An underwater control module for independent recovery of an underwater hydraulic capsule and an underwater electronic capsule

Abstract

The application relates to an underwater control module for independently recovering an underwater hydraulic cabin and an underwater electronic cabin, which comprises an underwater electronic cabin, an underwater hydraulic cabin and working equipment; the working equipment is divided into an underwater electronic module accommodated in the underwater electronic cabin and a hydraulic valve group accommodated in the underwater hydraulic cabin; wherein the underwater electronic module and the hydraulic valve group are connected through connecting devices in the underwater working state of the underwater control module; the underwater electronic module and the hydraulic valve group are disconnected in the recovery state of the underwater electronic cabin or the underwater hydraulic cabin in the underwater control module.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of oil and gas development engineering equipment technology, and in particular to an underwater control module for the independent recovery of an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank. Background Technology

[0002] The Subsea Control Module (SCM) is the core component of the subsea electro-hydraulic composite control system. It is installed on subsea wellheads, subsea manifolds, or subsea separation and pressurization equipment and operates at the seabed mudline for extended periods. It is a complex device that integrates electrical, hydraulic, and communication functions.

[0003] Failures in underwater control modules can be categorized into electronic and hydraulic mechanical failures. In such cases, industry practice dictates the recovery of the SCM, followed by underwater reinstallation after repair.

[0004] However, the SCM is large in size and weight (approximately 3 tons), and requires a large number of electrical and hydraulic connectors to be aligned and mated simultaneously during underwater installation. Therefore, the efficiency of recovery and reinstallation is low, which affects the overall work efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned problems, the present invention aims to propose an underwater control module that allows for the independent recovery of the underwater hydraulic tank and the underwater electronic tank. The hydraulic valve assembly and the underwater electronic module are designed as independently recoverable hydraulic and electronic tanks, respectively, thereby improving the maintainability and reliability of the underwater control module and reducing recovery costs.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides an underwater control module for the independent recovery of an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank, comprising: an underwater electronic tank, an underwater hydraulic tank, and working equipment; the working equipment consists of an underwater electronic module housed within the underwater electronic tank, and a hydraulic valve assembly housed within the underwater hydraulic tank; wherein... The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are connected to each other via connecting devices when the underwater control module is in underwater working state. The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are disconnected when the underwater electronic compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment in the underwater control module is in the recovery state.

[0008] In one implementation, the underwater electronic module and the hydraulic valve assembly are connected via electrical connectors and wires that can be plugged in and out by the underwater robot when the underwater control module is in its underwater operating state.

[0009] In one implementation, the underwater electronic module is specifically connected to the sensors and control valve actuators in the hydraulic valve assembly.

[0010] In one implementation, the underwater electronics compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment have connectors corresponding to their respective mounting bases, as well as underwater alignment and locking mechanisms.

[0011] In one implementation, the underwater electronic compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment are designed to be waterproof, pressure-resistant, and corrosion-resistant to adapt to the deep-sea environment.

[0012] In one implementation, the underwater electronic module within the underwater electronic compartment employs a dual-redundancy design, comprising two identical electronic equipment systems.

[0013] In one implementation, each electronic device system includes: an AC-DC board, a CPU board, an SEM inter-communication board, a sensor data acquisition board, and an internal temperature and pressure sensor; The underwater electronic module is equipped with a communication interface on its top to enable communication with the surface control station.

[0014] In one implementation, the underwater hydraulic tank includes an internal temperature / pressure sensor, a hydraulic supply / return oil pressure sensor for the hydraulic control valve, a hydraulic output function oil circuit pressure sensor for the hydraulic control valve, an underwater hydraulic control valve actuator, and a multi-way underwater hydraulic control valve.

[0015] The present invention has the following advantages due to the adoption of the above technical solutions: The underwater control module of this invention, comprising an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank, can be recovered independently. By designing the electronic and hydraulic systems separately in two different tanks, each equipped with its own independent recovery device, independent recovery and routine maintenance of the electronic and hydraulic tanks can be achieved, improving system reliability and reducing recovery costs. When maintenance is required on one of the modules, simply unlock and disconnect the corresponding tank, and then lift it to the surface using a hoisting clamp. This design reduces the complexity of the recovery operation and saves time and costs. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the underwater control module for the independent recovery of the underwater hydraulic tank and the underwater electronic tank, as provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0017] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the described embodiments of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] In this embodiment, the working devices in the Subsea Control Module (SCM) include a Subsea Electronic Module (SEM) and a hydraulic valve assembly. The Subsea Electronic Module is an electronic device, while the hydraulic valve assembly is a mechanical device. Typically, the failure rate of the hydraulic valve assembly is lower than that of the SEM, and the failure modes of the two are different.

