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Applications

Arrival Condition Monitoring Equipment, or ACME, is an alternative system to a standard gauging pig.  It provides the facility to determine, from a remote location, the condition of the gauge plate on a pig’s arrival at the pig receiver, avoiding the need to physically recover, remove and examine the gauge pig, thereby saving significant vessel and intervention costs when working subsea.

ACME uses a gauge plate with a simple ‘break-wire’ sensor, set to break on a pre-defined amount of gauge plate deflection.

The break-wire activates or modifies the output of a pig-mounted pinger, which is detected as it happens or when the pig arrives in the receiver.  The information can be broadcast “locally” to an ROV or adjacent facility, or “remotely” to a DSV at the launch site.
If used with a suitable pinger in a pig-tracking mode, damage detection can be broadcast during the pig run.

If damage does occur to the plate, and if a PSL Impact Logger is used, it is possible to determine where the plate became damaged, such that the possibility of damage at launch/receipt can be discounted.

Features

• Existing gauge pigs may be easily adapted to operate with ACME
• Ease of installation of the ‘listening’ module at receive
• Broadcasts to the launch end or another convenient location, using a dedicated transmitter system (Up to 4km)
• May be used in conjunction with data logger to achieve project objectives

Benefits

• Remotely confirms the acceptability of pipeline bore
• Enables immediate commencement of hydrotesting
• Increases support vessel efficiency
• Eliminates early pig trap removal/pig recovery
• Allows more flexible schedule optimisation
• No additional risk to project schedule when used, only benefits
• Frees support vessel to do other work

Experience

The ACME system has been successfully used and operated in the UK, Continental shelf and Australasia.

Click below for a relevant download

Arrival Conditioning Monitoring Equipment (ACME).pdf (359 Kb)
webmaster - 12:26pm - May 20, 2004