Collaboration, innovation and robotics

Monadelphous was recently involved in a collaboration led by Woodside Energy to develop a one-of-a-kind caisson cleaning and inspection tool (CCAIT) system which incorporates a human-sized robot, designed to inspect the inside of caissons. 

Lead fabric Maintenance Coordinator Chris Heron was the coatings subject matter expert on the project and said that the project team was made up of people from local companies who came together to develop the robotic solution.  

“Building a bespoke Ultra High-Pressure cleaning solution that can quickly remove marine growth to allow inspection without damaging the protective coatings was challenging and rewarding,” he said. 

“We drew from our local supplier expertise and relationships to test the latest technology onshore and successfully lead the offshore deployment.” 

The one-of-a-kind system was designed, developed and deployed in less than 12 months, led by Woodside Energy (Woodside) and incorporating expertise from Nexxis, Monadelphous, WOMA and Fugro. 

The CCAIT system incorporates a human-sized robot, designed to inspect the inside of caissons – vertical carbon steel pipes up to 70 metres long and up to 1.2 metres wide. These structures are used on offshore platforms to house critical equipment such as firewater and seawater lift pumps. 

The CCAIT system is remotely controlled from a safe location on an offshore platform by skilled technicians. The tool is lowered inside the caisson via a tether and winch arrangement. Wheels are then extended to centralise the tool within the caisson, and probe arms extend to enable ultrasound inspection. A series of high-definition cameras stream video back to the technicians, with the data used by the asset team to define the forward plan. 

Woodside Executive Vice President Technical Services Daniel Kalms said: “The CCAIT system removes the costs of mobilising tools from international locations, including the cost of delay in fractured supply chains. These can represent up to 50% of the total cost of an inspection campaign.  

“It was incredible to see the team, including Woodside graduate robotics engineers, write software to dramatically improve the performance and usability of the tool. The project team was made up of people from local companies who came together and designed, procured, fabricated, tested, and validated a robotic solution during the height of a pandemic in under a year,” he said.