Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
Integrated More or less any communication infrastructure with a
Fibre Optic
Subsea System
Kjetil Johannessen Abstract
StatoilHydro ASA, Norway
Jon Steinar StatoilHydro, Weatherford, FMC Technologies and Nexans
Andreassen Norway are cooperating in a project called Integrated
Nexans, Norway Fibre Optic Subsea System (IFOSS), where multiple aspects
Sigurd Moe of utilizing optical fibre subsea for enhancing bandwidth
FMC Technologies, Norway and reach are addressed, when compared to conventional
control systems. The project scope includes utilizing
techniques and components from the telecom industry. A
holistic approach is taken to include digital communication
and transport of analogue signals from fibre based sensors.
Introduction
StatoilHydro is one of the leading operators of offshore
oil and gas production fields, and an increasing part of the
StatoilHydro production is from wells with wet wellheads,
i.e. subsea. Most field developments in the North Sea
are in the 100 m to 300 m water depth range, and many
of the developments are smaller satellites in the close
vicinity of existing platforms.
The trend now is:
· Moving to deeper waters, (West Africa, Gulf of Mexico
and Brazil, in Norway Ormen Lange is a first)
· Increasing tieback distances to existing infrastructure.
Distances in excess of 30 km is becoming the standard,
with commingled production in shared flow lines.
· Technology has opened up for subsea to beach (gas)
developments, with Snøhvit and Ormen Lange both
coming on stream in 2007
· The oil in place is increasingly difficult to access.
Hence, advanced multizone and multilateral wells are
becoming the standard
· High focus on boosting and separation with the
Tordis separation station came on stream in 2007.
Additionally, many activities are ongoing to realize
subsea gas compression.
· Advances in instrumentation and many new options.
Particularly important are the wellhead mounted
multiphase meters, but also advances in downhole
instrumentation.
With much infrastructure in place for hydrocarbon
processing and in particular pipelines, the challenge is to
maximize the utilization of this infrastructure. The key is
to facilitate an efficient and flexible infrastructure that
caters for the above trends; i.e. advanced wells on long
tiebacks prepared for even more advanced equipment to
be installed subsea in the future.
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reasonable communication capacity requires optical fibres.
If anything, the communication infrastructure subsea
should be stationary and stable/reliable for 25 years or
even more.
 
Figure 1: A vision of one realization an integrated fibre optic
subsea system
This paper describes some of the thoughts and
findings from the project “Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea
System” (IFOSS) whose scope is to address the new
field challenges by taking advantage of recent advances
in the telecom industry and of fibre optic technology.
To accomplish this StatoilHydro have partnered with
Weatherford, FMC Technologies and Nexans Norway. A
vision of the IFOSS project is expressed in Figure 1.
Traditional System Solutions
Low Speed Electrical Communication via Dedicated
Umbilical
The subsea connection between the control room and
the subsea system is traditionally via a dedicated control
umbilical. StatoilHydro has typically controlled up to
12 – 16 wells via a single control umbilical. The umbilical
connects the subsea templates (each normally with 4
wells) in series. A typical control umbilical consists of 4
hydraulic lines, 4 chemical injection lines, 1 – 5 service
lines and 7 – 9 electrical quads. Later systems also feature,
typically, 2 fibre bundles, each with 8 – 24 optical fibres.
A typical configuration of a subset of a North Sea
system for communication with a four well template is
depicted in Figure 2. Here, the communication system
uses the available copper based power cables for signal
transmissions. Normally four cable pairs are used; one
cable pair is connected to the primary (A) subsea
electronics of the first subsea control module and the
redundant (B) subsea electronics of the second subsea
control module. Such configurations ensure redundant
back-up in case of cable malfunction. Alternative
configurations share the communication from one pair
with not only two but up to12+ subsea control modules.
As each module is normally addressed in sequence with a
low communication speed (1200-9600 bps typically), the
throughput per well becomes low.
Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
Figure 2: Electrical distribution at a traditional 4 well template
Traditional Subsea System Instrument Interfaces
Traditional subsea systems use 4-20mA interfaces and, as subsea
technology matured, serial line interfaces (RS 485 typically) were
utilized. However, control system vendor or instrument vendor
specific protocols were utilized, preventing efficient implementation,
re-use and upgrade. Downhole sensors have been interfaced using a
dedicated interface board in the subsea control module. Intelligent
Well Surface Standardisation (IWIS) and Subsea Instrumentation
Interface Standardisation (SIIS) as discussed below have simplified the
sensor interface issues.
Telecom Standard Systems
Communication solutions so far have generally coincided with
process communication from platforms. Traditionally, radio links
have been deployed where available infrastructure and distances
permitted. Alternatively, satellite communication has been used.
In the North Sea we have been fortunate enough to have a good
optical fibre infrastructure to many of the installations, mainly
operated by the StatoilHydro owned company TampNet. Also,
in the Norwegian Sea, we have good coverage with optical fibre
cables. These cables have to some extent been installed a long time
ago, but with sufficient fibre count and quality to allow expansion
of the electronic highway on demand with new router and terminal
equipment. This results in sufficient capacity and redundant routing
paths based on traditional regional telecoms based infrastructure.
Telecom infrastructure is typically developed with ring structures.
This is a good option as long as terminal equipment is placed in
accessible instrument rooms that allow efficient maintenance
and upgrade of the system when required. The availability of the
telecom systems in the Sea is (almost) without down time. Optical
budget budgets for digital transmission over a fibre link is typically
in excess of 60 dB and can be extended by use of amplifiers or
boosters.
The principles for telecommunication networks may be
summarized by the following characteristics:
Hierarchical Structure
Modern telecom networks are built with defined hierarchy levels
with different characteristics. All “users” are connected at the local
area network level, which offers industry standard interfaces and
108 • Measurement + Control Vol 42/4 May 2009 www.instmc.org.uk
predictable communications capacity through the transport network
(backbone). For large areas with high number of users one regional
network level (metropolitan area network) may be built between the
local area network and the transport network. The transport network
takes care of the communication between the local area networks.
Typical characteristics for this network level are high communications
capacity, long reach interfaces and redundancy in terms of traffic
protection (see below). The capacity requirements given at this
network segments requires use of fibre optical cables with or without
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WD , a concept called Optical
Transport Network (OTN) which provides all necessary interfaces.
Standardized Systems
Telecom networks and systems today are built according to
global and regional standards bodies such as International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) or European Telecommunications Standard Institute
(ETSI). This ensures good interoperability between various system
elements from different manufacturers.
Typically, global telecom standards concepts for transport
networks are Synchromous Digital Highway (SDH)/Synchronous
Optical Networking (SONET) and OTN.
Availability
Modern telecommunications systems are usually built with inherent
availability properties, both in terms of network topology (ring or
mesh), 1+1 Automatic Protection Switching (APS) and 1+1 card
protection within each network element.
Availability is a measured at the service level and sets
requirements for all underlying elements of the communications
platform.
Service Quality
Telecom technologies, unlike simpler data communication technologies,
have built-in mechanisms for Guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS)
properties that cater for defined quality levels for each type of
communications service.As a solid foundation for this, fibre optical
communication offers error-free communication without interference
from external noise.
The above hierarchical network structure from the
telecommunication industry may introduce the following equivalents
in the offshore industry:
· T ransport network (Backbone) for entire offshore regions
connecting shore, platforms and possibly remote subsea
installations
· “Metropolitan” networks covering oil / gas fields within a region,
interfaced to the regional network at platforms or at subsea nodes
· Local area networks covering templates and wells within a field,
interfaced at subsea nodes to a “metropolitan” network, or possibly
to a platform / subsea node directly connected to a regional network
The transport network, in the case of platform and shore
connections, will not differ from an ordinary telecommunication
terrestrial or subsea network in terms of architecture, design and
equipment needed. For infrastructures such as process system cables
or control umbilicals, this can be utilized to implement optical fibres
that interface to the optical network.
