ACOUSTIC TRANSPONDER FOR MONITORING SUBSEA MEASUREMENTS FROM AN OFFSHORE WELL
First Claim
1. A method of communicating measurements from subsea equipment, comprising the steps of:
- sensing one or more physical parameters at the subsea equipment;
communicating an electrical signal corresponding to a first sensed physical parameter to a first acoustic transponder at the subsea equipment;
transmitting, from the first acoustic transponder, a coded acoustic signal including data corresponding to the first sensed physical parameter;
receiving the coded acoustic signal at an acoustic monitoring transponder deployed within acoustic range of the first acoustic transponder;
storing, in a memory in the acoustic monitoring transponder, measurement data corresponding to the first sensed physical parameter;
acquiring the stored measurement data from the acoustic monitoring transponder; and
communicating the acquired stored measurement data to a computing device, system, and/or network.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Sensor and communications systems for communicating measurements from subsea equipment, such as at an offshore well, to the surface. A sensor for a physical parameter, such as pressure or temperature at a blowout preventer, capping stack, or conduit in communication with the same, is electrically connected to a subsea acoustic transponder. An acoustic monitoring transponder deployed near the well periodically interrogates the acoustic transponder with an acoustic signal, in response to which the acoustic transponder transmits an acoustic signal encoded with the measurement. The measurement data are stored at the acoustic monitoring transponder. An acoustic communications device later interrogates the acoustic monitoring transponder to receive the stored measurement data for communication to a redundant network at the surface.
34 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of communicating measurements from subsea equipment, comprising the steps of:
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sensing one or more physical parameters at the subsea equipment; communicating an electrical signal corresponding to a first sensed physical parameter to a first acoustic transponder at the subsea equipment; transmitting, from the first acoustic transponder, a coded acoustic signal including data corresponding to the first sensed physical parameter; receiving the coded acoustic signal at an acoustic monitoring transponder deployed within acoustic range of the first acoustic transponder; storing, in a memory in the acoustic monitoring transponder, measurement data corresponding to the first sensed physical parameter; acquiring the stored measurement data from the acoustic monitoring transponder; and communicating the acquired stored measurement data to a computing device, system, and/or network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A sensor and transponder system for installation at a sealing element assembly deployed at an offshore hydrocarbon well, comprising:
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a first sensor for sensing a physical parameter at a selected location of the sealing element assembly; a first acoustic transponder in electrical communication with the first sensor, configured to transmit, in response to receiving an acoustic interrogation signal, coded acoustic signals including data corresponding to the physical parameter sensed by the first sensor; and an acoustic monitoring transponder configured to periodically transmit an acoustic interrogation signal to the first acoustic transponder, and comprising a memory for storing measurement data corresponding to the data included within coded acoustic signals. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of communicating measurements from subsea equipment associated with a hydrocarbon well, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting, subsea, a coded acoustic signal including data corresponding to measurements of one or more physical parameters at the subsea equipment; receiving the coded acoustic signal at an acoustic monitoring transponder deployed subsea; storing, in a memory in the acoustic monitoring transponder, data corresponding to the measurements; repeating the obtaining, transmitting, receiving, and storing steps; and acquiring the stored data from the acoustic monitoring transponder for communication to a computer network. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification