In recent years, there has been an increased focus on environmental issues near oil and gas production sites and pipelines. The trend is likely to continue as future oil and gas production is commencing in environmentally vulnerable areas, and farther north near the polar ice cap. The exploration in more remote areas implies that online in situ monitoring has great advantages over expedition based monitoring.The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) is an independent research and consultancy foundation having over 40 years of worldwide offshore instrumentation experience. NGI has recently launched a research initiative to develop new methods for in situ and on line environmental monitoring offshore. In 2012, NGI designed and installed an integrated environmental monitoring system for subsea leakage detection. It was installed on the seabed beneath an operating oil and gas platform in the North Sea. We give here an overview of the instrumentation system and the motivation for the different design choices. The system is an example of an integrated monitoring system, where different types of sensors complement each other and gives a more thorough understanding of methane transport at the site of interest. After installation, NGI has analyzed monitoring data and provided decision support to operator personnel. Nearly two years of production site data collection represents a unique data set that enables a comprehensive analysis of methane transport.From the operator side, the motivation for environmental monitoring usually arises from the need to answer clearly defined questions such as 'Is there a gas leakage in the production system? Where is it? How large is the leakage?' The leakage detection system is expected to answer these questions, preferrably in an unambiguous manner. However, natural gas can be released to the water phase from several sources e.g. organic matter on the seabed. If the leakage detection monitoring data shall be interpreted in a control room that operates with alarm states, these sources of background noise must be identified and separated from a real leak situation. We look at which circumstances to be aware of and how to maximize the operational value of a leakage detection system.
In this paper, a robotic stacker is designed to enable precise stacking of highway sign posts produced by Nucor Steel Corporation, while complying with the required stacking pattern as well as time constraints. The Nucor Steel Corporation bar mill, located in Marion Ohio, relies heavily on manual work force in its highway products division. A highly manual process introduces many safety hazards as well as inefficiencies and inconsistencies. One hazardous position is the bundling of heavy sign posts, which are manually raked into bundles before being manually banded, and workers are at risk for overuse injuries. Moreover, the sign posts are randomly positioned within a bundle, and hence the disorganized bundle is much larger than an organized stack of the same count. Disorganized bundles also hinder further automation processes downstream the production line, such as banding and powder coating the sign posts. This paper offers a robotic stacker solution utilizing Fanuc robot manipulators, custom-built end-effectors, and programmable logic controller (PLC) integrated with human machine interface (HMI) that will result in smaller and organized stacks as compared with the current disorganized bundles, and the removal of a worker from the hazardous position in the process. Organized stacks will also allow for further downstream automation processes. This research project is to be executed at Michigan Technological University and is sponsored by Nucor Steel Corporation.
The process to design and deliver any monitoring system follows several well-defined phases: concept design and sensor selection; performance testing and verification of individual system components; detail design of the system architecture (mechanical and electrical); procurement, manufacturing and system assembly; and finally installation and commissioning. Quality control management and system documentation are common requirements throughout all phases.This article uses a real-world design case to expound upon the needs and challenges encountered as project development progressed through all design phases. The monitoring architecture consists of a seabed broadband network servicing instrumented monitoring nodes. The primary mission for the system is leak detection, however secondary monitoring missions can be hosted using auxiliary access ports and the available power/data capacity. Although this monitoring network is implemented as an independent system, the site owner (a major energy company) required that the design be fully integrated in the design philosophy and technical requirements for a subsea modification project.An interesting observation from this case study is that each of the phases have significant challenges, although these challenges do vary in nature and complexity through the phases. As the project progresses, choices made early on often gain increasing significance in later design processes. As an example, in this project the choice of the primary sensing technology later dictated requirements for installation height and verticality relative to seabed, which in turn affected design of the foundation solution for each installation. A second important observation is that a detailed strategy for developing and managing system documentation should be established at the concept phase, as the industry requires stringent and detailed documentation.The case presented represents the complete design cycle, from initial concept development through final deployment. The experience from this process provides insight in the design process, as well as the technical and administrative challenges associated with developing an underwater monitoring network near offshore installations. This insight is useful for potential system designers, as well as for organizations considering implementing a dedicated scientific monitoring network on or near their infrastructure.
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