Pig tracking by unmanned submarine
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsCasey Giron, Wolfgang Hartmut Nitsche, John Laureto Maida, Jr., Satyan Gopal Bhongale, Li Gao
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides for a pig tracking and locating system that is able to pinpoint the exact location of a pig so that if the pig becomes stuck, it can be more efficiently located and retrieved without excessive searching. A representative system includes an unmanned underwater vehicle that travels with or very near the pig as it progresses through a pipeline, and gathers and stores information transmitted by the pig. This information may include location data that can be transmitted in the event the pig becomes stuck.
Claims20
A subsea pipeline pig tracking system comprising:
- a pig having a signal generator and a two-way communication link;
- and
- a submarine vehicle comprising a receiver operable to receive pig location signals generated by the signal generator and a navigation system operable to navigate the submarine vehicle to continuously follow the pig while outside of a subsea pipeline in which the pig is disposed in response to the receiver receiving the pig location signals.
A method of tracking a pig location in a subsea pipeline comprising:
- navigating a submarine vehicle outside of the subsea pipeline to continuously follow a pig disposed in the subsea pipeline;
- receiving a pig location signal from the pig;
- wherein the pig comprises a two-way communication link;
- generating pig location data from the pig location signal;
- and
- transmitting pig location data derived from the pig location signal to a controller.
A subsea pipeline pig tracker comprising a submarine vehicle having:
- a controller;
- a transmitter;
- a receiver;
- a power supply;
- a memory;
- and
- a navigation system configured to navigate the submarine vehicle to continuously follow a pig while outside of a subsea pipeline in which the pig is disposed;
- wherein the memory comprises instructions for navigating the submarine vehicle along a path of the subsea pipeline in response to detecting a location signal from the pig.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.