Research on pressure fluctuation phenomenon using the smart isolation tool in subsea pipeline maintenance operation

Abstract

A new isolation technology in subsea pipeline maintenance has been gradually developed in recent years. During the operation, the smart isolation tool is desired to decelerate and stop in the accurate position, which will cause a pressure surge in pipe, it was named “pressure fluctuation phenomenon” in this article. For control precision and sealing reliability, avoiding or reducing the fluctuation phenomenon has been necessary. The characteristics of this phenomenon and the effects of parameters have been investigated using numerical methodologies. The results indicated that this phenomenon mainly affected by deceleration time, flow velocity and aspect ratio, and the optimal parameters are t = 1.5 s, v = 1 m/s and γ = 1.2, respectively. The identical results could be achieved from the sensitivity analysis. It can be concluded that the peak value is more sensitive to deceleration time, less sensitive to flow velocity and least sensitive to aspect ratio. All the studies in this article will provide a reference to improve the control precision and seal reliability using smart isolation tool in subsea pipeline maintenance.