Autonomous robot for subsea pipeline inspection being developed at University of Houston

BSEE is funding the project with a $960,493 grant to UH researchers Zheng Chen, Bill D. Cook, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Gangbing Song, John and Rebecca Moores, professor of mechanical engineering, working with Oceaneering International and Chevron.

“By automating the inspection process with this cutting-edge robotic technology, we can dramatically reduce the cost and risk of these important underwater inspections, which will result in safer operations of offshore oil and gas pipelines by requiring less intervention from human divers.” said Chen, noting that a prototype of the ROV was tested in his lab and in Galveston Bay. The experiments demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed approach for checking the looseness of underwater bolted connections. Preliminary studies were funded by UH's Subsea Systems Institute.

Oil and gas pipelines fail for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunctions, corrosion, weather and other natural causes or marine accidents, which are responsible for most major leaks.

“Corrosion is responsible for most small leaks, but the effects can still have devastating environmental consequences,” said Gangbing Song, co-investigator. “Therefore, our technology will be extremely precise in monitoring corrosion and will also help reduce the likelihood of pipeline failure due to other factors,” added Song, who has conducted significant research on piezoelectric structural health monitoring. His previous research efforts include numerous damage detection applications such as: B. Crack detection, hydration monitoring, separation and other structural abnormalities.

The UH researchers are collaborating on the project with Oceaneering International; and Chevron will evaluate future commercialization of the technology.

According to the researchers, the SmartTouch sensor solution is expected to open the door to inspecting other types of underwater structures by forming a design template for future robotic technologies.

“Ultimately, the project will push the boundaries of what can be achieved by integrating robotics and structural health monitoring technologies. If implemented properly, the failure rate of subsea pipelines and related accidents will decrease, and subsea operations will be able to expand faster than before,” Chen added.

August 31, 2023