A protection system for real-time monitoring of a submarine cable

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of submarine cable monitoring and protection, concretely to a kind of protection system for submarine cable real-time monitoring, including bending limiter and monitoring unit being set on the bending limiter, the monitoring unit includes protection shell and sensor, the sensor is set on the bending limiter, the protection shell is set at the outside of the sensor, the sensor includes one or more of strain sensor, acceleration sensor, attitude sensor and guided wave sensor, by integrating sensor on bending limiter, the real-time monitoring and data acquisition to submarine cable bending state are realized, by the setting of protection shell, guarantee the long-term stable operation of sensor in complex marine environment, effectively avoid the direct impact of external pressure and corrosive medium to sensor, by installing strain sensor, acceleration sensor and attitude sensor in the key position of protection system, real-time dynamic monitoring of submarine cable protection system can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the technical field of submarine cable monitoring and protection, specifically a protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables. Background Technology

[0002] As a core component of critical energy infrastructure such as offshore wind power and cross-sea power transmission, the safe and stable operation of submarine cables directly affects the reliability of the entire offshore energy system. To protect submarine cables from risks such as mechanical damage, excessive bending, and fatigue failure in complex marine environments, protective devices such as bend limiters, bend stiffeners, and sleeves are usually installed at their critical parts.

[0003] These protective devices need to serve on the seabed for extended periods, with a design life of generally no less than 25 years. However, in actual operation, they are susceptible to fatigue damage or even failure due to multiple factors such as waves, currents, seabed erosion, and vortex-induced vibration of the suspended section. If the protective device fails and is not detected in time, the submarine cable will lose effective protection and is highly prone to serious faults such as bending, breakdown, and insulation damage, which can lead to power outages, equipment damage, and maintenance losses amounting to tens of millions of yuan.

[0004] Currently, the focus for bend limiters is often still on the cable structure. For example, Chinese patent CN113497432 A proposes a bend limiter with parallel monitoring cables. This avoids cutting the sensor cables by arranging the monitoring cables in parallel. It incorporates a rotation limiter within the bend limiter to restrict the rotational displacement between adjacent limiter bodies, preventing cable cuts while retaining some rotational space to facilitate the release of torsional stress in the cable. However, this structure does not address the condition monitoring of the protective device itself. In practical engineering, the health status monitoring of cable protection devices still heavily relies on periodic manual inspections or seabed sonar scans, with detection intervals typically one or even several years. This results in problems such as response lag, incomplete coverage, and high costs, making early fault identification and risk warning difficult. Although some research has attempted to introduce monitoring technology, existing solutions mostly focus on the condition perception of the cable itself, lacking effective means for assessing the dynamic response, structural integrity, and remaining life of protective devices—especially bend limiters. For example, the inventor's previous Chinese patent CN 119518579 A disclosed a submarine cable bending restriction structure with a damage warning device. It uses airbag buoyancy and wireless signal transmission to realize the alarm after the fault. The damage warning device can find the location of the damage limiter in time and detect the potential damage risk of the submarine cable in time. However, this structure is still relatively complex and can only trigger the warning after the device is completely broken. It cannot realize real-time status monitoring and life prediction during operation.

[0005] Furthermore, existing monitoring systems not specifically designed for submarine cable limiters generally suffer from drawbacks such as complex structure, high cost, poor environmental adaptability, and weak fault tolerance, making it difficult to meet the engineering application requirements of submarine cable protection devices under high pressure, high salt, strong corrosion, and long-term dynamic loads. In particular, traditional methods in sensor installation, sealing, and cable laying easily lead to suspended sections of the cable, which are accelerated to fatigue fracture under vortex-induced vibration, seriously affecting the long-term stability of the system.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a real-time monitoring and life assessment technology for submarine cable protection systems that is practical in engineering, highly reliable, low-cost, and capable of long-term stable operation. This technology should be able to continuously collect multi-dimensional state parameters such as strain, acceleration, and attitude of key components such as bending limiters, and combine data analysis to achieve early warning of faults and prediction of remaining service life, thereby fundamentally improving the safety margin and operation and maintenance efficiency of submarine cable systems. Utility Model Content

[0007] To address the shortcomings of existing submarine cable protection device monitoring technologies, the present invention aims to provide a protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables, comprising a bend limiter and a monitoring unit disposed on the bend limiter. The monitoring unit includes a protective shell and a sensor, wherein the sensor is disposed on the bend limiter and the protective shell is disposed outside the sensor. The sensor includes one or more of strain sensors, acceleration sensors, attitude sensors, and guided wave sensors.

