RU2464485C2 - Control device of gas-condensate pipeline soundness - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: machine building.

SUBSTANCE: device includes shore-based processing and recording equipment with remote power supply and underwater communication cable connecting sea and shore-based equipment. Along the controlled route, at connection points of pipes to each other there fixed are yokes with specified pitch (up to 10 km from each other), each of which consists of two semi-rings connected to each other by means of hinges on one side and by means of two bolts on the other side. Tight fixed shell is welded to each yoke; inside that shell there located is movable shell with a spring pressing it to yoke housing; vibration sensor and sensor for determination of vertical to earth surface and temperature, which are located on board with electronic equipment, are fixed on the above movable shell. In fixed shell there fixed is tight connector connecting through the patch cable the vibration sensor, board with electronic equipment and sensors for determination of vertical to earth surface and temperature to sea couplings and underwater communication cable, to shore-based processing and recording equipment and to remote power supply.

EFFECT: possibility of timely warning of possible occurrence of gas-condensate leakage; prevention of marine environment contamination, as well as determination of place and time of gas-condensate leakage in controlled sections of pipeline.

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Description

The device relates to stationary systems for monitoring the operability of offshore gas condensate pipelines laid along the bottom of the seas and for diagnosing its technical condition for a forecast period of time and is used to organize continuous monitoring in an automated mode of the integrity of gas condensate pipelines during its operation.

In the process of preparing this application for an invention, a patent search was carried out and the following materials were analyzed.

“A method for determining the location of a potentially dangerous section of a deepwater pipeline” (patent RU 2193725 C1, Andreasyan I.G. et al. Of November 27, 2002) cannot work when the pipeline is in the ground (in the coastal zone, the pipeline buries in a trench on depth up to 2 m) or during operation may be under a layer of silt, where the hydroacoustic signals decay strongly, which will not allow the device to detect the leakage of gas condensate.

Patent DE 10060976 A1 (Framatome and gmbh) dated 06/27/2002 provides for the possibility of detecting gas leakage from a pipeline when it enters a permeable collection line located parallel to the pipeline, and hereinafter, the presence of gas is detected using sensors located on the permeable collection line , and transmitting this information over a wired cable channel.

This patent, according to the authors, has several disadvantages.

- Since the gas exiting the container that has lost its tightness enters the permeable collection line by the diffusion method, the distance from the pipeline to the permeable collection line located parallel to the pipeline should be small. What distance is recommended by the inventors in the patent description is not indicated.

- The permeable collection line does not have negative buoyancy and, therefore, will require additional loads that must be hung on this permeable collection line in order to keep it at the required distance from the controlled pipeline.

- The step between the sensors located on the permeable collection line is not indicated, and from here it is impossible to determine with what accuracy the place of damage to the pipeline is determined.

- When the pipeline and the permeable collection line are under the soil layer (when laying the pipeline in the coastal zone) or when they are poured during operation, there is no clarity about the operability of this device due to the practical lack of diffusion of the gas flowing from the pipeline through the soil or silt layer.

Based on the foregoing, this patent cannot be taken as a prototype.

A known method of monitoring pipelines that transport liquid or gaseous products using electromagnetic waves, infra and ultrasound as a data carrier (patent DE 2414204 (A1), 1975-10-02).

The action of the piping control method is as follows: the signal generator emits signals through the emitter into the transported medium, which, passing along the pipeline, cause resonators located along the pipeline at frequencies agreed with the generator to reflect these signals towards the emitter to a receiving device located at the pipeline. The analyzing equipment receives signals from the resonators, analyzes and provides information on the pressure of the liquid or gas on the walls of the pipeline, on the flow rate of the product in the pipeline, on the temperature of the product and on the fact of product leakage from the pipeline.

This patent cannot be taken by the authors as a prototype or used in the application materials for the following reasons.

1. The inventors file an application for “Device”, and patent DE 2414204 (A1) applies to “method”.

2. The range of the “method” according to the data presented in the patent materials is approximately 100 km one way. The proposed "device" by the authors allows monitoring the serviceability of offshore pipelines with a length of 800 kilometers or more.

3. According to the materials of patent DE 2414204 (A1), it is not clear what interval between the resonators installed on the pipeline is recommended by the authors, and, accordingly, it is not clear with what accuracy it is possible to determine the leakage of a gaseous or liquid product using this “method”.

4. From the materials of the patent it is not clear how this “method” will behave if the pipeline is laid in the ground or is, under operating conditions, under a layer of silt.

5. The power of the generator, providing the conditions for monitoring the pipeline, is expressed in units of 500 × 1000X. The authors cannot evaluate the unit of power indicated in the patent materials.

