Modular Subsea Distribution Assembly for Easier Installation and Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing Subsea Distribution Equipment (SDA) is large, heavy, and complex, making manufacturing, transportation, and installation challenging due to its non-modular design, specific hydraulic and electrical schemes, and high weight, which increases manufacturing time and costs.
Innovation Solution
The modularization of SDA components into blocks with interchangeable panels and connectors for hydraulic and electrical instrumentation, allowing for customizable configurations and reduced weight, enabling easier assembly, installation, and recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the SDA is designed as a single integrated unit with all components, then the hydraulic and electrical schemes can be complete and functional, but the weight increases to around 28 tons and the size becomes large, making transport and installation complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The SDA is divided into multiple modules (hydraulic control module, electrical control module, distribution module, etc.) that can be assembled in different configurations. Each module contains specific hydraulic and electrical components, allowing the system to be customized for different projects while reducing the weight of individual modules compared to a single integrated unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular design creates universal building blocks that can serve multiple functions across different SDA configurations. The same basic modules can be combined in various arrangements to meet different project requirements, reducing the need for custom-designed heavy units for each specific application.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the SDA includes many parts, modules, and welds with specific hydraulic and electrical schemes for each project, then the system can be customized for different applications, but the manufacturing time increases and the process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the SDA into standardized modules with pre-defined hydraulic and electrical configurations, the system achieves project-specific customization through modular assembly rather than custom manufacturing. This reduces manufacturing time while maintaining adaptability to different project requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The modules are pre-assembled and pre-tested with their hydraulic and electrical components before being shipped to the installation site. This preliminary preparation reduces on-site assembly time and complexity, allowing for faster deployment while maintaining project-specific configurations.
3Ease of manufacture
If the SDA has large size and weight, then all necessary components can be included in a single unit, but the transport and installation on the seabed become complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The SDA is segmented into smaller modular units that are easier to transport and handle individually. These modules are then assembled on the seabed or on the installation platform to form the complete system, combining the benefits of integrated design with the advantages of modular transport and installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple smaller modules are merged together through standardized connection interfaces to form the complete SDA system. This merging process is simplified by the modular design, allowing for easier assembly and disassembly compared to a single integrated unit, while still achieving the functional integration of all necessary components.
4Reliability
If the SDA is designed as a non-modular unit, then the hydraulic and electrical schemes can be optimized for each specific project, but the assembly, installation, and recovery processes become more difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into modular units that maintain project-specific optimization through customized module selection and arrangement. The modular design enables easier assembly, installation, and recovery by allowing individual modules to be independently handled, replaced, or repaired without affecting the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular design facilitates the recovery and replacement of individual modules rather than the entire SDA system. If a specific module fails or needs upgrading, only that module needs to be recovered and replaced, reducing the time and complexity of repair operations while maintaining project-specific performance characteristics.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention deals with the modularization of SDA components, as well as the assembly, installation, and repair thereof. The blocks (10) have a metallic structure (11) and panels (13) that allow the configuration for several equipment, in such a way that both the hydraulic instrumentation and the electrical instrumentation are also modularized. Modularization, according to the present invention, allows the configuration assembly of equipment (40) and (50) on the vessel (85), thus reducing costs in relation to installations of the art. In addition, the equipment is already installed with the umbilicals connected, which allows the modularization to be carried out using the crane (83) of the vessel (85) or even a buoy (95).