For telecommunication networks (see later section) that go beyond
simple subscriber lines the topology of choice are rings or mesh.
Restoration switching is typically in the 10 ms region and normally
 Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
Figure 3: Subsea distribution with fibre optic transmission from controls
 
facility to subsea routers and local electrical distribution
protects against both link failures and node failure (in all other than the
access node for a specific application).The configuration is also good for
upgrading or servicing nodes and links as the rest of the network can
take over the load of a specific link when sufficient bandwidth is built into
the system and a proper network management strategy is implemented.
Future System Options
Merging Telecom Standard Systems and State of the art Subsea
Optical Fibre Communication Systems
For StatoilHydro’s Tyrihans field, the subsea system features a
traditional umbilical configuration. One control umbilical connects
the topside facility and the subsea templates in series. At each of the
4 well slot templates, fibres are branched off to redundant router
modules, ref. Figure 3. The router modules feature Ethernet interfaces
that connect to the subsea control modules and optionally to
general purpose (future) applications. Each Subsea Control Module
(SCM) also features spare Ethernet connection points. In this way, a
flexible and open architecture is provided.
Ethernet over electrical cables is currently limited to less than
100 m distance. In a case where a more remote interface is required,
marinized DSL modems may be used to extend the network.
For future telecom ring or mesh systems, the Tyrihans
communication system, and optionally the subsea control modules,
can interface to a telecom network node subsea as described below.
Telecom Fibre Optic Subsea Cable Types and Components
The technologies developed for the telecom industry, that is of interest
includes cables, components such as repeaters / amplifiers for long haul
transmission links, branching devices for festoon networks, and repair joints.
The fibre optic telecommunication cables for subsea installation
may roughly be split into two categories:
· c ables for repeaterless systems with no conductors for power
feeding
· cables for repeater systems with a single conductor to power
active components
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Figure 4: A typical main umbilical (left) compared in scale to three
submarine telecommunications cables (right) the larger at the bottom
typically used in shallow water for extra protection
The principles of maintaining optical properties for the fibres, and
providing sufficient mechanical protection, are similar for both types
of cables.
In telecom applications the repeatered systems are typically used
for long haul (>500km) systems (transport networks), and typically,
the cables and repeaters are designed for no more than 8 fibre
pairs. Cables for repeaterless systems allow “unlimited” fibre count,
whenever there is no need for optical amplification. Transmission
distance for repeaterless communication may be extended by Erbium
Doped Fibre Amplifiers (EDFA), which can be optically pumped from
the shore.
Branching devices are standard components for the various types
of fibre optic submarine cables. Typically, the principle of branching is
based on add and drop fibres, however add and drop of wavelengths
is possible.
Cable joints can be used for network expansions and connections
to blind ends, and are necessary for repair of installed cables.
Subsea Connectivity / Cable Termination Unit
For network expansion and connecting network segments subsea, as
well as for connecting subsea equipment to cables, there is a need of
a versatile termination unit providing wet mate connectivity. Such a
unit is being developed in the IFOSS project.
This unit will, in addition to be utilized as a passive connection,
have the possibility of being expanded to hosting telecom
components for interfacing local applications. Such active
components can be implemented into standardized canisters with
IWIS / SIIS compatible interfaces for instrumentation, and 1 or 10
Gigabits per second (Gbps) Ethernet for general communication
interfaces.
Also, the unit may be used as a stand alone structure for
equipment in the vicinity of the wells or template. The various
applications for the unit are schematically shown in Figure 5.
Power is typically provided by the telecom system in case of a
repeatered system, and from the application for expansion into a
non-repeatered system.
