Subsea Hydraulic Manifold Bores for Late Output Port Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The oil and gas industry faces challenges in reducing the size and cost of subsea equipment while standardizing subsea hydraulic control devices, and existing solutions require pre-determination of output port configurations during manufacturing, limiting adaptability and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A subsea hydraulic control device with a modular design featuring a hydraulic distribution unit, valve unit, and manifold unit, where the configuration of fluid bores in the manifold determines output port types, allowing for flexible configuration and reconfiguration without software or hardware updates, enabling the same device to be used with varying numbers of high and low pressure output ports.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the output port configuration is predetermined during manufacturing, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the adaptability to different operator specifications is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The control device is divided into modular components: a base unit with standardized interface and interchangeable manifold units with different bore configurations. This segmentation allows the same base unit to be used with multiple manifold types, providing adaptability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standardization of the common base component.
Solution Approach 2:
The base unit is designed as a universal platform that can accommodate multiple types of manifold units with different output port configurations. The standardized interface and common internal structure allow a single base design to serve multiple functions across different applications, reducing the need for custom manufacturing while maintaining versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different control devices are manufactured for different port configurations, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the device into a standardized base unit and interchangeable manifold units, the complexity of creating multiple complete device variants is reduced to manufacturing only different manifold attachments. The base unit complexity remains constant and optimized, while manifold variations are handled as separate, simpler components.
Solution Approach 2:
The universal base unit design eliminates the need to manufacture entirely different control devices for different configurations. A single base design serves multiple purposes by accepting different manifold units, thereby reducing overall device complexity and manufacturing complexity while maintaining configuration flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the manifold unit is reconfigurable, then the adaptability is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation of configuration-specific features into separate manifold units allows each manifold to be manufactured with precise bore configurations using standardized processes. The precision requirements are concentrated in the manifold manufacturing rather than the base unit, and the modular design enables precise assembly through standardized interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The manifold units are manufactured with their specific bore configurations predetermined and finalized during the manifold manufacturing process rather than during final assembly. This preliminary action allows precision to be achieved in the controlled manufacturing environment, and the pre-configured manifolds are then simply attached to the base unit, maintaining precision while enabling reconfigurability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a subsea hydraulic control device (10) for hydraulically controlling a subsea module (2). The control device (10) comprises a hydraulic distribution unit (12) with a valve unit (13) and a manifold unit (50), where hydraulic fluid lines are provided in the valve unit (13) and in the manifold unit (50). The hydraulic distribution unit (12) comprises a low pressure hydraulic input port (21) connectable to a low pressure fluid source (LP) and connected to a low pressure fluid line (22) within the hydraulic distribution unit (12), a high pressure hydraulic input port (31) connectable to a high pressure fluid source (HP) and connected to a high pressure fluid line (32) within the hydraulic distribution unit (12), a return port (41) connectable to a return fluid reservoir (R) and connected to a return fluid line (42) within the hydraulic distribution unit (12) and a number of hydraulic output ports (24, 34) connectable to subsea actuators (A) of the subsea module (2). A section of the low pressure fluid line (22) is provided as a first fluid bore (B22) in the manifold unit (50) and a section of the high pressure fluid line (32) is provided as a second fluid bore (B32) in the manifold unit (50). The configuration of the respective bores (B22, B32) in the manifold unit (50) is determining which of the output ports (24, 34) being a low pressure output port (24) connected to the low pressure fluid line (22) and which of the output ports (24, 34) being a high pressure output port (34) connected to the high pressure fluid line (32).