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DEMO2000-Prosj.ret tekn.utv. petro.virk

Pipeline Inspection using Underwater Hyperspectral Imager - Qualification Study

Alternative title: Rørlednings inspeksjon ved bruk av hyperspektral avbildning under vann - Kvalifiserings studie

Awarded: NOK 2.9 mill.

Project Number:

317945

Application Type:

Project Period:

2020 - 2023

Organisation:

There are thousands of kilometers of subsea oil and gas pipelines installed on the Norwegian continental shelf and in the rest of the world. These pipelines require regular inspection to ensure their integrity and to assess the need for maintenance. Current methods include visual (video or still photos) inspections from ROV, along with acoustic investigations. In this project an improved underwater hyperspectral imaging system is developed along with software that automatically detects different materials of interest along the pipelines and reports them. Prototype software that translates the material detections into relevant events (eg. Pipeline damage, metal exposed) following Equinor's pipeline integrity survey standard, have also been developed. These reports can be compared to the manually generated reports to increase the overall quality of the inspections. The project has uncovered the need for more research into how the translation between material detections and inspection events should be done to make the automatically generated reports more relevant.

The project has provided a new automated tool for pipeline inspection that complements the manual inspection and can contribute to higher quality and lower uncertainty in the inspection reports. It is also a steppingstone to further research and development to achieve even more relevant automated event detection that could bring reduced cost and increased quality to the pipeline inspection workflow. The hardware development done in the project is bringing the UHI technology one step further regarding resolution and light sources. An upgraded UHI based on the project results is already made available in the market and benefits new users of the general UHI technology within other applications such as environmental mapping and monitoring. The custom low-power collimated light source prototypes being tested and improved during the project has now been scheduled for the final design iteration. This light source makes it feasible to use UHI on AUV because of the reduced power consumption.

There are thousands of kilometers of subsea oil and gas pipelines installed on the Norwegian continental shelf and in the rest of the world. These pipelines require regular inspection to ensure their integrity and to optimize maintenance cost. Current methods include visual (video or still photos) inspection from ROV and acoustic survey using ROV, AUV or ship, at regular intervals. The overall objective of this project is to implement and finalize development of an UHI system tailor-made for automatic detection of pipeline features, providing a functional hardware and software solution with required image quality at operational ROV survey speeds. The main motivation with this project is improved quality and reduced cost of pipeline inspection and integrity surveys. Another important motivation is the potential for the camera to detect features or anomalies (events) that are difficult to observe manually (i.e. small features). The overall goal is to develop an autonomous method for pipeline inspection, reducing the need for manual visual inspection onboard the vessel during survey operations. The main R&D Challenges are as follows: - Upgrade, test and implement a complete hardware system which is fully Integrated with existing Pipeline Inspection payload on survey ROV and vessel. - Develop a functional software for data handling and analysis, including identification and classification of events and ensure these are incorporated in the Pipeline Inspection protocols and reporting system. - Demonstrate complete hardware and software system and protocols ready for approval at a TRL Level of 8 or 9.

Funding scheme:

DEMO2000-Prosj.ret tekn.utv. petro.virk