A customer approached us recently as they needed to measure what was happening at one of their deep sea well heads.
The first question we asked was: why?
The customer was finding that they were getting harmonics as tide movements were creating currents around their well head risers. The current movements were forming a standing wave against the risers, thus applying a bending moment to the well head.
What they wanted to understand were the bending moments and loads being applied to the risers in the deep sea environment, to provide input for their theoretical analysis of the life span of the equipment.
What the customer needed was a measurement system that would work at the bottom of the sea, 1 kilometre down, measuring bending moments and axial loads at three different locations; at the mud line, deep down at the base of the well and at the attachment to the tree of the BOP.
The equipment would allow them to build up a profile of the loads in the well head and the integrity of the grouts.
We told them how to achieve what they wanted – isolating the force and moments in that unforgiving environment, telling them what we were going to do, and how we were going to do it.
They commissioned us for the job, and the equipment is now fully instrumented, providing the customer with the reliable data they need to allow them keep their equipment maintained, safely and economically.