Sensor Interfaces
Sensors mounted subseas generally have limited access for service
and calibration. This generally would call for simple well proven
sensors and inherent fail safe solutions. Following the rout of
SIIS standardization on well proven technology (4-20mA current
loop) for the simplest sensors is a good option. For the next level
a field buss solution is the logical choice (SIIS has chosen CAN
– Controller Area Network [instrumentation bus standard]). For
Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
 
Figure 5: Network connectivity options
the most advanced sensors producing very high data rates, or
where it is advantageous to access standard telecom solutions,
Ethernet and IP access provides several advantages. We are
moving in this direction for instruments that are accessed
remotely (SIIS level 3, that is under development, will be based on
transparent links over Ethernet TCP/IP – Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol). The communication industry is
constantly developing new solutions and applications that build on
Ethernet and IP, in particular safety solutions and remote service
and upgrade solutions. To reduce development and qualification
time many sensor suppliers (not limited to subsea and down
hole) develop advanced sensors on microprocessor platforms and
relatively standardized programmable and upgradeable hardware,
putting most of the functionality in software. For the subsea and
downhole industry, as a small industry, standardized hardware
is an advantage for reducing development cost. It also reduces
risk in installing new sensors with a limited track record. Even
better for the operator is the option of having the manufacturers
follow up and upgrade unproven sensors. For the manufacturer,
to do this from his office over a standard network interface is
the preferred solution, freeing up resources and allowing for
improved reliability.
As a general rule it is an advantage to try to utilize the same
sensor interrogator for several individual sensors. Sensors that are
not well proven can thus be verified for different conditions. This
improves statistics in sensor verification, particularly for fibre optic
sensors, where more or less all functionality is in the interrogation
unit. For example, if the same Distributed Sensor (DTS) box reads
the geothermal gradient in one shut in well, what ever temperature
variation it reads in a producing well is likely to be correct. Hence,
this is an argument for multiplexing sensors, which also presents the
possibility of redundant interrogators and improved availability.
Control System Implications
An open architecture for the subsea control system means that it
needs to feature industry acknowledged standards for interface, and
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spare connections points must be available at different locations.
Communication speed and number of access points must be
sufficient to cater for future needs. We anticipate we have just seen
the start of the revolution in sensors enabled by the increase in
available bandwidth. Specifying higher bandwidth from the outset
than that initially deemed necessary is a minimal investment in
staying future proof for 10, 20 or even more years. Also, going with
established standards (1 or 10 Gigabit Ethernet - GbE) is a good
strategy to fight obsolescence, provide straightforward access for
new instruments, and improve the capability to expand control to
new wells.
Backup communication over the power cables may be feasible
for some system layouts, but in general the availability of a telecom
system will avoid the need for backup communication over the
power cables.
To reduce the dependency on single optical fibres, a high speed
network for interconnecting the subsea control modules may be
considered.
Infrastructure Utilization and Specific
Challenges
Advanced Control - Subsea Rotating Machinery
During late fall 2007, the Tordis Subsea Separator Boosting
Injector (SSBI) system was put in operation, creating a milestone in
environmentally friendly Increased Oil Recovery (IOR) technology.
The Tordis SSBI system as depicted below separates water, oil and
gas and re-injects the produced water into the reservoir while
boosting the oil to the receiving facility. A remotely controlled sand
handling system is implemented to remove any produced sand.
For systems like the Tordis SSBI, fibre optical communication is
mandatory for data speed and noise immunity. Although the Tordis
SSBI system does not utilize fibre optic instruments, it is expected
that future systems will, such as distributed temperature, pump
condition (temperature, vibration), and possibly level and leakage
monitors.
Another important emerging technology for gas field
developments is gas compression. Both for the Ormen Lange and
Åsgard subsea developments, significant activities are ongoing
for qualification of the technology gaps. Gas compressors are
sophisticated units and rapid response is required both to control
the magnetic bearings and to control the anti surge valves. It
is natural to close these control loops subsea, while the inlet
separator level and compressor speed may be controlled from the
remote process control system. Again, fibre optic communication is
mandatory and fibre optic monitoring is advantageous.
High Bandwidth Applications
The sensor systems in use still are generally not very demanding
with respect to bandwidth requirements (the exception today being
multiphase meters and some advanced downhole instruments),
but there are several potential applications that will benefit from
increased bandwidth.
