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46 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? OCTOBER 2013 above are likely to involve a number of third party suppliers, therefore the chal-lenge that oil and gas majors are faced with is ensuring they all integrate into one effective monitoring system, to pro- vide a holistic approach and support the assets? integrity management program. Correct placement of the sensors on board the FPSO and full integration of the data within a common time base is vital. By carefully setting up the sensor clocks and sampling frequency during the installation of sensors at strategic lo-cations on the FPSO, companies can use the resultant data set to effectively study the coupled response of the vessel with the environmental and resultant dynamic loading on the risers and mooring lines to study fatigue. Monitoring of all the different param- eters within this common time base can also assist with forensic investigations of marine incidents. For example, compa-nies want to be able to match the time the mooring line broke with the highest wave that hit the FPSO. If the clocks on the mooring sensor are different to that of the wave sensor, forensic engineers will not necessarily marry the two to-gether. Instead of working in isolation, the different parameters must be fully integrated to allow the root cause of the incident to be clearly identiÞ ed. SigniÞ cant advances in technology over the last decade have meant that oil and gas majors can monitor the effect the local environmental conditions have on their critical infrastructure offshore. Sophisticated sensors on board an FPSO can provide real time information for op-erational support and provide valuable input into studies on the performance of the FPSO in varying sea states. How-ever, to be fully effective, oil and gas companies must look at the monitoring of their critical assets holistically with the end user taking an active role in the planning and implementation of an inte-grated marine monitoring system. It is vital that data is archived and stored in a common portal to allow engineers and operational teams to make the most of this valuable information. Only then can they feel conÞ dent that the system is indeed Þ t for purpose and the risks of lost production due to repair or worse, a lengthy shut-down, are mi-nimised. Image courtesy of Bristow Helicopter. Measurement of wave height from FPSO using air gap sensor. ADCP DeploymentBMT service technician performs maintenance on long-term strain gagesMonitoring & ControlAbout the AuthorLouise Ledgard has a P hD in Materials Engineering and Design, a Bachelor?s Degree in Applied Physics and a Masters in Business Administration. With over 15 years? experience working within the offshore oil and gas sector, Louise helps clients to identify an optimum solution for their offshore operational and marine en- gineering requirements. MR #10 (42-49).indd 46MR #10 (42-49).indd 4610/4/2013 9:11:27 AM10/4/2013 9:11:27 AM
