Subsea Module Logging Device for Environmental Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current subsea modules lack environmental data capture during installation, making it difficult to ensure their integrity and diagnose damage, as sensors are typically used only after installation and high-power batteries pose impracticality for deployment.
Innovation Solution
A subsea module with a logging device containing a battery, microprocessor, and memory, equipped with sensors like pressure, temperature, and shock sensors outside the SEM, rated to exceed environmental limits, allowing for real-time environmental monitoring during deployment and data logging, with power management to extend battery life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are placed inside the SEM to monitor environmental conditions, then measurement capability is improved, but the power requirements become impractically high and risk damage to delicate electronics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monitoring system into two separate components: the SEM containing delicate electronics, and an external logging device containing the battery and sensors. This segmentation allows the power-intensive sensing functions to be isolated from the electronics module, enabling environmental monitoring without imposing impractical power requirements on the SEM.
Solution Approach 2:
The logging device acts as an intermediary between the environmental conditions and the SEM. It captures environmental data through external sensors and stores it independently, then can transfer this data to the SEM or retrieve it later, thereby providing measurement capability without directly coupling the power requirements to the SEM's electronics.
2Loss of information
If a battery is added to power sensors during deployment, then environmental data capture is enabled, but the risk of battery leakage damaging electronics increases
Solution Approach 1:
The battery is extracted from the SEM and placed in a separate logging device. This physical separation removes the harmful factor of battery leakage from proximity to the delicate electronics, eliminating the risk of chemical damage while preserving the ability to power sensors during deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The logging device serves as an intermediary container that houses the battery at a safe distance from the SEM's electronics. This intermediate structure allows the system to benefit from battery-powered sensing while isolating the harmful effects of battery operation from the sensitive electronic components.
3Measurement precision
If high-power batteries are used to sense parameters during deployment, then measurement capability is improved, but device complexity and impracticality increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the power and sensing functions into a dedicated logging device separate from the SEM. This allows high-power batteries to be used for sensing without complicating the SEM's design, as the power management complexity is contained within the independent logging device module.
Data Source
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AI summary
A subsea module such as a subsea control module, comprising a housing with a subsea electronics module (SEM) and a logging device. The logging device comprises a battery, a microprocessor and a memory device. The subsea module comprises a plurality of different sensors connected to or within the logging device, and outside the subsea electronics module. This allows for monitoring the conditions of the subsea module during transportation or installation, providing a wide range of benefits. The sensors include at least one pressure sensor, a temperature sensor and a shock sensor. The logging device may be configured to power down at least one sensor or logging activity when considered less useful. A sensor may also be configured to wake up the microprocessor. Other sensors may be included, such as vibration or vertically spaced apart water ingress sensors.