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FUTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEEP WATER REMOTE INTERVENTIONPROPOSAL FOR A REMOTELY OPERATED REPAIR STATION

DR -1NG. PETER SZELAGOWSKI, Zentral Technical Divislon GKSS Research Ctr

Max Planck Str ,

Geesthacht, D 21502 Germany

INTRODUCTION
Depth limtahons on hyperbaric manned operahons on the one side and the Increasing water depth in 011 field explorahon and development on the other, create an increasing demand for dlverless, remotely operated technologes and systems guaranteeing the produchon and supply of pnmary energy (01.1and gas) from deep sea ressources [ l ] Strong efforts are made world-wlde to develop and supply dlverless systems to be appllcable and safely operated In water depths beyond manned operahonal levels Systems must be avalable and applicable for lnstallahon achvihes as well as for repalr procedures Some major oil producing companies have taken up the challenge of the develop-

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ment of high sophisacated remotely operated technologes to be prepared for the future and to meet the upcormng demand in deep water oil field exploratlon and development Operatlon of pipelines on the sea bed would not be possible w~thout on-site mstallatlon, repm and exchange prodecures Wel&ng procedures camed out m hyperbanc dry enviroments are the most favoured procedures to perform such tasks since in this way the achieved mechanical propemes comply with the apphcable code requrements Dry hyperbanc welQng operanons could be classified in two &stlnct groups accorQng to the workmg depth manned operatlons (down to approximately 400 msw) and Qverless operatlons (at all worlung depths even beyond 500msw) Repm operatlons at water depths greater than 500 m (the present lirmt for ambient pressure Qvlng) can only be camed out by fully automanc systems, part of a Qverless underwater worlung statlon. The two Mferent hverless underwater repm methods generally considered for deep water repam are mechanical connectors and hyperbanc weldmg The latter is shll generally considered as the best known repm method The gromng potenhd of hyperbanc wel&ng associated with the recent developments in robotlcs for underwater work suggested a possible solunon for a dverless repar statlon. This work presents a conceptual descnptlon of the mam element of a &verless repm station - the underwater habitat - consisang basically of robots and manipulators to prepare the pipe and to weld the spool piece. Also descnbed are the man subsystems of such a Stahon, its worlang procedures and the R&D requirements to realize the whole system

DIVERLESS REPAIR STATION

A fully automanc robotlc underwater worlung cell represent one of the best alternanves for a hverless repm Stahon Considenng the task in quesuon robots present some &stlnct advantages over other mechanised systems (e.g orbital systems) such as

* handhng more than one tool (1 e.

wel&ng torch, machining tools, gnn&ng

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devices, NDT equipment, etc.),

* operahng Instruments and control panels (input/output user fhendly interfaces), * welQng other than clrcumferenhaljoints * capability of canylng out tasks in repons other than the joint area
The accelerated development of the robot technology in the rmd eighhes encouraged the GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH to set up a major research project to implement the use of robots in underwater work parucularly for hyperbanc welQng The inihal objehve of this research programme was to m d f y and test an industnal robot for hyperbanc dry work down to 120 bar [2] The device in qUeShOn has six degrees of freedom The actuators are permanent inihated brushless rotary DC motors w t h mtegrated incremental pOSlhOnlng sensors. The second development stage involn ved the further m ~ i c a h o of this industnal robot to operate in dxect contact with sea water down to 1100 msw [3] Parallel to this development work an adhhonal, R&D programme on welQng technology for water depths beyond 500 msw was set up to define basic aspects of a weldmg procedure, such as. shielQng gas flow requirements [4], filler metal/shielQng gas combinahons producmg sansfactory weldment mechanical propemes and ophmzatlon of wel&ng parameters [5] In adhhon to that key hardware components such as arc observahon cameras [6] and a seam traclang system [7] capable of worlung in the range 50 bar to 110 bar, were also developed The excellent weldment propemes and the good process control achieved, associated with the sahsfactory performance and rehabllity of the mam components and penphencal devices, demonstrated a good potenhd for an underwater repalr station [8] The conceptual descnphon of the m a n element of such an underwater repalr stahon the underwater habitat (1 e the worlung cell) - is presented below
-

