APPLICATION: ADCP data helps move offshore rig

Data Moves a Big Rig

Here is the RDI 300kHz ADCP being mounted on the drillship’s ROV. The ADCP has a deep water casing, since it gathered continuous data as the ROV moved from surface to bottom in the 8800 feet of water.

COA's Ghost Buoy with 300kHz Workhorse Sentinel and radio telemetry antenna

Imagine the costs and risks involved in moving an oil-drilling rig to a location affected by both tidal currents and the Gulf Stream.

For a recent operation, Coastal Ocean Associates (COA) of Nova Scotia used a new approach. They installed a downward-looking 300 kHz Workhorse Sentinel ADCP™ on a buoy moored adjacent to the destination production platform. Data was telemetered from the buoy to the control room of the rig using a radio modem. As the rig approached to within 16 km of the platform, real-time current profile data were received in the Control Room and used by the Tow Master to develop and adjust his approach plan.

Teledyne RDI's versatile 300kHz Workhorse Sentinel ADCP™ was also used in Self Contained mode prior to the move, to gather data for tidal model predictions.

A drill rig move is an expensive undertaking. Accurate, real-time data can save a company thousands of dollars by reducing the time it takes to position a rig, as well as reducing overall risk to equipment and staff. Use of the radio telemetry to transmit data from the unit to the control center provides the right data to the right people at the right time.