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Subsea equipment acoustic monitoring system

  • US 10,451,760 B2
  • Filed: 06/23/2017
  • Issued: 10/22/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A system for monitoring subsea equipment, comprising:

  • a plurality of acoustic sensor arrays that each include at least two individually housed acoustic sensors configured to receive an acoustic signal generated by subsea equipment being monitored, wherein at least a first acoustic sensor array is mounted on an outer surface of the subsea equipment and at least a second acoustic sensor array is positioned remote from the subsea equipment;

    a digital data processor in communication with the plurality of acoustic sensor arrays, the digital data processor being configured to process data from selected sensors of the plurality of acoustic sensor arrays, the data representing the acoustic signal, the digital data processor further configured to;

    monitor, using beam forming, a portion of the subsea equipment from which the acoustic signal originates and ignore interfering acoustic signals originating from other portions of the subsea equipment, anddetermine, based on the acoustic signal, a point of origin of the acoustic signal within the portion of the subsea equipment,wherein the digital data processor is coupled to the first acoustic sensor array by a first tether, wherein the digital data processor is coupled to the second acoustic sensor array by a second tether, wherein the first acoustic sensor array is coupled to a free end of the first tether and is in direct contact with the subsea equipment being monitored, and wherein the second acoustic sensor array is coupled to a free end of the second tether and freely suspended from the second tether; and

    a user interface coupled to the digital data processor, the user interface configured to alert a user to the acoustic signal received by the acoustic sensor arrays and to the point of origin within the portion of the subsea equipment.

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