A brief technical description of 17 Offshore Platform Environment, Response and Integrity Monitoring Systems that are currently deployed in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico is presented. The rationale for making each of the measurements and the measurement approach is described. The paper provides a succinct, tabular summary listing the platforms with descriptions of the various response/integrity and environment subsystems installed.
Selected, noteworthy, measurement technologies are discussed including very high accuracy motion measurement systems for low motion platforms, high resolution/band width riser tension and bending moment sensing systems, tendon tension monitoring, SCR top static and dynamic response measurement, wave measurement from platforms and current profiling from the platforms are discussed in more detail. Shore-side networking with the monitoring systems is also discussed. Automated daily reports and monthly reports from these platforms are discussed.
We shall discuss monitoring systems, the primary purposes of which are to provide information support to platform operators and to facilitate long term integrity monitoring of the "marine" systems. The first such system in which the personnel of BMT Scientific Marine Services Inc were involved was for the CONOCO Joliet TLWP in 1987. This is described in Peters D.J.H et al 1990 [1]. Since that time, these systems have evolved into comprehensive packages with operator friendly, real time features in addition to reliable archiving of data for later analysis and real-time connections to the shore. Shell Oil Company followed the Joliet Performance Monitoring System with the ground breaking Auger Performance Monitoring Instrumentation System described by Denison et al 1990 [2]. Subsequent Shell TLPs (Mars, Ram Powell, Ursa, and Brutus) were equipped with similar systems that were somewhat reduced in scope.
The focus of the discussions of this paper will be on "marine" monitoring systems on platforms that have been installed since 1997 and with which BMT has had sufficient involvement to permit the authors to speak knowledgeably about their particulars. We shall refer to these systems collectively henceforth as Integrated Marine Monitoring Systems (IMMS). Table 1 lists the 17 Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that will be discussed in this paper. The table identifies the platforms by name, owner and main contractor for the design and summarizes the measurements that are made on these platforms.
Integrated Marine Monitoring Systems (IMMS) monitor "marine" parameters as distinct from Drilling System parameters or Process Control parameters. They provide real - time operational decision support and archived data on a common time base for integrity management, forensic analysis, and verification of engineering design tools. The rationale for the measurement systems included in an IMMS are summarized in Table 2 and discussed in general terms in the following sections.
The primary function of an Integrated Marine Monitoring System is to provide real-time information in an easy to understand format to the platform operators. The system provides "feedback" in a form and in a time frame that permits the operators to evaluate the impact of their actions on important platform responses.
