# US 12,110,895 B2 · Subsea pumping apparatuses and related methods

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- Number: US 12,110,895 B2
- Document ID: US12110895B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/729,556
- Filed: 2022-04-26
- Published: 2023-03-16
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2013-08-15
- Assignees: Transocean Innovation Labs Ltd.
- Applicants: Transocean Innovation Labs, Ltd.
- Inventors: Guy Robert Babbitt; John Matthew Dalton; Luis R. Pereira; James Edward Kersey
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12110895B2

## CPC

- B01D 61/025: {Reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration}
- F04D 13/08: for submerged use
- B01D 61/04: Feed pretreatment
- B01D 61/08: Apparatus therefor
- B01D 61/10: Accessories; Auxiliary operations
- E21B 33/035: specially adapted for underwater installations (E21B33/043, E21B33/064, E21B33/076 take precedence)
- E21B 33/06: Blow-out preventers {, i.e. apparatus closing around a drill pipe, e.g. annular blow-out preventers (rotating blow-out preventers E21B33/085)}
- E21B 41/0007: {for underwater installations (E21B41/005, E21B41/04, E21B41/06, E21B41/08, E21B41/10 take precedence)}
- F04B 17/03: driven by electric motors
- F04B 23/02: having reservoirs
- F04B 23/04: Combinations of two or more pumps
- F04B 47/06: having motor-pump units situated at great depth
- F04B 49/22: by means of valves (F04B49/03 takes precedence)
- F04D 13/086: {the pump and drive motor are both submerged}
- F04D 13/12: Combinations of two or more pumps (combinations with priming pumps or booster pumps to counteract vapour-lock F04D9/04)
- F04D 25/0686: {specially adapted for submerged use}
- B01D 2311/04: Specific process operations in the feed stream; Feed pretreatment
- B01D 2311/2649: Filtration
- B01D 2315/06: Submerged-type; Immersion type
- C02F 1/441: {by reverse osmosis}
- C02F 2103/08: Seawater, e.g. for desalination
- Y02A 20/131: Reverse-osmosis
- Y02E 10/20: Hydro energy
- B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28)
- F04D: NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS (engine fuel-injection pumps F02M; ion pumps H01J41/12; electrodynamic pumps H02K44/02)
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- F04B: POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS (machines for liquids, or pumps, of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston type F04C; non-positive-displacement pumps F04D; pumping of fluid by direct contact of another fluid or by using inertia of fluid to be pumped F04F)
- C02F: TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE (separation in general B01D; special arrangements on waterborne vessels of installations for treating water, waste water or sewage, e.g. for producing fresh water, B63J; adding materials to water to prevent corrosion C23F; treating radioactively-contaminated liquids G21F9/04; regeneration of reactants for recirculation into processes, see the relevant places for the processes)
- Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

This disclosure includes subsea pumping apparatuses and related methods. Some apparatuses include one or more subsea pumps, each having an inlet and an outlet, and one or more motors, each configured to actuate at least one pump to communicate a hydraulic fluid from the inlet to the outlet, where the subsea pumping apparatus is configured to be in fluid communication with a hydraulically actuated device of a blowout preventer. Some subsea pumping apparatuses include one or more of: a desalination system configured to produce at least a portion of the hydraulic fluid; one or more valves, each configured to selectively route hydraulic fluid from an outlet of a pump to, for example, a subsea environment, a reservoir, and/or the inlet of the pump; and a reservoir configured to store at least a portion of the hydraulic fluid. Some apparatuses are configured to be directly coupled to the hydraulically actuated device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A subsea pumping apparatus comprising:
two or more subsea pumps, each having an inlet and an outlet;
one or more motors, each configured to actuate at least one of the two or more pumps to communicate a hydraulic fluid from the inlet to the outlet; and
two or more valves, each in fluid communication with the outlet of at least one of the two or more pumps and configured to selectively route, when the valve is in a first position, hydraulic fluid from the outlet to a location selected from the group consisting of a subsea environment, a reservoir, and the inlet of one of the two or more pumps and configured to selectively route, when the valve is in a second position, hydraulic fluid from the outlet to the hydraulically actuated device, and not the location,
wherein at least one of the two or more valves is movable from the first position to the second position while at least one other of the two or more valves is in the first position,
wherein the subsea pumping apparatus is configured to be in direct fluid communication with a hydraulically actuated device of a blowout preventer; and
wherein the subsea pumping apparatus further comprises:
a control circuit including a valve controller in electrical communication with at least one of the two or more valves and configured to adjust an output of at least one of the two or more subsea pumps by selectively varying the position of at least one of the two or more valves between the first position and the second position; and
a sensor configured to capture data indicative of at least one of a flow rate or a pressure, thereby permitting the valve controller to vary the position of the at least one of the two or more valves based on the captured data;
wherein the valve controller is configured to receive data captured by the sensor and compare the data to one of a known, a calculated, or a commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement;
wherein the valve controller, if the data indicates that the pressure and/or flow rate is lower than the known, calculated, and/or commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement, is configured to adjust the pressure and/or flow rate upwards by varying the position of the at least one of the two or more valves; and
wherein the valve controller, if the data indicates that the pressure and/or flow rate is higher than the known, calculated, and/or commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement, is configured to adjust the outlet pressure and/or flow rate downwards by varying the position of the at least one of the two or more valves.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more hydraulic stabs, each in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more pumps.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet of at least one of the two or more pumps is in fluid communication with the inlet of at least one other pump.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more motors is configured to actuate at least two of the two or more pumps.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more motors is coupled to at least one of the two or more pumps via a gear box.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more motors is directly coupled to at least one of the two or more pumps such that neither a shaft seal of the at least one of the one or more motors nor a shaft seal of the at least one of the two or more pumps is exposed to the subsea environment.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, the control circuit comprising one or more motor controllers, each motor controller in electrical communication with at least one of the one or more motors and configured to selectively adjust a speed of the at least one of the one or more motors.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 7, wherein at least one of the one or more motor controllers is configured to adjust a speed of at least one of the one or more motors by selectively activating and deactivating the at least one of the one or more motors.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, comprising one or more sensors coupled to the subsea pumping apparatus and configured to capture data indicative of at least one of temperature, conductivity, pH, position, velocity, acceleration, current, and voltage.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 9, comprising a processor configured to control, based at least in part on the data captured by the one or more sensors, actuation of at least one of: at least one of the one or more motors and at least one of the two or more pumps.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to:
detect, based at least in part on the data captured by the one or more sensors, an abnormal operation associated with one or more components including at least one of: at least one of the two or more pumps, at least one of the one or more motors, hydraulically actuated device, and blowout preventer;
perform a diagnostic analysis of the one or more components; and
control the one or more components based at least in part on at least one of the detected abnormal operation and a result of the diagnostic analysis.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, comprising one or more batteries coupled to the subsea pumping apparatus and configured to provide electrical power to at least one of the one or more motors.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The subsea pumping apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a processor configured to receive data captured by the sensor;
wherein the processor is configured to detect, based at least in part on the data captured by the sensor, an abnormal operation associated with one or more components including at least one of the two or more subsea pumps, at least one of the one or more motors, the hydraulically actuated device, and the blowout preventer;
wherein the processor is configured to perform a diagnostic and/or prognostic analysis of at least one of the one or more components; and
wherein the processor is configured to control at least one of the one or more components based at least in part on at least one of the detected abnormal operation and a result of the diagnostic and/or prognostic analysis.