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THE UNDERWATER HABITAT: THE WORKING CELL

The underwater habitat consists of a usual steel COnStruChOn in which the bottom can be closed through sli&ng segments after installahon over the pipelme (closed bottom type) The side walls are designed with cut-outs which surround the pipehne (Figure 1). A hght fit should be obmned through hydrauhc operated covers Such a construchon guarantees the possibdity to keep the internal top side of the habitat dry dunng the transfer from the surface to the sea bottom. This dffers from the common type of habitats as general elecmcal installaaons have to be pre-mstalled before launching and have to be kept dry throughout the total launching and 0perahond hme Further features of the habitat are hsted below

on the top of the habitat all penetrators and connectors for operanon, controls and monitonng tasks are mounted A composite fibre optlcs and elecmc power umbhcal system fulfil the data transmssion requirements and provide a back-up energy supply.

*
*

on the top of the habitat addmonal connecting flanges are installed for the chamber and shleldmg gas supply necessary for the welhng operahon two addmonal components should be an integral part of the habitat: the wel&ng power source and an elecmcally dnven hydraulic unit

Inside the habitat the following water resistant systems are reqwed (Figure 2)

two redundant robots are operated in the habitat. They are e g. in&vidually mounted on 180' sem-clrcular gantnes in such a way that every posihon in the habitat can be reached The robots are able to perform all necessary tasks (e.g. pluggng, groove preparahon, welhng, teshng, coatlng etc ) Both robots are controlled by acentral computer. They can be Independently or simultane ously operated

at the bottom regon of the side walls there are rrul mounted manipulators,

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which assist the robots (m tasks such as removal of the defecove pipe, inserong the spool piece, prehea~ng, etc.)

* *

special tools are stored in compartments (magazines) easdy accessable in the achon radus of the robots or manipulators. the spool piece or tap valve, pre-fabncated on the surface, is also located inside the habitat

REPAIR PROCEDURE
Once a defechve sechon of the pipe has been located, the subsequent procedure can be dvided in the follomng m a n phases

* * * * *

installaoon of the alignment frames, cleanmg and hfhng of the burned pipe concrete removal installaoon of the habitat pipeline repau demobilisahon of the repan stahon

In the following items these phases are bnefly described

Launching of the habitat wdl be performed by the support of guide wres posiooned in-

between the alignment frames. Dunng the launching chamber gas d l be pressed conhnuously into the habitat to m a n m n a constant gas filled compartment in the top of the cell Once the work stahon has been completely installed on the sea bottom the remmning water has to be removed from the internal housing and the connechon with an underwater energy supply (1 e closed-cycle desel system) can be established. Form fitted covers close the remming side openmgs (between pipelme and habitat wall) permtang the evacuaoon of the remainmg water from the habitat The machinery requred for the repau have been installed and prechecked before launchlng and will be operated for test reasons after the removal of the water from the inter-

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nal habitat cell. The rep= itself and related acnvltles are to be camed out by the two robots and the two man~pulators. each indvidual task (machming, weldmg, testlng, etc ) the robots will For use conventlonal equipment and accessones (rmlhng tools, weldmg torches, ultrasonic heads, etc ) fixed on magazines mounted on the habitat cehng The same applies to the mampulators which accordng to the task (support of the damaged sectlon d m n g cuthng, pre-heatlng, demagnetlzahon, etc ) should use appropnate gnppers (e g. four-fingered grips, induchve heatlng pads, demagnehzmg coils, etc )

