RIMS: A Fully Integrated Technology for Long-Term Riser Monitoring

Abstract Nowadays, offshore operators have an increased requirement to reduce the operational risks while performing offshore natural resources exploitation. This, in particular, applies to critical steel catenary risers whose long-term integrity with respect to fatigue and extreme events is key for safe operations: due to their dynamic behavior, risers are one of the most critical assets being subject to severe environmental and operation loads, which shall be studied in detail at the design stage. Given the large number of external actions and the riser complex response, riser engineering is typically affected by several uncertain parameters, therefore an accurate monitoring of its integrity is key to ensure safe operations in the short-term and gain the necessary knowledge in the medium to long-term thus enabling design optimization, asset maintenance and life extension. These considerations place risers monitoring as a central technological theme for the offshore energy industry. The design and realization of an adequate riser monitoring is a complex activity requiring: i) the deep knowledge of riser physics to support a holistic assessment of the parameters to be monitored, ii) the direct access to modern technologies, as digital twin, to enable the realization of even more efficient and innovative monitoring solutions tailored for the specific projects’ needs. In this context, Saipem has a privileged viewpoint given its long-term experience in rigid riser engineering, construction, and installation (as EPCI contractor responsible for the SURF scope) combined with strong capability in providing integrate, novel and fully customized solutions for underwater assets monitoring through its Sonsub business. This paper investigates the benefits coming from this integrated approach where the monitoring system is conceived, realized, and installed as an integral part of the related riser and explores the potential advantages linked to the implementation of data interpretation features capable to support riser system integrity analysis along the asset operational life. This paper provides also an overview of the challenges behind riser monitoring systems realization passing through the main development phases: from the initial qualification and engineering phase to the installation and integration testing. To offer a very pragmatic view on the topic, the paper presents a brief summary of Saipem recent experience in developing and qualifying riser monitoring systems for some Brazilian projects specifically designed for steel catenary riser configurations.