WIRELINE ISSUE 31 SPRING 2015

From the outside, work class remotely operated vehicles appear to have changed relatively little over the years. Inside, however, the technology has been transformed from basic command and control features to high powered digitally controlled systems

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“Today’s version is much more powerful with lighter and smaller components. This process of miniaturisation is at the heart of its evolution. Twenty-five years ago, we would have had a pretty large hydraulic pump delivering 100 horsepower; now you have up to 200 horsepower and the pump is a quarter of the size. ROVs have become more energy efficient, with greater processing power and capacity in smaller packages.” Remote control Martin is among the senior industry figures that recognise the need for training to keep pace with the technology. He explains: “ROV systems in the last five to eight years have becomemuchmore complex technically. One of our challenges is that we have some very experienced people, with 20 to 25 years in the industry, but the ROV systems they trained on 25 years ago are long obsolete.

wide variety of vital tasks on subsea infrastructure, frompipeline repairs and construction support, to large-scale subsea tie-ins. Powered electrically and hydraulically, work-class ROVs lift and operate tools amid often complex subsea oil and gas developments. In a mature basin like the UKCS, where fields are smaller, more complex, and often in deeper and harsher conditions, subsea technology will play an even greater role in expanding the UKCS’ productive life.Work class ROVs have a water depth limit of about 4,000metres. This is in fact beyond the needs of the UKCS and so is not a constraining factor. Packing a punch From the outside, work class ROVs appear to have changed relatively little over the years. Inside, however, the technology has been transformed.

The deeper the

water, the further you are away from

the operation, so the need for precision in command and control systems becomes all the more acute.

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“If you look at today’s ROV compared with one from25 years ago, it doesn’t look that much different; but it’s a lot smarter,” says Martin Anderson, director of Technip’s Remote Intervention and Equipment Services in Aberdeen.

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