OTC 12095 A New Seabed Penetrometer

J. Meunier, IFREMER, D. Sangouard and B. Lhuillier, GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE

Copyright 2000, Offshore Technology Conference This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2000 Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, 14 May 2000. This paper was selected for presentation by the OTC Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Offshore Technology Conference or its officers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented.

Abstract There is today no operational system able to perform geotechnical measurements with standard 36 mm CPT cones in deep sea with a depth of investigation of 20 to 30 metres below the sea-bed. The advantage of the new system is that it will allow surveys in deep sea in a more cost-effective manner. GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE, a French Marine Contractor with deep water geotechnical tools capabilities and IFREMER, a French Research Institute for exploitation of the sea, joined to design and build a new seabed penetrometer which will be operated by GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE for industrial operations and by IFREMER for scientific applications. The IFREMER's version is now under assembly. The first tests at sea of the penetrometer are expected for mid2000. Introduction The current trend for offshore oil developments is to move into deeper water. There will therefore be a growing need for reliable soil design parameters in deep water, for the design of structure foundations, for the anchoring of floating production and storage systems, for pipeline laying and for slope stability problems. Scientists are also interested in in-situ measurements for different topics: sediment characterisation, slope stability, environmental studies, hazard mapping, stratification logging, indication of stress history and lithology deposits,... The tool designed by GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE and IFREMER is a frame which is lifted over the seabed and which remains during the duration of the measurement. The penetrating system is based on a flexible rod which is pushed by friction into the soil. For scientific applications, the tool is called "Penfeld", the penetration force is limited to 40 kN

which allows a penetration of 20 metres into the soft soils encountered in deep seas. Several locations can be investigated during the same deployment of the system. The industrial version called "DS7000" will be built with higher capacities. In a first step, the penetrometer will be equipped with a conventional cone including the measurements of point resistance, shaft resistance and pore pressure. Further a new cone will be developed specially devoted to high pressure environment, including differential pore pressure and complementary sensors such as a gamma-densimeter and a thermometer. Need of sea bed measurements in deep sea The offshore activities are now moving from the continental shelf to deep seas. This change modifies the needs in soil surveys. On the continental shelf, the main object of the surveys for foundation design of platforms was to obtain information on the soil for the design of the piles for the anchoring of platforms. The piles were 50 metres, 100 metres long, even more. A typical survey consisted generally in a cored borehole over all the length of the pile, and an instrumented borehole, using a wire line Cone Penetrometer Test performed by length of 3 metres. In order to perform such a survey, a geotechnical vessel with facilities in drilling was needed. These methods are operational only in water depths less than 200 metres. Even if some trials were performed successfully in deeper water, they become difficult to operate: weight of the drillstring, hydrodynamic forces on the drillstring,... and they are very expensive. In deep water the subject of surveys moves. It does not concern only the survey for the design of foundations of structures on the seabed, but also the survey of zones on which geological hazards may occur. When in shallow water a survey can be limited only to the location of the foundation of the structure, in deep sea a survey must be conducted at three different scales, then along the slope dangers can come from zones situated uphill. The three scales of surveys are: The regional scale It corresponds to an area of about 100x100 km2; the

