Shell Brazil and Saipem, an Italian oil and gas industry contractor, will together launch commercially the FlatFish project, an R&D venture undertaken by Shell and other partners.

FlatFish is an AUV dedicated to the inspection of subsea structures and pipelines. This project was conceived in 2014, and it was a finalist in 2017 for the Brazilian Petroleum Agency’s Technology Innovation Award.

This announcement was made in late February 2018 after Shell and Saipem signed an agreement for the industrial production and commercialization of the AUV. According to Shell Brazil, FlatFish is expected to be available commercially in 2020.

“The signing of this agreement is a landmark for FlatFish. The great challenge in research and development is to turn invention into innovation, i.e. to deploy high-impact results into the field and promote benefits to the society,” said Tom Moroney, vice president for deep water and wells technologies for Shell. “We are taking that leap, and I am sure much more is coming in the future.”

The project, the first of its kind to be produced in Brazil, was developed by the Anglo-Dutch operator in partnership with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Brazilian Institute of Robotics. The vehicle is designed to reduce the cost of tasks by up to 50%, allowing more frequent inspections without requiring a support vessel and increasing environmental and labor security.

To achieve this, a variety of acoustic and optical sensors are employed and a subsea docking station will be designed. Two identical AUVs will be built, enabling simultaneous software development in both Brazil and Germany.

It is expected the AUV will be used in Brazil and in other countries around the world, with capacity to carry out subsea activities in both shallow and deep waters.

For Stefano Porcari, COO of Saipem’s offshore engineering and construction division, the subsea vessel represents a new addition to the company’s new generation of resident subsea robotic vehicles for more efficient and continuous Life of Field support for operators.” Saipem is very proud and excited to contribute to the development of the FlatFish,” Porcari said.

How Flatfish Works

The vehicle, which is docked near an offshore facility and connected to a power supply and data uplink, enables the operator (either on the facility or at a remote location) to command the equipment to perform an inspection task. Where the inspection target is remote from the facility, the AUV undocks and follows a pipeline or flowline to a target area while collecting acoustic and visual data of the pipeline or flowline. Upon reaching the target area, acoustic and visual data from the inspection object are gathered.

The vehicle then backtracks using acoustic- and visual-homing algorithms to return and connect to the docking station. The recorded data are then uploaded to be processed by automated systems and/or the human operator while the vehicle’s battery is being recharged. At the same time, the operator has the option to define a follow-up mission.

According to Shell Brazil, one of the biggest challenges of FlatFish was to develop a vehicle that can stay underwater and navigate autonomously and reliably with no outside support from operators.

“The vehicle will operate in a totally dynamic and variable environment, capable of handling different possibilities, and having the intelligence to evaluate the best way to solve all types of problems during each mission,” Shell Brazil told SEN.

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