Pipe can be laid across uneven seafloor areas

Paul Boughton
Cutting edge technology which it is claimed  has the capability of saving the oil and gas sector significant cash will be the centrepiece of a Subsea Europe in London.

AGR Subsea Ltd, part of the AGR Group, will showcase groundbreaking seabed intervention technology at the event.

AGR Subsea says the ClayCutter X system offers considerable savings by allowing pipe to be laid across uneven seafloor areas where pipelay was previously impossible or only feasible with extensive rock installation work.

ClayCutter X is the result of a seven-figure investment by AGR Subsea in hardware and fluid flow design work. The technology enables companies to pre-trench and remodel sections of seabed that were previously impenetrable.

Central to the pioneering system are three containerised high pressure pumps which deliver precise, powerful jets of water that cut through seabed clay at high, controlled rates. Each pump is powered by a 3,000 hp marine diesel engine, and the pumps have been designed so that they can be utilised on other applications when not performing ClayCutter projects.

John Sands, UK General Manager of AGR Subsea said: “The technology provides a new way of excavating the seabed. Although the equipment was primarily designed for clay we can cope with widely varying seabed soils, opening up the possibility of routing pipelines through difficult seafloor areas where previously lines would have skirted around obstacles. Reducing the total length of lines plus reducing or eliminating other seabed interventions such as rock dump is very attractive to installation contractor and operators alike.”

The technique builds on a number of previous attempts over the past thirty years or so to use water to trench in stiff clays. In developing the ClayCutter X, AGR’s engineers used the lessons from earlier systems to refine the technology and ensure that the ClayCutter X offered maximum flexibility, with the ability to reconfigure the cutting equipment while in the water. In addition the development work on the pump set has delivered seamless and reliable delivery of high pressure, high volume water to the tool.

The system works by directing many high pressure water jets at the seabed, through the ClayCutter X manifold system. The position of the equipment is dictated by the position of the vessel from which it is deployed. Physical contact with the seabed is not required, as all the cutting work is performed by the high pressure jets or, in softer soils, with high-volume water cannons mounted on the ClayCutter X body. Key to the success of the system is the ability to vary the tool’s configuration while it is in use, and the use of high-power centrifugal pumps which can range from high pressure to high volume without the need to change out pump liners.

ClayCutter X

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