[0019] Based on the above research, this application provides an underwater control module for the independent recovery of an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank, comprising: an underwater electronic tank, an underwater hydraulic tank, and working equipment; the working equipment consists of an underwater electronic module housed within the underwater electronic tank, and a hydraulic valve assembly housed within the underwater hydraulic tank; wherein... The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are connected to each other via connecting devices when the underwater control module is in underwater working state. The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are disconnected when the underwater electronic compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment in the underwater control module is in the recovery state.

[0020] Based on an analysis of the differences in service life, operating environment, operating mode, and failure rate between the underwater electronic module and the hydraulic valve assembly, the underwater control module is divided into two independent compartments: the underwater electronic compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment. Each compartment is equipped with an independent underwater alignment and locking mechanism. This allows for independent recovery and secondary descent of the underwater electronic compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment, improving the system's maintainability, reliability, flexibility, and adaptability, reducing the complexity of recovery operations, and saving time and costs.

[0021] The following are further appendices based on this application. Figure 1 The methods and systems of this application are described in one or more detailed embodiments.

[0022] Detailed Implementation Examples Figure 1 It is an independently recoverable underwater control module consisting of an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank.

[0023] The underwater control module mainly consists of two parts: the underwater electronics compartment on the left and the underwater hydraulic compartment on the right. The two compartments are connected by plug-in electrical connectors and wires for the underwater robot (ROV). The following is a detailed description of each part: (1) Underwater electronic compartment The underwater electronics compartment is designed to be waterproof, pressure-resistant, and corrosion-resistant to adapt to the deep-sea environment. It includes dual redundant sensor arrays (SEMs), SEM-A and SEM-B. Each SEM contains an AC-DC power supply board, a CPU board, an inter-SEM communication board, a sensor data acquisition board, and internal temperature and pressure sensors. Communication interfaces 1 and 2 are located on the top of the underwater electronics compartment, enabling communication with the surface control station. Communication methods include fiber optic, power line carrier, or DSL, and communication protocols include Modbus RTU or Modbus TCP. Power supply interfaces 1 and 2 are also located on the top of the underwater electronics compartment, receiving DC or AC power from the surface. The underwater electronics compartment communicates with sensors in the underwater hydraulic tank via ROV-operated underwater wet-plug electrical connectors and communication jumpers, with communication protocols including Modbus RTU or CANopen. The underwater electronics compartment also supplies power to the sensors and hydraulic control valve actuators in the underwater hydraulic tank via ROV-operated underwater wet-plug electrical connectors and power jumpers. The subsea electronics module is equipped with a plate-type wet-plug electrical connector at its bottom. One part of the connector is mounted on the module's base, which is permanently fixed to the subsea production tree or manifold, while the other part is mounted on the pressure-bearing enclosure of the subsea electronics module. The plate-type wet-plug electrical connector is primarily used to acquire sensor data installed on the subsea production tree and subsea manifold. The bottom of the subsea electronics module also includes an underwater alignment and locking mechanism for independent recovery.

[0024] In a more detailed implementation, the underwater electronic module (SEM) includes dual-redundant SEMs, internal temperature and pressure sensors, and power and communication interfaces. The SEM includes high-failure-rate functional boards: an AC-DC power supply board, a CPU board, an inter-SEM communication board, and a sensor data acquisition board. The AC-DC power supply board powers other boards within the SEM, sensors within the underwater hydraulic tank, and control valve actuators. The underwater hydraulic tank is powered by a power supply flywire and a wet-type electrical connector for ROV operation. The CPU board parses control signals from the ground and communicates with other boards within the SEM via a backplane bus. The CPU board communicates with sensors and hydraulic control valve actuators within the hydraulic tank via a CAN bus or RS485 bus, using a communication flywire and a wet-type electrical connector for ROV operation. The inter-SEM communication board is used for mutual status checks between the SEMs. When one SEM fails, the other SEM board can promptly detect the fault through built-in program instructions, ensuring the normal operation of the entire SEM module. The dual-redundant SEM simultaneously powers the underwater hydraulic tank, ensuring a stable power supply for the sensors within the tank. The dual-redundant SEM also communicates with the sensors and control valve actuators within the underwater hydraulic tank, ensuring stable communication.

[0025] (2) Underwater hydraulic tank The underwater hydraulic tank is also designed with a waterproof, pressure-resistant, and corrosion-resistant structure to adapt to the deep-sea environment. The tank contains internal temperature / pressure sensors, hydraulic supply / return pressure sensors for the hydraulic control valves, hydraulic output pressure sensors for the hydraulic control valves, underwater hydraulic control valve actuators, and multi-way underwater hydraulic control valves. The bottom of the underwater hydraulic tank is equipped with underwater wet-plug hydraulic connectors for high-pressure oil supply, low-pressure oil supply, oil return, and connection of hydraulic actuators. The bottom of the underwater hydraulic tank also features an underwater centering and locking mechanism for independent recovery.

