Leak located on a 121km umbilical
Telepath® minimises vessel time and highlights cause of failure
- Client Major Operator
- Leak Location 121 km
- Location North Sea
- Nominal Bore 1 inch Methanol
Challenge
Following post lay-down testing, a leak was identified in one of the umbilicals in a large gas field. Brinker was contracted by the operator to locate the leak accurately using Telepath®.
Solution
An initial assessment of the leak location made using the data provided by the operator identified the leak at 47km offshore and Brinker were able to give details of the likely nature of the leak.
Brinker engineers then went on site to carry out specialist testing, so that a revised assessment of the environmental conditions affecting the leak could be made and used within the Telepath® model to improve the accuracy of the predicated location of the leak.
The improved model produced a revised leak location estimate of approximately 30 km offshore. The information obtained also allowed Brinker to assess the likely leak geometries and estimate the leak size.
Outcome
As a result of the Telepath® operation, an ROV was deployed to confirm the location of the leak. The ROV inspection observed fluid leaking from the seabed around 30.2km. Subsequent trenching of the umbilical revealed that the fluid was leaking from a flood hole in the outer sheath at that location.
The upside
The information enabled the client to locate the leak on a long umbilical, minimising the vessel time used. It helped them to understand the failure mechanism of the line and therefore make informed decisions on how to lay the following umbilical that was to serve the same field.
Example of outputs of Telepath® model