[0008] Furthermore, the protective shell is detachably connected to the bending limiter.

[0009] Furthermore, the surface of the bending limiter is provided with a boss, and the sensor is mounted on the boss.

[0010] Furthermore, the boss is provided with an inner sealing groove and an outer sealing groove. The inner sealing groove is located between the boss and the sensor contact surface, and the outer sealing groove is located around the boss. Both the inner sealing groove and the outer sealing groove are provided with sealing strips and sealant.

[0011] Furthermore, the boss is connected to the protective shell via a mounting component.

[0012] Furthermore, the protective shell adopts a half-shaped symmetrical structure.

[0013] Furthermore, the inner side of the protective shell is provided with a groove that matches the shape of the sensor.

[0014] Furthermore, a plug is provided on the outer side of the protective shell, which is used to connect the cable of the sensor.

[0015] Furthermore, the plug is an aviation plug.

[0016] Furthermore, it also includes a cable for data transmission of the sensor, the cable comprising leads, a helical spring wire, and a thickened corrosion-resistant wire.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: (1) By integrating sensors into the bending limiter, real-time monitoring and data acquisition of the bending state of the submarine cable are realized. The protective shell ensures the long-term stable operation of the sensors in complex marine environments, effectively avoiding direct impact from external pressure and corrosive media on the sensors. By installing strain sensors, acceleration sensors, and attitude sensors at key locations in the protection system, real-time dynamic monitoring of the submarine cable protection system can be achieved. This solves the limitations of existing technologies that rely on periodic scanning and manual inspection, and can promptly detect potential problems in the system, such as excessive strain and abnormal acceleration, providing more accurate equipment status data and effectively reducing the risk of failure due to information lag.

[0018] (2) By using aviation plugs, fast and reliable electrical connections can be achieved, while ensuring sealing and vibration resistance, and adapting to frequent dynamic stress changes in the marine environment.

[0019] (3) By using a spiral spring wire for data transmission, fatigue damage to the cable under repeated bending and twisting conditions and cable breakage caused by long-term swinging are reduced. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a front view of the protection system of this utility model; Figure 2 This is an isometric view of the internal structure of the protection system of this utility model; Figure 3 This is an isometric view of the external structure of the protection system of this utility model; Figure 4 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the protective shell and sensor mounting structure of this utility model; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the plug used in this utility model; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the helical spring wire used in this utility model.

[0021] In the diagram: 1. Bending limiter; 2. Boss; 3. Inner sealing groove; 4. Outer sealing groove; 5. Protective shell; 6. Groove; 7. Sensor; 8. Helical spring wire; 9. Plug; 10. Connector; 11. Mounting component. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0023] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figures 1 to 6 As shown, the present invention provides a protective system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables, including a bending limiter 1 and a monitoring unit disposed on the bending limiter 1. The monitoring unit includes a protective shell 5 and a sensor 7. The sensor 7 is disposed on the bending limiter 1, and the protective shell 5 is disposed outside the sensor 7 to isolate the sensor 7 from contact with the external marine environment, thereby achieving waterproofing and corrosion resistance of the sensor 7 and preventing seawater from acting on the sensor 7, thus improving the working stability of the sensor 7.

[0024] Preferably, sensor 7 includes one or more combinations of strain sensor, acceleration sensor, attitude sensor and guided wave sensor, which can monitor one or more data such as strain change, vibration frequency, spatial attitude and internal defects of submarine cable in real time.

[0025] By integrating sensors into the bend limiter, real-time monitoring and data acquisition of the cable's bending state are achieved. The protective casing ensures the long-term stable operation of the sensors in complex marine environments, effectively preventing direct impact from external pressure and corrosive media. Furthermore, by installing strain sensors, acceleration sensors, and attitude sensors at key locations in the protection system, real-time dynamic monitoring of the cable protection system is possible. This overcomes the limitations of existing technologies that rely on periodic scanning and manual inspections, enabling timely detection of potential system problems, such as excessive strain or abnormal acceleration, providing more accurate equipment status data and effectively reducing the risk of failure due to information lag. Through real-time monitoring, the fault warning time of the protection device can be shortened to one or several days. Compared to traditional periodic inspection methods, the response time after a fault occurs is significantly reduced, allowing for effective maintenance or replacement before equipment failure, avoiding substantial losses due to the loss of cable protection.