A well-known hydroacoustic stationary system for a similar purpose, which partially solves the problem with the help of sonar buoys (Underwater technology. Edited by IB Ikonnikov. L .: Sudostroenie, 1981, p. 84).

The disadvantages of this system are its low accuracy and reliability associated with the presence of marine noise, low spatial resolution of the used sonar equipment and the inability to use beacons in the freezing waters of the seas. In addition, the disadvantage is the incomplete amount of controlled parameters necessary for the correct assessment of the residual resource of the pipeline.

A hydroacoustic stationary system for monitoring the technical condition of a deepwater pipeline was adopted as a prototype (RF Patent No. 2193724 C1, 11/27/2002). The essence of this patent is that a sonar antenna is installed in parallel with the monitored section of the pipeline, and on it an additional sequence of sonar transceivers with a given step. A sequence of hydroacoustic transponders with depth sensors is installed on the pipeline with the same step. The hydroacoustic antenna, which forms a fan of radiation patterns, allows you to determine the vibration parameters of the pipeline, as well as the coordinates of the possible place of product leakage from the pipeline.

The disadvantages of this prototype are:

- the impossibility of diagnosing the technical condition of pipelines laid in the ground in the coastal zone to a depth of about 2 m or which, during operation, are under a layer of silt. In this case, the hydroacoustic signal attenuates strongly in the soil or silt and cannot be detected by the receiving device;

- the dependence of the results of acoustic measurements on changes in hydrology along the length of the pipeline route.

The aim of the present invention is to remedy these shortcomings, as well as providing timely warning of the fact of a possible defect in the pipeline, and in case of leakage of gas condensate, determining the place and time of occurrence of this defect.

This goal is achieved by the fact that in the known device for monitoring the operability of an offshore gas condensate pipeline containing onshore processing and recording equipment with a remote power supply unit and an underwater communication cable connecting the offshore and onshore equipment, along the monitored pipeline route at the junction of the pipes forming the pipeline, are fixed with at a predetermined step (up to 10 km from each other), yokes, each of which consists of two half rings, hinged together on one side and with th two screws on the other side. An airtight fixed cup is welded to the yoke, inside of which there is a movable cup with a spring, pressing a movable cup to the yoke body with a vibration sensor fixed to it and sensors for detecting vertical to the earth's surface and temperature, located on the circuit board with electronic equipment. An airtight connector is fixed in a fixed cup, which connects a vibration sensor and a board through electronic cable with electronic equipment and sensors to determine the vertical to the earth's surface and temperature, including those located on other yokes of the pipeline, with marine couplings and an underwater communication cable, and then - coastal processing and registration equipment and a remote power supply unit.

The invention is illustrated by drawings.

Figure 1 shows a General view of the pipeline (without reinforced concrete protection) with a monitoring system.

Figure 2 presents a fixed glass welded to one of the half rings of the yoke.

Figure 3 shows the fastening of the yoke on the pipeline.

Figure 4 shows a yoke placed on a pipeline with a reinforced concrete (concrete) protective sheath.

The health monitoring device for an offshore gas condensate pipeline contains a pipeline 1, onto which, along the controlled route of the pipeline, in the places where the pipes are connected to each other, yokes are fixed with a specified interval (step), each of which consists of two half rings 2, interconnected 3 with one side and using two bolts 4 on the other side. A sealed fixed cup 5 is welded to one of the half rings 2 of the yoke, inside of which there is a movable cup 6 with a spring 7, pressing a movable cup to the yoke body with a vibration sensor 8 mounted on it and sensors for detecting vertical to the earth's surface and temperature located on the 9 s circuit board electronic equipment. A sealed connector 10 is fixed in a fixed cup, connecting through a cable insert 11 a vibration sensor 8 and a board 9 with electronic equipment and sensors for determining the vertical to the earth's surface and temperature, including those located on other yokes of the pipeline, with marine couplings 12 and an underwater cable communication 13 - with on-shore processing and recording equipment 14 and with a remote power supply unit 15. The pipeline is protected from external influences by a reinforced concrete (concrete) shell 16.

A movable cup 6 with a spring 7 provides reliable contact of the vibration sensor 8 with the yoke body, which ensures reliable transmission of vibration of the pipe body 1 through one of the half rings 2 of the yoke to the vibration sensor 8.

The outputs of the vibration sensor 8 are connected to the input of the device of electronic equipment located on the board 9, and the outputs of the devices of electronic equipment, through a sealed connector 10 and cable insert 11, are connected to electronic equipment located in the marine coupling 12, and then through an underwater communication cable 13 - with coastal processing and registration equipment 14 and with a remote power supply 15.