· Advanced condition and leakage monitoring for seabed systems
· Seabed and in well seismic systems
· Environmental monitoring and seabed observatories
· Connection to drilling and workover rigs in areas with little
topside infrastructStaged Developments
 Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
Staged Development
A challenge and an opportunity coming up are tiebacks connecting
to an existing topside infrastructure that will involve increasing
step out distances. Reusing subsea infrastructure, in particular
flow lines, can be an enabler to step out further from topside
infrastructure than otherwise would be financially viable. Particularly
for communications, it is easy to reach out further, or add
communication capacity, as standard technology today offers a large
surplus of bandwidth. To rely on such a strategy it is important to
have a backbone network that also offers sufficient routing options
and is sufficiently fault tolerant to insure failures are not allowed to
take down the entire network. Relying totally on one umbilical for
communications can become too much of a liability. Challenges are
larger for the other lines/services normally needed.
Multilateral Wells
For StatoilHydro the trend is definitely towards long horizontal
wells, longer reach drilling, and multi lateral wells. On the Troll field
in particular, StatoilHydro drills subsea wells with 5 or more laterals.
Access into these new advanced wells is limited. Today there are very
few viable options for getting information from across the sand face
in the completed wells. The largest limitation is having access beyond
the junctions. This is not only for instrumentation, but also for doing
Production Logging and Testing (PLT). If optical fibre connections
through the junctions are presently not available, developing the
technology to accomplish this would make these advanced wells
even more attractive
Well Head Penetrations
Well head penetration for subsea wells are of limited availability.
This is even more so for horizontal trees and for HTHP applications.
In addition, a wellhead penetration system will involve several
connectors. In typical applications, including the jumper cable, there
are typically two wet mate and two dry mate connectors located
within less than 5 m of fibre. Also, due to the high pressure barrier
built in to the penetrators, some of these connections are more
demanding for achieving low loss connections than normal subsea
connectors.
Wet Mate Connectors
Wet mate connectors for subsea use are available. However, they
cost multiple times their electrical counterparts. Also, the losses and
back reflection available today end result in limitations that dictate
really short distances for regular point to point tiebacks. To allow for
sample variation one needs to calculate with conservative numbers,
but roughly insertion losses of 0.35 dB (some vendors guarantee
not better than 1 dB) and return loss on the order of -35 dB are
characteristic. When typical developments use 2 connector pairs for
each tie in point (template or manifold), the losses associated with
the connectors account for more than 3 km of fibre in the umbilical.
Hence, internal losses in the connectors tend to dominate the
overall loss budget.
Marinized Fibre Optic Interrogators
Generally there are few marinized interrogators. There has been
reported installation ready Bragg grating interrogators, and also
claims that marinized DTS can be purchased, but there is hardly
any track record and many projects will today find hurdles that are
hard to overcome with the available technology. As a part of the
IFOSS project Weatherford is working on marinizing fibre optic
interrogators.
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New Network Approaches
In order to further extend networks we need solutions that go
beyond the traditional point to point high speed communication
coupled with slow backup communication channels. Back-up links in
traditional systems are typically too slow to support the functionality
required for full operation. With high speed links >100 Mb/s for
most purposes, one link can support several control systems without
limiting existing or coming applications.
High Speed Ethernet Connections on the Seabed
One of the easiest ways to extend the network is to go through
routers, as is done in data networks and regular telecom. Step-out
links can be electrical for short lengths or moderate data speed.
Optical links can be used for longer reach. The disadvantage with
this approach with staged developments is the daisy chaining of
routers and optical links. The advantage is it leaves an open standard
connectivity that also can be used for temporary connections like
hooking up a drilling rig to the network.
Wavelength Division Multiplexing
It is possible to prepare for all future extension by dedicated fibres;
the disadvantage with this approach is that it requires a large
number of fibres and connectors. A better approach can be to drop
wavelengths instead of fibres. This is under current investigation in
the IFOSS project. Utilizing regular telecom approaches, more than
40 Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) channels can easily fit
onto one fibre. For our subsea use it is unlikely that we will ever
use so many but, as an example, 10 WDM channels and 16 fibres
in the umbilical will potentially serve 80 router modules with full
redundancy, exceeding most regional needs.
