HarshMoP

Continuous Monitoring System in multi-use offshore platforms in operation for the early detection of corrosion combined with corrosion protection systems.

Funding: Public-private partnership project

The activity is part of the HarshMoP project, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 by the European Union "NextGenerationEU"/PRTR "4.

File number: CPP2021-008523

Partners

• Ingeteam
• Enerocean  
• Ceit
• Plocan
• Lurederra

Summary

The project consists of the design of a monitoring system combining corrosion monitoring with turbine monitoring and integrating data from the physical and chemical parameters of the sea and meteoceanic data. In addition, the complete monitoring system is complemented by the design of a protection system based on new coatings in order to improve the protection of the structure against corrosion. The monitoring system allows us, on the one hand, to more precisely estimate the state and degradation of the material of the floating platform structure and, on the other hand, to carry out an in-depth analysis of the protection offered by the new coatings in service. The HarshMoP solution (monitoring system plus protection system) should be able to be used on different types of floating platforms and mainly for different applications. It must be taken into account that the phenomenon of corrosion can be different depending on the use that is given to the platform. On the one hand, the project must achieve a reduction in the high costs involved in maintenance operations on offshore platforms and, on the other hand, automate these operations more efficiently in order to reduce the number of inspections and thus the number of trips to the platform, even thereby reducing possible accidents and CO2 emissions.

Project goals:

Regarding the continuous corrosion monitoring solution, the following objectives are proposed:

• Permanent, robust and reliable acquisition of data monitoring.
• Non-intrusive and non-destructive corrosion detection technique capable of detecting uniform and localized corrosion.
• Integration with the solutions for monitoring the wind turbine, sea and meteorological parameters and with the sensors currently installed on the floating platform in order to improve early detection of corrosion.
• Monitoring of the submerged zone, the splash zone and the atmospheric zone.
• Robust wireless sending of the thickness loss measurement due to corrosion to the integral system developed.
• Unattended operation for long periods of time (3-5 years).
• The size of the system should be tens of centimeters to facilitate the deployment of the sensor nodes on the floating platform.
• The measurement rate must be parameterizable in order to increase it when necessary.

The objectives related to the design of new coatings are the following:

• Formulations consisting of advanced technologies with a mainly inorganic nature, high thermal and chemical stability, including ceramic nanoparticles.
• Matrix of easy-to-apply liquid formulations, such as through the spray technique, which allows uniform distribution in a wide variety of elements due to its versatility in terms of shapes and sizes.
• Efficient applications with low curing temperatures reaching ~100ºC.
• Coatings with a thickness much lower than what is currently on the market (< 30 μm), but with the same or greater anticorrosive properties.
• Single or multi-layer treatment adaptable to the conditions, including a base with cathodic protection that contains metallic components and a coating (top coat) for greater hardness and moisture repellency.

Ceit's role in the project

Ceit will lead the development of the corrosion monitoring solution. The samples produced by LUR EDERRA will be necessary to characterize the ultrasound-based monitoring system using the new coatings developed by them. Furthermore, the corrosion monitoring solution developed by Ceit will be integrated with the turbine monitoring system developed by INGETEAM and with the meteoceanic monitoring system developed by PLOCAN. The integrated monitoring solution will be deployed on the W2Power floating platform of ENEROCEAN.

Ceit will design the hardware and the embedded processing of the sensor nodes to detect the thickness losses due to corrosion in the metallic structures covered by the new coatings. Additionally, the designed solution will be characterized and tested in lab for a set of samples with representative conditions. Ceit will install the sensors in the W2Power and validate the solution in a real offshore platform. On the other hand, Ceit will design the subsea wireless communication system to complement the solution and target the submerged area as well.