CUTTING AND MACHINING

The defechve pipe segment shall be cut using machlnmg tools operated by the robots In the process of this operatlon the groove preparatlon shall be machined on the pipe ends m order to receive the spool piece (prepared on the surface) The cut-out (damaged) pipe piece should be supported by the manipulators provided wlth gnppers Once the cumng process has been concluded, the defechve plpe secaon is d~sposed with the assistance of the manipulators At t h ~ s stage the pipe should be reformed either by an internal support system or hydraulic hammers actuating from inside the Pipe The pipe protective concrete covenng has to be removed from the damaged pipe sectlon after lnstallatlon of the alignment frames. Cuthng of the concrete can be performed by a h~gh pressure wateqet cuthng system apphed to a ROV as camer systems The removal of the damaged pipe wlll be performed by the same system before the habitat launchmg and after the pipeline has been plugged by pigs The alternatlve soluuon of pipe segment removal is the cut-out of the pipe after posihoning and sealmg of the habitat over the damaged pipeline by applicauon of the robots/manipulators The mentioned alternauve has some beneficial opuons to the first solutlon higher accuracy can be achieved by the operahon of the manipulators by computer controlling In this case the length of the cut-off piece can be completely identlcal to the prefabncated spool piece dlmens~on. This incorporates a better fit of the parts in the dry hab~tat atmosphere and therefore an

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easier weldmg operabon However the concrete removal should be performed defmtely before habitat posiboning

INSERTION OF THE SPOOL PIECE

After the defecbve pipe segment has been cut-off, the available prefabncated spool piece stored in the habitat before launching should be transported by a robot and accurately posiboned by the manipulators (Figure 3). After that the spool piece is tack welded and the mmpulators are free for other operauons @re-heat,demagnenzanon, etc )

WELDING
Once the spool piece has been inserted and tack welded the preheanng pads shall be hold by the manipulators in such a way that the robot arms have easy access to the grooves. Preferably the whole joint should be filled using one single welhng process However, the user of a non-consumable process (GTAW or Plasma weldmg) with cold wire adhnon mght be requlred for the root and hot passes In any case, regardless of the process used, a manual ovemde of process parameters and wlre feed rate should be available. The welhng torch module shall be provlded wth a camera system for the observanon of the arc, the weld bead and the weld joint itself. The adjustment of the torch posinon, wellng and weaving parameters is camed out by an adapnve control unit. For this a seam traclung system is essenbally included m the w e l l n g head

TESTING
The quality of the weld should be online tested by e g ultrasonic devices dunng the whole welhng operanon Measurements and results achieved for each layer recorded in a central processing unit Data monitoring and recorhng should allow the precise locauon of a defect or fault in the eventual need of a repalr weld.

CORROSION PROTECTION

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Corrosion protectlon procedures should follow irnmdately after the conclusion of the welQng operatlon. Different possibilitles are avalable, although the spray coatlng usrng a multl-component pant wll be preferably applied due to its simplicity Combrned systems such as matts, wound around the pipe by orbital devices and resin mpregnated, can be apphed as corrosion protectlon system. (Figure 4)

FINAL REMARKS
The demand for Qverless operatlons subsea is continuously growng The presented system requlre a complete technology package which is not yet avalable, neither for shallow depth apphcatlon nor for greater water depths (beyond 500 msw). Such a Qverless repau system reqwes high sophisticated computenzed control units wth extremely reliable hard and software, well controlled automated processes and work procedures. The data transfer rates, response charactenstlcs and pressure sensitlvlty of some key components, 1 e.: welQng power source and respectlve controller, currently operated as Qver-assisted repau spreads, forces thelr installation in pressure housings mounted Qrectly onto the habitat or in its i m m d a t e proxirmty on the sea bed. Such measures shall also be requlred for the proposed repau statlon. To transfer all these ideas into reality and to make such an autonomous subsea repau statlon successfully operatlng quite some development work will be requlred The coorQnatlon among the m n components (robots and mampulators) inside the repau statlon is a complex problem However, the growing indusmal demand for automatlon in assembly and/or construction tasks has created the need for p r o g r a m n g and simulatlon systems for work cells in which several robots work in combination [8]

In adQtlon to that the geomemc and Qmensional features of the elements involved in a
pipeline repau-job are well known and have a fixed positlon inside the habitat Thus, although the coordnatlon of the components involves some development work it can be reahsed with the software tools presently avalable As far as penphencal devices : are concerned, most of the tools and handling systems (e g machining tools, sensors,

