In subsea oil and gas production fields, pipelines are an integral part of transporting the hydrocarbons to downstream processes. Problems arise in these pipelines because of corrosion, structural failure and sludge formation due to hydrocarbon chemical processes. These sorts of problems lead to production and revenue loss, as well as high maintenance costs. Furthermore today’s environmental concerns govern that hydrocarbon leaks into the ocean be avoided to prevent ecological disasters. Minimising these problems by forecasting and timely action is of vital interest to the industry. Constant pipeline monitoring provides the data necessary to make the correct decisions.
In pipeline monitoring, sensors are placed along the pipeline to collect data that can be reticulated to the surface. Aqua Comm is the ideal reticulation solution due to the following benefits it can deliver:
- Very reliable communications for high level of data throughput, even in harsh conditions, ensuring the pipeline monitoring data can be delivered dependably to the operations centre.
- Compared to cables, greater flexibility in choosing the monitoring position, as well as being a fraction of the cost to install and maintain.
- Modems can be networked in a multi-hop configuration so that data can be sent over long distances.
- Using the low power modes, the modems can conserve battery energy, so that maintenance cycles to change batteries can coincide with scheduled maintenance operations.