Australian researchers collaborate to unlock offshore gas reserves

A new research program is embarking on an ambitious goal of unlocking remote gas sources offshore Australia by developing new, intrinsically safe, and environmentally viable subsea transportation technologies. The Flagship Collaboration Cluster on Subsea Pipelines (CCSP) will unite the research capabilities of six Australian universities and the Wealth from Oceans Flagship to focus on new subsea-pipeline design and operation.

The Wealth from Oceans Flagship is an initiative of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), and is charged with accessing the vast natural resources of Australia’s ocean areas in a way that balances economic benefit with environmental safety. Petroleum research is a large part of the flagship’s mandate, as CSIRO projects that more than 80% of the country’s gas resources exist offshore, in fields as far as 300 km from shore and in water depths greater than 1 km.

“We need to think about the stability of pipeline structures over decades in a severe and dynamic environment,” said Mark Cassidy of the University of Western Australia and leader of the CCSP. As a result, the CCSP will develop a research program that spans the spectrum of pipeline design and operation, and will comprise six project areas.

Seabed characterization. This project is aimed at understanding how seabed sediment characteristics may affect pipelines resting on the sea floor. Researchers plan to develop novel equipment and methods to measure and define key engineering parameters, such as seabed strength and the effect of seabed erosion.

Structural integrity. The combined effects of local environmental conditions on pipeline integrity will be studied in this project module. Researchers will develop a framework for analyzing pipeline stability and fatigue by integrating the effects and interactions of the seabed, currents, and internal flow on the pipeline structure.

Seabed morphology. This project is aimed at understanding how seabed sand waves form, and at mathematically predicting the evolution of sand waves in both the presence and absence of a pipeline. “This will involve sophisticated computer modeling and seafloor movement prediction,” said Cassidy, with a goal of estimating maximum freespan lengths for pipelines under varying current and seabed conditions.

Pipeline hazards. The technical challenges of a drastically changing seabed contour and the presence of geohazards such as submarine landslides will be researched in this module. Particular emphasis will be placed on the structural demands placed on a pipeline as it moves up the continental slope, or when it experiences tsunami-induced seafloor shifts.

Full-life reliability. In an attempt to replace expensive and irregular visual monitoring with continuous measurement and analysis, the project team will conduct feasibility studies on using vibration measurements to gauge pipeline health. The team will also investigate various real-time data transmission methods and develop a reliability framework for the pipeline’s full operational life.

Pipeline monitoring. This module will examine the use of autonomous underwater and remotely operated vehicles (AUVs and ROVs) for continuous monitoring, pipeline integrity assessment, and seafloor evaluation. Particular emphasis will be placed on integrated sonar and video sensing for monitoring, AUV positioning to communicate with sensors, and vehicle control systems for inspection tasks.

Because the development of improved pipeline technology “presents an enormous scientific challenge, we created this cluster to harness the strength and breadth of relevant expertise from across Australia,” said Flagship Director Kate Wilson. In addition to the Wealth from Oceans Flagship and the University of Western Australia, the CCSP will include the Curtin University of Technology, the University of Queensland, Monash University, the University of Sydney, and Flinders University.

Wilson went on to say that improved pipeline technology, particularly for ultralong pipelines from deepwater to shore, is a cornerstone in helping the Flagship achieve its goal of replacing traditional oil and gas rigs with platform-free fields.

The cluster’s holistic approach to developing new pipeline technologies is aimed to provide a technical basis for the design of pipelines for any offshore field, a contrast to the current case-by-case design approach. The CCSP participants believe that this new design approach should provide significant reductions in costs and uncertainties for remote offshore locations around Australia.

The CCSP will be hosted by the University of Western Australia and will draw from a funding pool totaling AUD 11 million. The Flagship Collaboration Fund, a fund established by the Australian government to facilitate collaboration between CSIRO, Australian universities and publicly funded research agencies, will contribute a grant of AUD 3.6 million. The remaining AUD 7.4 million will come from in-kind contributions from each of the participating universities.

To learn more about the Wealth from Oceans Flagship and the CCSP, visit www.csiro.au/partnerships/PipelineCluster.html.

Ted Moon is the Technology Editor of JPT Online. He brings information on emerging technologies, R&D successes, new field applications, updates from SPE papers about recent innovations, and more. If you have a question or suggestion for future article topics, email Ted at teched@spe.org.