Innovative robot will repair pipelines at any depth
2023.01.09 08:01
Innovative robot will repair pipelines at any depth
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – Maintaining the extensive and costly infrastructure of the deep-sea oil and gas industry is costly. Install, check, and fix thousands of kilometers of pipeline, wells, and other equipment.
Currently, cutting-edge underwater drones and robots are being developed that could make the work safer, less expensive, and less harmful to the environment.
Eelume, a six-meter-long snake-like robot outfitted with sensors and a camera at each end, is one of them. It can remain at a docking station for up to six months at depths of up to 500 meters (547 yards) without being brought back to the surface.
Before requiring a recharge, the self-propulsing robot can travel up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). It can also swap out parts to perform various tasks, such as cleaning brushes to remove marine growth and sediment and tools to operate subsea valves.
Unmanned vehicles already perform maintenance work at numerous pipeline systems and deep-water wells. However, the majority of the time, these vehicles must be transported to the offshore site on a ship with a full crew and then remotely operated from the surface vessel. According to Pl Liljebäck, chief technology officer at Eelume Subsea Intervention, the company that developed the robot, that can cost up to $100,000 per day.
The company was spun out of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and has its headquarters in Trondheim, Norway. According to Liljebäck, “enabling the robot to become a subsea resident living in a docking station, it can be mobilized at any time to do inspections and intervention tasks, thereby reducing the need for costly surface vessels” has enabled the robot to perform inspections and interventions.
Eelume can send back video and data while working independently on assigned tasks from a control room onshore. It can work in tight spaces thanks to its snake-like shape, and it can wiggle its body to stay in place in strong currents. It can be deployed regardless of the conditions on the ocean’s surface by docking beneath the water.
Analysts predict that the global market for underwater robotics will be worth approximately $7 billion in 2025, and other businesses are currently bringing novel deep-sea drone and robot technology to market.
The Hydrone-R underwater drone was developed by (SAPMY), an Italian company that provides services to the oil, energy, and infrastructure industries. It can dive to 3,000 meters for construction and maintenance work.
The Aquanaut is a subsea robot vehicle developed by Houston Mechatronics in the United States that can be operated remotely or autonomously. The Saab Seaeye Falcon vehicle from Sweden is already being used to inspect fish farms in Chile.
Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, was one of the first investors in Eelume. By using a less expensive method for maintenance and repair, we will save money. Equinor’s lead engineer, Pl. Atle Solheimsnes, tells CNN Business, “We can put our employees in an onshore control room instead of having them work in dangerous conditions offshore.”
Deep water exploration can harm the marine environment, and the oil and gas industries are major contributors to climate change. However, Atle asserts that Eelume may have environmental advantages. Robots like Eelume emit almost no CO2 in comparison to diesel-powered surface vessels.
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At the sgard oil and gas field, Eelume Subsea Intervention and Equinor will carry out the final seabed testing later this year. Eelume claims that by 2027, it will have 50 snake robots in oceans worldwide and expects to deploy its first snake robots next year.