The marine part of the electronic equipment is located in two nodes of the claimed invention: in a yoke - amplifiers of electrical signals from a vibration sensor, from a sensor for detecting vertical to the earth's surface (inclination of the pipeline lying at the bottom relative to the horizon) and from the pipeline temperature sensor, as well as analog-to-digital converters of these signals; in a marine coupling - converters of electrical signals of sensors to optical, transmitting and receiving optical modules, signal encoders for transmitting information to the shore from sensors located in yokes, and a decoder of commands coming from the shore to the corresponding marine coupling. In addition, a low-voltage constant voltage source is located in the marine clutch, which converts the high-voltage constant voltage supplied from the remote power supply unit to the low-voltage voltage necessary for powering the electronic equipment of the marine clutch and yoke, and a device for measuring the ambient temperature.

Onshore processing equipment consists of a receiving optical module that receives transmitted information from signal sensors located in yokes, an optical to electrical converter, electrical signal amplifiers, a decoder, a microprocessor, and matching devices with a personal computer. In addition, the on-shore processing equipment includes a command device, with the help of which requests (commands) for receiving information to the shore from one or the other (or possibly all in turn) yoke, a converter of electrical signals into optical and transmitting optical module are formed. The registration equipment includes a personal computer and a storage device for processed information.

The remote power supply unit is a commercially available high-voltage direct current source with a voltage of U = 1000 V and an electric power of 500 watts.

The submarine communication cable is a commercially available fiber optic cable with copper conductors for transmitting direct voltage to marine couplings and yokes.

One of the main elements by which the stress state of the pipeline is determined are vibration sensors located on the yoke body. By changing the amplitude of the vibration of the pipeline, relatively measured at the beginning of operation of the pipeline and stored in the storage device of the processed information, it is possible to determine in which section of the pipeline an emergency can occur, and in the case of even slight leakage of gas condensate from the pipeline by on-shore processing equipment using the correlation method processing of electrical signals from two adjacent vibration sensors (the distance between them is up to 10 km) is determined with accuracy yu ... 50 to 20 m leak condensate.

The sensor deviation of the vertical from the earth's surface, together with electronic equipment, is used as an additional device with which the location of the pipeline on the seabed is determined (the slope of the pipeline lying on the bottom relative to the horizon is determined). In the case when the pipeline is laid through a hollow (hollow) or laid through an undersea mountain (hill) or when a sagging during the operation of the pipeline has formed, due to the washing out of the soil underneath by it, the stress-strain state of the pipeline material changes due to the deflection of the pipeline in one or the other side. This information from the vertical deviation sensor from the earth's surface is transmitted to the onshore processing equipment, and, in accordance with the processing algorithm and software, the most dangerous sections of the pipeline are determined.

The temperature sensor, with the corresponding electronic equipment, is also an additional device with which the on-shore processing equipment determines the change in the temperature of the pipeline body relative to the ambient temperature, measured in the marine coupling and transmitted via the communication cable to the on-board processing and recording equipment. The ambient temperature is plus (2 ... 4) ° C, while the temperature of the pipeline casing, in violation of its tightness, can reach minus 10 ° C.

The yokes are fixed on the pipeline, with an interval between them of up to 10 km, at the places where the pipes join the pipeline. This is due to the fact that the pipes used for laying along the bottom of the seas are protected by a reinforced concrete (or just concrete) shell from external influencing factors (trawls, anchors of ships and ships, etc.). In addition, the reinforced concrete shell creates negative buoyancy for the pipeline, due to which the pipeline lies at the bottom of the seas. The only place to place the yokes, without violating the technology of manufacturing pipes, is the place where the pipes join, which is not covered by a reinforced concrete shell (about 150 mm on each side of the pipe).

Using this device, the monitoring of the technical condition of the offshore pipeline can be performed continuously or periodically with predetermined cycles.

According to the results of processing information received from sensors located along the offshore pipeline route, the invention allows timely warning of the possible occurrence of gas condensate leakage from the pipeline, prevents environmental pollution of the marine environment, and also determines the time and place of occurrence of gas condensate leak in the controlled sections of the pipeline.

Claims (1)

A device for monitoring the operability of an offshore gas condensate pipeline, containing coastal processing and recording equipment with a remote power supply unit and an underwater communication cable connecting marine and coastal equipment, characterized in that along the controlled route of the pipeline at the junction of the pipes with each other, yokes are fixed, each of which consists of two half rings interconnected pivotally on one side and with the help of two bolts - on the other hand, an airtight seal is welded to the yoke a fixed fixed cup, inside which there is a movable cup with a spring pressing the sensors: determining the vertical to the earth's surface, vibration and temperature, and a board with electronic equipment to the yoke body, a sealed connector connecting the sensors and the board through the cable-insert, including located on other yokes of the pipeline, with an underwater communication cable, on-shore processing and registration equipment, as well as with a remote power supply unit.

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