Star-Coupled Polyphase Cable Redundancy for Pipeline Heating
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric heating systems for underwater hydrocarbon pipelines face inefficiencies due to the need for redundant three-phase electrical circuits, which result in excessive numbers of electrical cables and unnecessary cable scrapping when a single cable fails.
Innovation Solution
An electrical installation with a star-coupled polyphase circuit and an additional separate cable connected to a zero potential point, allowing for identification and replacement of faulty cables, reducing the number of cables required for redundancy and minimizing unnecessary cable disposal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant three-phase electrical circuits are provided for each circuit used, then system reliability is improved, but the number of electrical cables increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the function of redundant cables into a single shared additional cable that can replace any faulty main cable through switching mechanisms, thereby reducing the total number of cables while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The additional cable is designed to serve multiple functions: it can replace any of the main cables (L1, L2, L3) when they fail, making a single cable universal for multiple redundancy purposes
2Reliability
If a complete additional three-phase circuit is provided for redundancy, then system reliability is improved, but the number of additional electrical cables increases by one third
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the redundancy function of three separate cables into a single shared additional cable that can serve any phase through switching, reducing cable quantity by two-thirds while maintaining full redundancy capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dynamic switching mechanisms that allow the additional cable to be connected to different phases (L1, L2, or L3) depending on which cable fails, enabling adaptive redundancy rather than static dedicated spare cables
3Ease of manufacture
If a three-phase circuit fails, then the entire circuit is discarded including non-faulty cables, but this leads to unnecessary cable scrapping and resource waste
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the circuit into individual cable units with independent fault detection, allowing only the specific faulty cable to be replaced rather than replacing the entire three-phase circuit as a unit
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements fault detection and identification mechanisms that provide feedback about which specific cable has failed, enabling targeted replacement of only the defective cable rather than blanket replacement of all cables
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution achieves reduced cable redundancy while maintaining system reliability, allowing for efficient heating of pipelines with fewer cables and minimizing waste by only replacing faulty cables.
Implementation Method 1
heating the pipes by means of electrical cables, round or flat, which are wound around the steel pipes over their entire length in order to heat these pipes by the Joule effect
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to an electrical installation for an electric trace heating system for a metal pipe (8) for transporting fluids, comprising at least one polyphase electrical circuit having at least three main electrical cables (6-1, 6-4 and 6-7) coupled in star configuration, at least one additional electrical cable (6-2, 6-3, 6-5, 6-6, 6- 8 and 6-9) that is separate from the main cables, the main cables and the additional cable of the polyphase circuit being intended to be positioned around the pipe and being linked at the end of the line to one and the same connection ring (10) forming a point having an electric potential of zero, and means for detecting a potential fault in the polyphase circuit with a view to identifying the faulty main cable that has caused the fault in the polyphase circuit and replacing it with the additional cable. Another subject of the invention is an electric trace heating method using such an electrical installation.