TRIDENT RISER MONITORING®

With more production moving into deeper and harsher offshore environments, industry leaders will be set apart by their ability to prepare for the unexpected, protect their assets, and plan for the future.

Riser monitoring enables just that. We have a proven track record in helping our clients optimize performance, boost profit margins, and mitigate environmental risks by providing precise knowledge of riser and pipeline integrity as well as fatigue data.

Astro Technology’s Trident Subsea System® includes advanced methods of instrumenting and monitoring production risers. Our technology features innovative fiber-optic sensing and acoustic methods, which we have refined over our nearly 20-year history of working offshore. We rigorously test and upgrade our field-proven technologies to provide our clients with the best possible solutions.

Our riser monitoring systems have been in service for more than seven years in deepwater fields and have been verified at depths of up to 12,500 feet. We focus on helping our clients manage riser service life more efficiently. Namely, our technology makes it easier and faster to identify imminent failure due to extreme vibration events caused by such factors as VIV and excessive loading in the touchdown area.

Advantages of fiber-optics
Fiber-optic sensors solve many of the challenges of conventional sensor systems. Their key advantages include heightened accuracy, reliability, multi-plexing capability, immunity to electro-magnetic interference, and long-distance signal transmission capability.

In addition, their advanced capability helps to safeguard against the two major threats to structural integrity of deepwater risers:

Both issues may lead to rapid fatigue failure and shortened service life, and may even result in hydrocarbon spillage.

Our solutions address both these risks. Trident fiber-optic systems are being used to characterize and measure the onset and magnitude of VIV and mechanical loads in the high-strain touchdown zone. Fiber-optic sensors allow for direct measurement of strain at many locations along the length of the riser. Data is recorded, analyzed and displayed in real-time. This data is constantly updated, providing a new level of insight into fatigue life in high loading conditions.

One final advantage to our sensors is how they are deployed: They are external to the pipe and can be installed on both new and existing risers and flowlines. The cables and connectors are ruggedized to protect the fibers from handling, installation, and environmental conditions. What’s more, their operation is easy to manage and will not impact riser deployment operations.