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survey consists mainly in bathymetry and multibeam echo sounder. The local scale It corresponds to an area of about 10x10 km2; the survey consists mainly in sonar imaging and High Resolution seismics. The site scale It corresponds to the location of the foundation and the area is about 1x1 km2; the survey consists in very high resolution seismics or in sediment penetrator and in in-situ measurements. Acoustic data can be calibrated thanks to samples collected over the zones, but generally in-situ measurements are performed on the site of the foundation or on a target presenting a particular risk. In deep sea, the structures are founded on shallow foundations or on suction caissons. Anchoring of lines are necessary. The depth of investigation in the soils is smaller than on the continental shelf and is limited to 20 to 30 metres. Moreover the problems of slope stability require generally surveys over 10 to 20 metres. The shallower sediment layers are concerned. The other geological hazards met in deep water slope, need to be recognised in order to be avoided or in order to estimate the risk they implies on the oil field installations. It is the case for diapirs, mud volcanoes, gas expulsions, outcrops of hydrates,... The needs expressed above, show that in deep sea an optimal penetrating depth for geotechnical in-situ measurements is 20 to 30 metres. Existing tools The Tethered Seafloor Platform (TSP) prototype was developed and tested for the purpose of obtaining in situ property measurements in water depths as great as 3000 metres. The concept was to design and built a subsea module that could continuously measure geotechnical properties from the seafloor down to approximately 70 metres. The full injection force is 180 kN. The work was performed by Rapp Marine in Norway, Fugro-McClelland in Houston for Mobil. [Humphrey and al, 1995] The Seascout seabed frame deploys a mini-cone, and is assembled on a tripod weighing less than 10 kN. The penetration is 2.5 metres or by extension 5.0 metres. It can be operated by an umbilical or by a ROV. [Power and al, 1992] The wheeldrive Seacalf has been developed by Fugro for carrying out seabed CPTs. Since it utilises a hydraulic umbilical, it has a limitation in water depth of 800 m. The Geotechnical Module has been developed by IFREMER. It can support a penetrometer, a vane and a push sampler. It is weighing 20 kN in air. The penetration of the penetrometer is limited to 2 meters deep and data are recorded every 2 cm. The penetration of the vane is 0.6 metres. The

Geotechnical Module is powered by batteries and the sequences are pre-established before deployment. During each launching, one core and several measurements can be performed by moving the module from a location to an other one. It can be operated down to 6000 metres. Special cones were developed with high sensibility, and a gammadensimeter cone is available. [Balzer and al, 1994]

Description of the system GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE and IFREMER have joined in order to realise a sea-bed penetrometer deploying a rod down to 20 to 30 meters deep inside the sediment. The final objectives being slightly different between the contractor and the research institute, it has been decided to built two systems based on the same principle. The main differences are as follow: The IFREMER system must be operated on oceanographic vessels equipped with U-frame at the rear of the vessel. The IFREMER system has to be operated down to 6000 meters deep regarding scientific topics, while the GEOCEANSOLMARINE system is limited to 2 000 metres, where are the most of offshore activities. For industrial purposes, it is compulsory to collect the data in real time. When the system is operated in deeper sea, the soils are softer, and the reaction required to penetrate the tube is weaker. Taking account of these remarks, the main characteristics of the two systems are given in table 1.
GEOCEAN-SOLMARINE DS7000 30 metres 60 to 100 kN Suction foundation Electric by umbilical from the surface By umbilical By operator 60 kN IFREMER PENFELD 20 to 30 metres 40 kN Shallow foundation with skirts Batteries Recording on board the system or acoustic link Automatic by programme 40 to 60 kN

Depth of penetration Force of penetration Soil reaction Energy supply Data transfer Command Total weight

Table 1 : Comparison between DS7000 and Penfeld

At the beginning of the year 2000 the IFREMER apparatus is in assembly. Trials of each element are performed successively. Tests of the whole system are expected in April 2000 and the first sea trials are planned in June 2000 on R/V Le Suroit in the Mediterranean sea. A description of each element of the Penfeld (Fig. 1) is given below.

