Subsea Valve Control

As hydrocarbon prices rise and reserves decline, low pressure deep sea wells becomes increasingly economic. KSC's client produces advanced hardware to successfully exploit such wells: world leading hydrocarbon-recovery systems designed to operate at depths of many hundreds of meters.

Traditionally such machinery has been hydraulically driven, requiring a series of valves to be manually controlled in sequence according to written procedures. KSC's client developed one of the first such systems controlled electrically.

KSC was requested to deliver the control software in the form of a windows application. Physically, the control system resides in a boat, integrated n the control room with video feeds and ROV control systems and communicating with the subsea electromechanical systems via an umbilical from the surface to the ocean floor.

Key benefits of the control software came from the automation of complex, sequential valve-control operations. Also, safety was enhanced by robust interlock logic that avoids inadvertent harm to personnel, environment or equipment.

The user is presented with a mimic of the actual device that allows them to control the various parts with the mouse. Once initiated, the mimic animates the control to reflect what is happening on the actual hardware in real-time.

Whilst in operation the application continuously displays real-time readings of all pressure, temperature and voltage sensors. Alarms are clearly displayed on an alarm panel and logged, along with the sensor readings and a list of all actions performed in the system. An audit trail can be easily generated.

Due to the harsh and remote nature of the hydrocarbon recovery operations, the software was required to be extremely reliable and able to handle all failure scenarios. For example, communications with the subsea hardware is continually monitored and any loss of communication causes the machinery to close down. A key driver behind the success of this project was an extensive commitment to testing: on KSC's part via a large and comprehensive automatic regression testing system, and on the client's part via a purpose-built hardware simulator and deployment of expert personnel.