Utilization of Fibre in the Umbilical for Fibre Optic Sensors
A good alternative for systems where there is a fixed set of fibres
in the umbilical, where fibres are dropped at each template, is to
utilize the fibre in the umbilical for fibre optic sensors that may share
interrogators across the templates (or manifolds). Hence, an optical
interrogator can be localized far out in the system and connect wells
in both directions along the umbilical. Utilizing WDM for the digital
communication can allow for freeing up fibres for dedicated sensor
use, even with as little as 16 fibres in the umbilical.
The limitation for optical interrogators is primarily the loss budget.
Typical interrogators have loss budgets in the order of 10 to 15 dB.
A typical example:
· total fibre loss 10 km subsea 2.3 dB,
· down hole fibre 2-4 dB
· subsea connectors 2-3 dB
· tubing hanger feed through system 3 dB
· down hole connectors and splices 1-2 dB
As a result of the number of connectors required both subsea and
in a deep well, the stand off distance subsea will typically be limited
to less than 10 km. However, a 10 km reach from a central template
would normally allow us to reach all of a single field development.
Other components that may be unavoidable, like slip rings for FPSOs,
are more or less excluded in larger systems due to insertion loss.
The fibre loss is almost down to the theoretical limit, the only real
parameter to improve on is connector losses. Connector losses can
and should be fought in two ways:
 Feature: Integrated Fibre Optic Subsea System
Figure 6: IFOSS can provide connectivity in inaccessible regions, in this case illustrated as an operation in the arctic where the subsea system can be covered
by ice parts of the year.
· Reducing the number of connectors required
· Improving on connector performance
The improved optical budget should probably be used for improving
reliability (loss margins) and sensor multiplexing for reasons outlined
earlier. One way of improving the optical budget could be using
dedicated fibre cables with a more efficient distribution/routing.
Additional capacity can also be added to older fields by installing a
separate optical cable (whose main function could well be digital
communication), adding whatever number of fibres required.
Breaking the fibres out in selected locations is an easy adaptation of
telecom technology.
The fundamental advantage with fibre optic sensors is that the
downhole sensor is a passive fibre. The price is that the signal needs
to go roundtrip over the interrogation length. In addition, tools from
digital transmission (like error correction) are not available. Hence
the utilization of the analog fibre infrastructure is an entirely different
ballgame than digital communication except for simple topologies of
limited lengths. Return loss is, for most applications, less of an issue
than loss. Partly, system engineering can often minimize the effect
of known back reflections. Partly, reducing the back reflection in
connectors is more a question of accepting a little extra cost.
Connectivity Particularly in Early Phases of a Development
One aspect that is important when considering a separate
communication infrastructure is the ability to go in early and
establish the connectivity. This can be done using telecom cable laying
vessels. There are several of these ships available around the world,
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and generally availability is much better than for umbilical laying
vessels. The same goes for the manufacturing of a subsea telecom
cable compared to a typical umbilical. A communication cable in place
will allow reliable high speed data connectivity to shore and also
support data transfer during drilling. It may open up the possibility
of a more flexible field development by not being so reliant on the
availability of umbilicals (and flow lines).
Network Expansion – Late Life
The ability to gradually and, when needed, expand a network
requires flexibility in routing both digital communication and optical
sensor signals, assuming there are connectors available. Also, it is
necessary that the connectors perform according to specification
after years in the water. The number of qualified mate demate cycles
available with present connectors is, on paper, sufficient. However,
few operators have experience with mating connectors that have
been on the seabed for years. This is entering uncharted territory
and the implication on availability when needed is still under
investigation. Probably, we will first gain experience with temporary
connections over time before massively depending on having a
pluggable extension available.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank colleagues in StatoilHydro, Nexans
Norway and FMC Technologies for support in the preparation of this
paper. A particular thanks to Svein Omdal of StatoilHydro and Brian
Drakeley of Weatherford for making the project happen.