[0026] The surface of the bending limiter 1 is provided with a boss 2, and the sensor 7 is installed on the boss 2. The boss 2 is provided with an inner sealing groove 3 and an outer sealing groove 4. The inner sealing groove 3 is located between the contact surface of the boss 2 and the sensor 7, and the outer sealing groove 4 is located around the boss 2. Both the inner sealing groove 3 and the outer sealing groove 4 are provided with sealing strips and sealant to achieve waterproofing and corrosion resistance of the sensor 7 and effectively prevent seawater from seeping in.

[0027] Furthermore, the boss is connected to the protective shell via the mounting component 11. Specifically, the boss 2 is provided with mounting holes, and the protective shell 5 is provided with corresponding mounting holes. The mounting component 11 can pass through the mounting holes on the boss and the protective shell to achieve a fixed connection between the two, ensuring a firm connection and reliable sealing.

[0028] Preferably, the protective housing 5 adopts a half-type symmetrical structure, which is composed of two symmetrical shells. Each shell has a connection hole for the connector 10 to pass through. The two shells are fastened together by the connector 10, enabling quick assembly and disassembly, facilitating later maintenance and sensor replacement. Preferably, the connector is a bolt, but other conventional connection structures are also acceptable. Furthermore, the material of the protective housing 5 is preferably polyurethane, which better meets the compressive strength requirements of the operating conditions.

[0029] The design of the half-shell structure effectively prevents damage to the sensor from factors such as seawater corrosion and marine organism attachment, improving the reliability of the system and ensuring the long-term stability of the protective device in harsh marine environments.

[0030] Furthermore, the inner side of the protective shell 5 is provided with a groove 6 that matches the shape of the sensor, which is used to position and fix the sensor 7 to prevent it from shifting inside the protective shell 5.

[0031] Furthermore, a plug 9 is provided on the outside of the protective shell 5. The plug 9 is used to connect the cable of the sensor 7. The plug 9 is a waterproof plug, preferably an aviation plug.

[0032] The use of aviation plugs enables fast and reliable electrical connections while ensuring sealing and vibration resistance, adapting to frequent dynamic stress changes in marine environments.

[0033] The protective system also includes a cable for data transmission from sensor 7. The cable comprises a lead wire, a helical spring wire 8, and a thickened corrosion-resistant wire. The lead wire is connected to sensor 7 and is located inside the protective housing 7, connecting to the interior of an aviation connector. The lead wire is relatively short and is used to transmit the sensor signal. The helical spring wire 8 is connected to a waterproof connector, which works in conjunction with the aviation connector. The helical spring wire has good elongation properties, adapting to dynamic tensile and compressive stresses during the bending and deformation of the submarine cable, ensuring continuous and reliable signal transmission. The fully stretched length of the helical spring wire 8 is no less than 50 cm. The thickened corrosion-resistant wire connects to the helical spring wire 8 and transmits data to an external monitoring terminal. The length of the thickened corrosion-resistant wire depends on the water depth requirements under specific operating conditions; preferably, it is selected to be 2.5-3 times the water depth to better cope with changes in water depth and other emergencies, and to better adapt to complex seabed conditions.

[0034] By using helical spring wires for data transmission, fatigue damage to cables under repeated bending and twisting conditions and cable breakage caused by long-term oscillation are reduced.

Claims

1. A protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables, characterized in that, The device includes a bending limiter and a monitoring unit disposed on the bending limiter. The monitoring unit includes a protective housing and a sensor. The sensor is disposed on the bending limiter, and the protective housing is disposed outside the sensor. The sensor includes one or more of a strain sensor, an acceleration sensor, an attitude sensor, and a guided wave sensor.

2. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, The protective shell is detachably connected to the bending limiter.

3. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, The surface of the bending limiter is provided with a boss, and the sensor is mounted on the boss.

4. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 3, characterized in that, The boss is provided with an inner sealing groove and an outer sealing groove. The inner sealing groove is located between the boss and the sensor contact surface, and the outer sealing groove is located around the boss. Both the inner sealing groove and the outer sealing groove are provided with sealing strips and sealant.

5. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 3, characterized in that, The boss is connected to the protective shell via a mounting component.

6. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, The protective shell adopts a half-symmetric structure.

7. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The inner side of the protective shell has a groove that matches the shape of the sensor.

8. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, A plug is provided on the outside of the protective shell, which is used to connect the cable of the sensor.

9. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 8, characterized in that, The plug is an aviation plug.

10. The protection system for real-time monitoring of submarine cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes cables for data transmission from the sensor, the cables comprising leads, helical spring wires, and thickened corrosion-resistant wires.

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