Condition monitoring of a subsea pump using fibre optic sensing

Abstract

With the growth in deep-water oil and gas production, condition monitoring of high-value subsea assets to give early warning of developing problems is vital. Offshore operators can then transport and deploy spare parts before a failure occurs thus minimizing equipment down- time. Results are presented from a suite of tests in which multiple elements of a subsea twin-screw pump were monitored using a single fibre optic sensing system that simultaneously measured dynamic strain on the main rotor bearings, pressure and temperature of the lube oil, distributed temperature through the motor stator windings and vibration of the motor housing.