THE ESG ISSUE
Powering a Sustainable Future TECHNOLOGY IS KEY TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT By Jock Pool, Oceaneering International
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he industry has called for more innovative solutions to help reduce or eliminate carbon emissions and increase worker safety. There are several artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation technologies that can help the oil and gas industry produce cleaner barrels with better data collection. The advancement of communication networks both on- and offshore enable remote operations from anywhere at any time. Instead of sending your best engineers and subject matter experts far offshore — and having to mobilize expensive travel by helicopters, support vessels, and accommodation space — integral personnel can stay onshore to work from a dedicated office space and provide much needed expertise in a more efficient, faster way. Oceaneering continues to advance its capabilities by developing technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for customers and its own operations. Oceaneering achieves this by developing next-generation remotely operated vehicle technology, dedicated remote operations centers, and even taking a hard look at its own practices. Internally, Oceaneering has committed to setting carbon emission reduction targets and has established an Executive Sustainability Committee to help set standards for the company’s operations around the globe.
ADVANCING DIGITAL AND REMOTE TECHNOLOGIES
Remote operations coupled with advanced autonomous solutions can have a huge impact on how business is conducted, even when that business is taking place offshore. Oceaneering’s Remote Piloting and Automated Control Technology (RPACT), introduced in 2004 enables full ROV piloting via virtual connection technologies such as vessel-to-vessel radio frequency (RF), satellite/internet, or subsea optical link. Software also supports collaborative control, for example, an onshore pilot flies an ROV while the offshore pilot operates manipulators. Supplemented with preprogrammed and automated commands, RPACT uses video processing software that analyzes video, determines spatial distances, and recognizes shapes to enable hands-free movement of the 30
Well Servicing Magazine/July 2021
ROV. This provides an essential pilot aid while operating the ROV over long-latency communication links. Oceaneering launched its first dedicated onshore remote operations center (OROC) in 2015. The OROC enables effective completion of offshore operations by providing a remote base for client representatives, additional ROV pilots, and subject matter experts. Operations completed using RPACT and the OROC range from the usual ROV-controlled work, such as the installation of subsea anodes, to operating subsea valves.
APPLICATIONS
Oceaneering’s Liberty E-ROV (Empowered Remotely Operated Vehicle) is an all-in-one deployable and recoverable system with a cage-mounted battery pack. The Liberty is a work-class vehicle that can carry out inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR), commissioning, and underwater intervention activities. Because the Liberty does not require a support vessel to stay onsite during operations, a typical IMR campaign in the North Sea could save an estimated 33 MT per day of CO2 by eliminating vessel usage during subsea operations. A major North Sea operator, on the verge of first oil at its development, contracted Oceaneering in early 2020 to use the Liberty E-ROV system for a complete pipeline seabed-to-platform monitoring operation. The project called for monitoring at depths up to 310 meters several times a day over the course of one to two months. The operator needed to maintain constant monitoring but ruled out using a conventional ROV system deployed from the platform or a vessel. A dedicated control umbilical provided power and data communications connectivity directly from the platform to the Liberty E-ROV system. This solution was identified as optimal as it eliminated the need to recharge Liberty’s batteries using a vessel and negated risks associated with winter storms in the area pushing the radio buoy out of location. The Liberty E-ROV system was mobilized from Oceaneering’s site at Forus, Norway, and deployed to the seafloor adjacent to the operator’s platform in the North Sea in February 2020. Monitoring of the riser started immediately and was conducted three to four times daily from March until April 2020. The ROV was piloted using RPACT and all video and images were uploaded
