Photo by Jan-Rune Smenes Reite
A groundbreaking new product could provide fast, effective and environmentally-friendly leak detection for decommissioned oil and gas platforms in the North Sea through a collaboration between the Heriot-Watt University and the Oil & Gas Innovation Centre, with Sentinel Subsea, developing the latter's SWIFT tracer compound.
The compound can be pumped into wells before closure and decommissioning. It works by reacting with a detector-material trigger which is placed on the seabed when it detects a leak. To communicate the warning, received by satellite, a floating beacon is released up to the surface of the water.
Professor David Bucknall of Heriot-Watt University said that the compound used in the warning system had to be entirely non-toxic and safe for the environment, as well as not creating adverse reactions with the compounds already in the wells. The substance also could not be a naturally occurring one, due to the risk of false alarms.
“It needs to remain ‘dormant’ for an extended period of time, sealed within the well. We are testing materials that can last for up to 100 years by artificially ageing the compound under lab conditions," Prof. Bucknall said.
“The position of the trigger on the seabed means it can be more readily replaced, so this will need to last for approximately 10 years,” he added.
According to Oil & Gas Innovation Centre CEO Ian Philips, in 2017, the number of wells being decommissioned was greater than the number of new drillings. It is expected that decommissioning expenditure will hit £15.3-million for the UK continental shelf alone over the next ten years.
The UK continental shelf has over 11,000 oil and gas sites, with around 2,400 set to be decommissioned.
Sentinel Subsea CEO, Neil Gordon, said that the system helps to address the industry's concerns of environmental protection and cost reduction.
“It is vital that the North Sea oil and gas industry can ably demonstrate proactive, best practice of environmental stewardship to all stakeholders throughout the late life and decommissioning process, whilst working towards the Oil and Gas Authority’s reduction target of 35% on current cost projections,” he said.
“Sentinel Subsea’s technology provides that environmental assurance, whilst providing the confidence for industry to adopt innovative decommissioning techniques that could make a huge contribution to that cost-saving objective. Furthermore, the early-detection offered by our technology also has the potential to significantly lower clear-up costs.”
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