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welhng torches, tool magawnes, etc ) are either avalable or can be easily adapted for the envisaged tasks. Even the apphcable weldmg process [9,10] has to be sorted out, especially as the system w l l be designed for deep water apphcahon The GMS-process has shown that its applicahon down to 1100 mwd wlll be possible However new processes may be more effechve (e g. the Plasma-process). These procedures in combmahon wth robots or manipulators have to be further developed The first target should be the design and fabncauon of such a completely equipped hverless repax stahon which should proove its applicabihty and safe operahon in shallower depths In this case dvers could be of support to elemnate the starhng faults and make the system "&verless" rehable.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[I] Delauze, H G "Weldmg in Difficult Con&hons for the Offshore and Nuclear Industnes". Proceedmgs of intemat~onal IIW-Conference on "Weldmg Under Extreme CondIhons, Helsinlu, Finnland, 4.-5.9 1989, p. 1-17 [2] Aust, E. and P Szelagowslu (1985). SchweiDroboter im Unterwassereinsatz In GKSS-Report-Nr 85/E/52, 17 pp., Geesthacht [3] Gustmann, M., H.-R. Niemann, E Aust and G.F SchultheiD (199 1) M-werter Industneroboter geht in &e Unterwasser-Erprobung. In- Robotersysteme, H 7, pp. 37-40 [4] Dos Santos, J.F., P Szelagowslu, H.-G Schafstall and D Hensel(1988) Mechanical and metallurgcal properhes of robohc underwater welds performed within a depth range of 100 msw to 1100 msw. In 7th OMAE, pp 5 1-62, Houston [5] Dos Santos, J.F ,P Szelagowslu and H -G Schafstall(1991a). Hyperbmc flux cored arc w e l b g in the depth range between 600 msw and 1100 msw process behaviour and weld metal properties In International Conference on Underwater Weldmg, pp 120-134, New Orleans.

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[6] Dos Santos J.F., H. Manzemeder, G Reinsch, P Szelagowslu and H -G Schaf stall (1991b). Consideranons on arc observanon systems for hyperbanc weldlng In. 1991 OMAE Conference, Paper 9 1-846, Stavanger

[7] Dos Santos, J.F , K D. Kober, P. Szelagowslu, G F. SchultheiD and J Thomas-Jeromn (1989b). Results of the applicaaon of a seam traclung system m robonc hyperbanc root pass welhng In: Intemahonal IIW-Conference on "Weldmg Under Extreme Condlaons", pp 225-238, Helsinlu
'

[8] Dos Santos, H Manzemeder, H Cui, J. Recoschewitz, A. Dobemowsky, P Szelagowslu and D Seeliger Automanc and Diverless Underwater WeldlngNew Systems and Concepts 2nd Intemanonal Conference ISOPE 92, San Franzisco, USA, 14-19 6 1992. [9] Knagenhjelm, H.O., A W Moms, C A. Plnches, G S Bellis and K Gjermundsen (1985). The development of a mechanised wel&ng system for deep waters. In. 1st Internanonal Conference on Advanced WelQng Systems, pp. 449-459, London [lo]kchardson, I M. (1989) Some charactensncs of the constricted GTA (Plasma) arc at elevated pressures. In Internanonal IIW-Conferenceon "Wel&ng Under Extrepp me Con&nonsW, 215-224, Helsinlu

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Underwater Hab~tat

Subsea Energy Suppy U n ~ t

Figure 1 - Schematlc view of a hverless repar staoon (habitat, alignment frames and subsea energy supply)

Figure 2 - Schematlc view Inside the underwater habitat Pictured are two robots mounted on semi-clrcular ganrneq and two manipulators On the habitat's ceiling there are two sets of tool magazines and the communlcatlon flange

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Figure 3 - Insernon and posihonlng of the spool piece with assistance of the manlpulators

I-.

Figure 4 - Appllcatlon of a corrosion protecuve coaung by robot Intervention