The deep sea oil and gas industry has a rich infrastructure and is costly to maintain.
slotxo Thousands of kilometers of wells, other equipment and gas pipelines must be installed, inspected and repaired.Cutting-edge drones and underwater robots are now being developed that can make jobs safer, cheaper and less polluting.Among them is Eelume, a 6 meter long snake robot with sensors and cameras at each end. It can be stored at the docking station at a depth of up to 500 m (547 yd) for six months without being brought back to the surface.The self-driving robot can travel up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) before having to return to the station to recharge. They can also be interchangeable for a variety of applications, including operating tools, undersea valves and cleaning brushes to remove marine growth and sediment.
Maintenance work in many deep wells and piping systems is already performed by driverless cars. But typically these vehicles must be transported to an offshore site on a fully-crewed vessel, and then remotely controlled from onboard the surface. PålLiljebäck, chief technology officer at robot developer Eelume Subsea Intervention, said it could cost as much as $ 100,000 a day.The company is based in Trondheim, Norway, is separate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Liljebäck said by "This enables the robots to become undersea dwellers in docking stations, so they can be moved around the clock to perform monitoring and intervention, and thus eliminate the need for expensive surface ships.Eelume can work independently on assignments from the onshore control room and send back video and data. Snake-like design allows working in tight spaces and twists to stay in the midst of strong currents. With its undersea docking, it can be used in all conditions on the ocean surface.
Undersea revolutionThe global underwater robot market is expected to be valued at about $ 7 billion by 2025, according to analysts, and more companies are in the process of commercializing deep-sea drones and robotics technology.Saipem (SAPMY), the Italian oilfield service company, has built the Hydrone-R underwater drone capable of diving up to 3,000 meters for construction and maintenance work. Houston Mechatronics, the US-based start-up, has developed the Aquanaut, a submarine robot vehicle that can be remotely controlled or operated manually, while the Swedish Saab Seaeye Falcon is used in the construction of the U.S. Checked in Chile's Fish Farm Norwegian oil company Equinor was one of the earliest investors in Eelume. “It will reduce our costs by using cheaper methods of maintenance and repair, rather than having our employees work in dangerous offshore conditions.
He can go in the control room on land, ”Equinor chief engineer Pål Atle Solheimsnes.The oil and gas industry plays an important role in climate change and deep-water exploration can damage the marine environment, but Atle said eels can have a beneficial effect on the environment. “The surface boats burned with diesel fuel a lot of carbon dioxide. But a robot like Eelume rarely releases anything.Eelume Subsea Intervention and Equinor will perform final testing on the seabed later this year at the Åsgard oil and gas field.Eelume said it expects to install the first snake robots next year and hopes up to 50 in the ocean. Around the world by 2027