[0026] In a more detailed embodiment, the subsea hydraulic chamber includes low-failure-rate internal temperature / pressure sensors, hydraulic supply / return pressure sensors for the hydraulic control valves, hydraulic output function oil circuit pressure sensors for the hydraulic control valves, subsea hydraulic control valve actuators, and multi-way subsea hydraulic control valves. The chamber is filled with silicone oil. Hydraulic oil is supplied to the hydraulic control valves via high and low pressure supply hydraulic connectors. Low-pressure hydraulic oil is used to control the opening or closing of hydraulic actuators on the subsea production tree or manifold, while the high-pressure working oil circuit is mainly used to control the opening or closing of downhole safety valves. The hydraulic control valves are two-position three-way hydraulic pilot-operated electro-hydraulic directional valves. The subsea hydraulic controller actuator receives control commands from the CPU board, drives the hydraulic control valves to switch valve positions, and thus controls the flow direction of high and low pressure hydraulic oil. Functional oil circuit pressure sensors are used to detect the hydraulic line pressure connecting the hydraulic control valves and hydraulic actuators. Supply / return pressure sensors are used to detect the hydraulic line pressure for the supply and return of the hydraulic control valves.

[0027] This invention enables the independent design and recovery of the underwater electronic compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment. When maintenance is required on one of the compartments, it is simply a matter of unlocking and disconnecting the corresponding compartment, and then lifting it to the surface using an underwater robot or hoisting structure. This design improves the maintainability of the system, reduces the complexity of the recovery operation, and saves time and costs.

[0028] The recovery process of the underwater electronic compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment includes: Send recovery command: The production platform's main control station sends a recovery command to the SEM inside the electronics compartment, causing the SEM to enter a safe mode and stop AC-DC power output. Alternatively, the production platform may stop supplying power to the underwater control module.

[0029] SCM Electrical Disconnection: If recovering the subsea electronics compartment separately, the subsea robot approaches the SCM, disconnects the ROV-operated underwater wet electrical connector on the electronics compartment, and prevents it from being placed on the temporary docking base on the subsea tree or manifold. If recovering the subsea hydraulic tank separately, the subsea robot approaches the SCM, disconnects the ROV-operated underwater wet electrical connector on the hydraulic tank, and prevents it from being placed on the temporary docking base on the subsea tree or manifold.

[0030] Underwater centering and locking mechanism unlocking: The ROV operates the locking structure to unlock the underwater electronics compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment from the mounting base.

[0031] Lifting the underwater electronic compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment: The faulty compartment is lifted to the surface using a special lifting clamp.

[0032] In the embodiments provided by this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of the units described above is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units through some interfaces, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0033] The integrated units implemented as software functional units described above can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. These software functional units, stored in a storage medium, include several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute some steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0034] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An underwater control module for the independent recovery of an underwater hydraulic tank and an underwater electronic tank, characterized in that, It includes: an underwater electronics compartment, an underwater hydraulic compartment, and working equipment; the working equipment consists of underwater electronic modules housed in the underwater electronics compartment, and hydraulic valve assemblies housed in the underwater hydraulic compartment; among which, The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are connected to each other via connecting devices when the underwater control module is in underwater working state. The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are disconnected when the underwater electronic compartment or underwater hydraulic compartment in the underwater control module is in the recovery state.

2. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 1, characterized in that, The underwater electronic module and hydraulic valve assembly are connected via electrical connectors and jumper wires that can be plugged in and out of the underwater robot when the underwater control module is in its underwater working state.

3. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 2, characterized in that, The underwater electronic module is specifically connected to the sensors and control valve actuators in the hydraulic valve assembly.

4. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 1, characterized in that, The underwater electronics compartment and the underwater hydraulic compartment have connectors corresponding to their respective mounting bases, as well as underwater alignment and locking mechanisms.

5. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 4, characterized in that, The underwater electronic compartment and underwater hydraulic compartment are designed to be waterproof, pressure-resistant, and corrosion-resistant to adapt to the deep-sea environment.

6. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 5, characterized in that, The underwater electronic module inside the underwater electronic compartment adopts a dual-redundancy design, including two identical electronic equipment systems.

7. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 6, characterized in that, Each electronic equipment system includes: AC-DC board, CPU board, SEM inter-communication board, sensor data acquisition board, and internal temperature and pressure sensors; The underwater electronic module is equipped with a communication interface on its top to enable communication with the surface control station.

8. The underwater control module for independently recovering the underwater hydraulic tank and underwater electronic tank according to claim 5, characterized in that, The underwater hydraulic tank includes internal temperature / pressure sensors, hydraulic supply / return oil pressure sensors for hydraulic control valves, hydraulic output function oil circuit pressure sensors for hydraulic control valves, underwater hydraulic control valve actuators, and multi-way underwater hydraulic control valves.

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