Challenges in the lifecycle of offshore installations

HiTClean: High-temperature inspection and cleaning of oil and gas offshore production subsea and topside operating pipelines and vessels

This project addresses a number of related safety critical, energy supply security, production economic and maintenance challenges in the lifecycle of oil and gas offshore production installations (eg platforms and FPSOs), subsea assets including pipelines, and production pressure components. The project aims to develop novel guided wave ultrasonic technologies for subsea pipelines to be deployed by diver or remotely operated vehicle:

• Condition monitoring for the early detection of in service defects such as corrosion, using long-range ultrasonic testing (LRUT); encircling ultrasonic sensors and signal processing for the online (in-production) inspection of subsea pipes carrying hydrocarbons.
• Innovative high-power continuous wave (CW) LRUT electronic instruments and transmitters to dislodge and remove accumulated debris fouling in subsea and topside pipelines at temperatures up to 60°C.
• For pipe regions susceptible to fouling, innovative moderate-power CW LRUT electronic instrumentation and transmitters for fouling prevention in subsea pipelines at temperatures up to 60°C.

Objectives

•  Structural health assessment including detection of corrosion.
• Fouling detection and removal of pipelines and pressure components in offshore structures and subsea assets.

Benefits

• Continuous operation of the offshore structures and subsea assets.
• Cost-effective and environmentally friendly fouling prevention and removal system.

Project Partners

• Plant Integrity Ltd
• Cedar Metals Limited
• Jackweld
• InnoTec UK
• Brunel University London

For more information, please visit the HiTClean website.   

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Professor Tat-Hean Gan - Professional Qualifications CEng. IntPE (UK), Eur Ing BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronics Engg (Uni of Nottingham) MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering (University of Warwick) MBA in International Business (University of Birmingham) PhD in Engineering (University of Warwick) Languages English, Malaysian, Mandarin, Cantonese Professional Bodies Fellow of the British Institute of NDT Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology Tat-Hean Gan has 10 years of experience in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Condition Monitoring of rotating machineries in various industries namely nuclear, renewable energy (eg Wind, Wave ad Tidal), Oil and Gas, Petrochemical, Construction and Infrastructure, Aerospace and Automotive. He is the Director of BIC, leading activities varying from Research and development to commercialisation in the areas of novel technique development, sensor applications, signal and image processing, numerical modelling and electronics hardware. His experience is also in Collaborative funding (EC FP7 and UK TSB), project management and technology commercialisation.

Related Research Group(s)

Brunel Innovation Centre - A world-class research and technology centre that sits between the knowledge base and industry.

Project last modified 12/10/2023