比,在船上安装支持测量操作的 ROS 系统为操作员提供了超过 52% 的实际项目操作节省。随着作业扩展到第四口井,操作员在船上节省了 96 名人员。这些节省不包括船员和设备后勤、住宿和膳食的其他潜在成本节省。此次疫情还额外节省了传统作业中通常所需的船员隔离费用。

到 2020 年,该运营商继续在南美海上成功开展钻井活动。

新里程碑

2020 年,Oceaneering 实现了 ROS 迄今为止最重要的里程碑,进行了第 100 次钻机移动,并记录了 150,000 小时的操作,正常运行时间为 99.9%。这些领域的进步将使运营商能够重新思考他们进行海上工作的方式。迄今为止,Oceaneering 已在全球范围内使用了 13 个主动 ROS 系统,并正在生产更多装置以满足不断增长的需求。 

原文链接/hartenergy

Enabling Remotely Operated Surveys with Reliable Data and Communications

Remotely operated surveys reduce personnel on board, decrease HSE exposure and reduce overall project costs.

Ryan Larsen, Oceaneering Survey Services

Presented by:

E&P Plus

Editor's note: The full version of this article originally appeared in the February issue of E&P Plus.
Subscribe to the digital publication here.


It has long been a dream for offshore energy explorers to go where many have not gone before. That means searching for oil and gas deposits in deeper waters and farther from shore than previously charted.

Many issues arise from these special projects: safety, time and cost. Keeping offshore workers safe in harsh, remote environments is of the utmost importance as operators strive to maintain the same (or better) exploration results.

The prolonged downturn in the oil and gas industry, coupled with an ongoing global pandemic, has increased the difficulty of normal operations. It is a necessity to reduce offshore personnel so that essential staff members can do their jobs unhindered and safely social distanced. Remote solutions can boost worker safety and improve environmental conditions.

Remote operations make it easy to reduce mobilization and logistics costs. Subject matter experts (SMEs) can work from a dedicated onshore base and safely and intelligently communicate with personnel on the rig or vessel.

Since 2004, Oceaneering has been at the forefront of remote piloting and control technology, which allows subsea vehicles, such as ROVs, to be piloted from shore rather than onboard vessels and rigs. Recent advances in offshore communication networks are ensuring that resident ROVs and AUVs are a trustworthy option for carrying out offshore operations. Advanced subsea vehicles are benefiting from increased 4G offshore coverage along with faster, stable and more cost-efficient satellite communications. Additionally, more offshore facilities feature installations with direct fiber-to-shore connectivity allowing lower latency and higher fidelity connections.

Oceaneering has invested in Remote Control Monitoring Stations (RCMS) in Houston and Lafayette, La., for its remote survey operations. An SME working from an onshore base can lend expertise and remotely monitor multiple projects from one location. These onshore bases also enable customers to safely view operations from anywhere in the world and further reduce the need for expert personnel to be located offshore to monitor or troubleshoot operations.

Oceaneering
Onshore-based personnel observe ROS operations from a dedicated RCMS in Houston. (Source: Oceaneering)

The ROS system

Oceaneering’s Remotely Operated Survey (ROS) system can be used to execute exploration work, FPSO vessel hookup, plugging and abandonment, development, and re-latch and re-spud activities. The company also conducts remote inertial jumper metrologies, remote inertial marker buoy sets and remote monitoring of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiles (ADCPs) data.

Reliable data and communications between the rig or vessel and the onshore base are the backbone of the ROS system. The required bandwidth is determined by project scope, and some operations can be run with as little as 256 kbps of bandwidth on the rig or vessel’s existing internet access.

Oceaneering
(Source: Oceaneering)

However, when the campaigns are more advanced, such as jumper metrologies, more data bandwidth is necessary to conduct remote monitoring operations and maintain constant contact with the dynamic positioning officer, ROV pilots and party chiefs.

With jumper metrology, getting the correct distance between point A and point B (e.g., from well site to manifold) is critical. By using inertial technology, the ROV will fly back and forth to secure the distance, and that calculation will be used by engineers to produce jumpers to fit to the exact space available.

Subsea marker buoy sets are launched directly from the rig as it comes onto location. Four markers are placed down, and then the conductor is set down in the middle of the buoys.

Oceaneering
Onshore-based personnel observe ROS operations for an operator offshore South America from a dedicated RCMS in Houston. (Source: Oceaneering)

This acts as an “x marks the spot” so the rig can drill on the correct location. All of this is done remotely without having to send out additional surveyors.

Oceaneering can apply ADCPs on ROS campaigns as well. ADCPs enable the ability to monitor flow of currents past a vessel or a rig. Underwater currents can be extremely harsh, almost like rivers or spinning hurricanes called eddies; currents of 4 to 6 knots can hinder operations. The ADCP provides the ability to see what is happening on the rig but also monitor the current flow underneath.

The system provides the drilling team with real-time data, which can be reported back to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Buoy Center, which in turn uses the data to create oceanographic current maps. Oceaneering’s cross-trained ROV crews offshore lower the equipment overboard when data are needed to be acquired.

First ROS campaign

In 2016 Oceaneering was approached by a major U.S. operator to find a long-term, cost-efficient positioning solution for offshore drilling moves. The operator sought a way to improve safety while also reducing costs. The solution Oceaneering proposed would provide the customer with 24/7 remote access from shore to the rig.

Oceaneering executed a one-day survey of the operator’s rig and then mobilized and installed its equipment on board in a three-day period, one week after the initial survey. The rig move occurred over a two-day period, and a preliminary field report and certified location plat were delivered in 48 hours. This allowed the operator to identify the final well position, close out drilling permits and continue field development planning.

The ROS package included two Oceaneering C-NAV3050 GNSS receivers with precise point positioning correction service, one gyrocompass, one GNSS heading sensor, one survey navigation supplemented with in-house software applications, one survey remote access and communications package with internet security.

Testing the waters off South America

In 2019 Oceaneering was contacted by a different operator to provide integrated rig services for a drillship it intended to use for a three-well campaign offshore South America. Oceaneering mobilized an ROS system, ROV and ADCP system for the campaign in summer 2019. The drillship then transited to the drilling location where it began operations in the early fall of that year.

Having the ROS system installed onboard supporting survey operations provided the operator more than 52% in actual project operational savings as compared to conventional operations. The operator saved 96 personnel onboard days as the campaign extended to a fourth well. These savings do not include other potential cost savings from logistics of crew and equipment, lodging and meals. The pandemic also has provided extra savings on quarantining costs of crew that would have normally been required in a conventional operation.

The operator went on to conduct successful drilling campaigns offshore South America into 2020.

New milestone

In 2020 Oceaneering achieved its biggest milestone yet for ROS, conducting its 100th rig move and recording 150,000 hours of operations with 99.9% uptime. Advancements in these areas will enable operators to rethink the way they conduct offshore work. To date, Oceaneering has 13 active ROS systems in use around the world with additional units in production to meet growing demand.