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A NEW SEABED PENETROMETER

between every parts of the system, to transmit the efforts of the injector during the penetration or the retrieval of the tube and to spread the efforts over the soil. It includes three parts: the higher part which protects the mechanical elements against the handling shocks, the middle part which holds the mechanical elements and the lower part which holds the batteries and which is used as foundation. A joint between the lower frame and the other parts allows the introduction of the rod horizontally during the setting of the straightner module. The system of penetration The system of penetration called "injector" is a system based on two chains including slippers. Jaws applied by four spring jacks compress the rod between the slippers. The contact between the jaws and the tube is steel. Two hydraulic motors including a reduction gear set the chains in motion. The friction coefficient taken into account is at least 0.4 and has been verified during the preliminary tests. The tube As it is impossible to operate a 30 metres straight tube in one piece, it is necessary to bend it. The technique used is the "coiled tubing" which consists in bending and straightening the tube plastically. The bended tube is winded on a drum. The material chosen is stainless steel. Tests have proven that the tube could resist over 100 cycles. The tube has a normalised section of 10 cm2 (35.8 mm in diameter). The tube is able to let a cable through, between the cone and the head of the tube. Procedures have been established in order to weld the different elements of the tube. The straightner and bending module The straightner and bending module includes five wheels in the same plane. The same system is used downwards in straightening the tube and upwards in bending the tube. The system is powered only by the injector. Once the tube is plasticized, the straightness is ensured. The wheels must be positioned very accurately, but they have not to be modified as long as the same tube is used. The tube is not subjected to deformation in the plane perpendicular to the wheels, and remains always in the same plane. The radius of curvature of the tube is constant. The system is placed above the injector (Fig. 2). The drum The bended tube is maintained on a drum. The tube goes on the side into the drum with the assistance of a wheel. The diameter is constant and is 2.2 metres large. The turns are joined. The drum does not need to be powered, only the weight of the tube has to be hold up. The centre of the drum is at the same level as the bending system.

Injector

Rod

Straightner and bending system

Drum

Hydraulic motors

Hydraulic power unit

Joint

Batteries

Fig. 1 : Scheme of the Penfeld penetrometer

The frame The function of the frame is to ensure the mechanical link

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vessel which will allow modifications of the penetration program while a deployment (Fig. 3).

Surface unit
Servitude sensors

Hydraulics
Acoustic link
Oil pressure Electro-valves control

ac Motor

Mission control and measurement

Machine command & control

Motor control Batteries voltage & current Power block Temperature

High voltage securities Power inverter Converters

24 V dc 180 V dc Batteries Instr. cone Command, control, power & hydraulics block diagram

Fig.2 : Injector and drum during tests

The batteries The energy is provided by batteries. IFREMER which operates unmanned vehicles as well as manned vehicles has a great experience in batteries immersed in equipression. For cost reasons, lead batteries have been chosen. The weight does not penalise, as the system must be weighing in order to balance the reaction during the penetration. The electric motor The hydraulic energy is provided by an asynchronous electric motor compatible with the two energy sources, dc batteries or ac electric power from umbilical from the surface. The hydraulic system The oil balanced hydraulic system supplies the two injector motors and the jacks of the accessories. Its contains two parts. The hydraulic power unit has a two constant delivery radial piston pomp, one flow for the motors of the injector, the other one for the jacks. The hydraulic distribution devices are plugged on a multi flange subplate in an oil balanced container. The power electronics container It contains the electric conversion chain and associated safety devices necessary to drive a 5 kW ac motor from a dc power source, as well as dc/dc converters for auxiliary needs. The main components are : Power reverser, over current and over temperature protection devices, internal air flow control, and power management electronics. The mission control and measurement unit This computer is in charge of the high level machine sequencing along a deployment, and the data acquisition from the instrumented cone. Penetration sequences are programmed on this computer before launch. However, it is planned to adapt an acoustic data link between this unit and the surface

Fig. 3 : Scheme of the command unit

The machine control unit This is a slave unit of the mission control and measurement computer, that drives the hydraulics and power electronics of the penetrometer. It is linked to a set of sensors (machine inclination, penetration force, hydraulic pressure...) in order to ensure the machine integrity throughout the deployment. In case of major failure, this unit can decide to interrupt a penetration sequence and retrieve the tube in emergency. The mission control and measurement unit and the machine control unit are located in a same pressuretight container. Servitude sensors In addition to the instrumented cone some sensors give important information on the progress and the security of the operations of the system: total force of penetration of the injector, horizontality of the platform, length of the tube into the soil, speed of penetration, tension on the bearing cable, hydraulic pressure, electric capacity of batteries, water pressure, water temperature.

The instrumented cone IFREMER has already developed for the Geotechnical Module an instrumented cone which can be operated in deep sea. But the maximum point resistance is very low, as the penetration is limited to 2 metres. Today there is not any cone available which corresponds to the requirement of the new Penetrometer. GEOCEANSOLMARINE and IFREMER are developing a new cone which will be operated down to 6000 metres deep. The cone will classically measure the following parameters: point resistance, lateral friction, differential pore pressure, tilt angle in two directions regarding the vertical line.

