Offshore Tests Completed

Offshore tests completed

For the first time a new developed sensor system specifically designed for monitoring oil spills around offshore structures has been tested in a real life environment. The tests were carried out in the period from November 2004 to March 2005 together with the Danish offshore operator DONG and the offshore oil and gas contractor ENSCO. The sensor was installed onboard ENSCO 70, which was working under contract for DONG, on the Nini and Sofie fields in the Danish North Sea area. The installation is illustrated in the pictures below.

The objective of the offshore tests was to confirm the sustainability of the system and to verify the durability of the individual sensor components used during the 5 month test programme. Additionally, the tests should provide a comprehensive set of test data, required to calibrate and improve the software algorithms which perform the automatic detection and quantification of the individual oil spills.

The test programme was implemented in close co-operation with DONG and the EsVagt supply vessels. The test programme was monitored closely by the Danish EPA as well as Admiral Danish Fleet. These two institutions provided OSIS with the first permission to dump significant amounts of oil for test purposes, issued by Danish Environmental Authorities in 20 years. The tests were completed using rape seed oil and totalled approximately 17.000 litres.

The tests were carried out using the EsVagt supply vessel to dump a predefined quantity of oil at a specified location around the offshore structure (see the pictures below). The oil spill was then monitored by the OSIS sensor system until the spill drifted out of range after which a new oil slick was discharged. The oil was either dumped close to the rig (thereby drifting out of range) or at a predefined distance from the rig (drifting into range). The tests were carried out under all possible weather conditions (rain, snow, storms, sunshine etc.) and in daylight as well as during the night.

The OSIS sensor performed according to expectation. All oil spills were positively identified by the sensor system and could be tracked until drifting out of range. The durability of the sensor components were tested to the limit as weather conditions in the North Sea during the winter months are quite adverse. The prevailing conditions during the tests confirmed the OSIS sensor’s ability to identify and track any oil slick in all weather conditions.

The tests provided approximately 25.000 datasets which are presently being analysed. The extensive amount of data will be used to further improve the system and refine the software algorithms that perform the automatic identification, validation and quantification of maritime oil spills.

The overall conclusion after completing the offshore test programme is that the OSIS sensor system is a feasible and reliable, low cost alternative to existing surveillance methods. It is expected that the technology will play an important part when implementing new maritime surveillance strategies based on automatic quantification of oil volume discharged from or drifting by offshore structures.

For further information, please download the newest release of the OSIS presentation video selecting either low (10MB) or high (28MB) resolution or contact OSIS International directly.