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A NEW SEABED PENETROMETER

Additional measurement will be densimetry, temperature, heath transfer.

added:

gamma-

Deployment of the system The IFREMER system is powered by batteries. A time sequential programme is established. It is loaded just before the deployment into the water. The system is lowered and laid over the seafloor. The first penetration can begin at the right time. The tube is pushed and retrieved. Then the system is shifted to the second location and so on, until the programme is over. A maximum of 9 to 10 locations can be measured by deployment taking account of the energy stored in the batteries. An acoustic link gives information to the operator in the vessel about the progress of the operations In a first time, the acoustic link is not used to send orders to the sea-bed system, because the link must be very reliable. The reliability of the system has not yet been tested enough.

Differential pore pressure On classical cones, the pore pressure is measured by an absolute sensor. In deep sea application this technique cannot be applied, then the variations of the pressure induced by pore pressure are very low compared to hydrostatic pressure and the measurement wouldn't be accurate enough. So, it is necessary to measure the differential pressure between the pore pressure and the hydrostatic pressure at the same level. To ensure this function, the sensor must be linked by a small pipe to the water in the sediment in contact with the cone through the porous stone (as usually) and in contact with the water inside the hole of the tube which is in relation with the free sea water over the seabed. The problem to solve is to let a free room in the electronic tank for this small pipe in a total diameter of 36 mm. Tilt angle The two angles with respect to the vertical line must be measured in order to be able to integrate during the penetration the deviation of the cone. It is possible to calculate exactly the position of every point of the tube. If the deviation is too high, the measurements are considered as being of bad quality and can be stopped. Gamma-densimetry The density measurement principle relies on the fact that the interaction of gamma rays by Campton scattering effect is dependant only on the number density of scattering electrons. The direct parameter obtained with a gamma-densimetry device is the electron density. The sediment density is determined using the fact that the atomic weight is approximately twice the atomic number in most rock-forming elements. The use of radioactive source imposes safety precautions on the personnel handling the probe. A container will protect people from radiation when the cone is on the deck of the vessel. It will also be used during the transportation of the cone and during the storage in laboratory. Thermometer The measurement of the temperature as well as the thermal conductivity is of high interest. The values of the geotechnical parameters can be influenced by the temperature. Temperature can also be an indicator for movement of fluids inside the sediment. Further development It is expected to adapt a seismic cone in order to perform Vertical Seismic Profiling in addition to the geotechnical measurements. VSPs help to correlate the seismic profiles with the in-situ measurements. [Nauroy and al, 1994]

Conclusion The new penetrometer will allow the acquisition of in-situ geotechnical data using a CPT cone in deep sea. A new cone will be developed including new sensors, in particular a gamma-densimeter. This new tool will offer new possibilities in geotechnical surveys in deep sea in a cost effective manner.

Acknowledgement The authors like to thank the staff of GEOCEANSOLMARINE and IFREMER who works on the project. Thanks to their co-operation the penetrometer will be soon operational. References
1. G.D. Humphrey, J.B. Adams, TSP - New Solution for geotechnical Studies in Deep Water Environments, OTC 7673, Houston, May 1995. 2. P.T. Power and J.M. Geise, Offshore Soil Investigation Techniques and Equipment for the next Century, BOSS '94, Boston. 3. Baltzer A., Cochonat P., Piper D.J.W. In situ geotechnical Characterisation of Sediments on the Scotian Slope, Eastern Canadian Continental Margin. Marine Geology, 1994, 120 p. 291-308. 4. J.F. Nauroy, J.C. Dubois, J. Meunier, A. Puech, J.L. Colliat, D. Poulet, F. Lapierre, The Use of VSP Technique in Geotechnical Boreholes: First Tests in Offshore Monaco, BOSS '94, Boston. 5. J.F. Nauroy, J.C. Dubois, J. Meunier, B. Marsset, A. Puech, F. Lapierre, J.P. Kervadec, H. Kuhn, Tests in offshore Monaco of new Techniques for a better Integration of Geotechnical and Seismic Data, OTC 7375, Houston , May 1994.