Offshore windfarm projects under development face significant business challenges, even for seasoned developers. Newer sites are situated farther from shore, endure harsher metocean conditions, and utilize floating structures.
- far from shore, in harsher metocean conditions,
- spread over large areas, and
- utilizing floating structures.
Floating turbines, connected to anchors by mooring lines, face notable challenges. These lines are prone to corrosion and fatigue, causing failures. Due to the complexity and scale, floating offshore windfarms need cost-effective mooring monitoring systems to reduce inspection and operational costs. Although direct mooring load measurements are preferred, these systems often fail and can’t be guaranteed for the windfarm’s lifespan.
The higher investment in floating projects necessitates a balanced business case for life extension, making structural health data collection vital.
BMT specializes in marine environments and offshore structures, offering tools for asset operators to automate data acquisition for operational planning and failure prediction in harsh conditions.
With decades in offshore energy, BMT has developed a Mooring Condition Monitoring System (MCMS) for floating wind. The MCMS monitors mooring line loads in near real-time, enhancing risk-based inspections while reducing offshore time and costs.
The system uses reliable sensors such as DGPS units, tri-axial accelerometers, and angular rate sensors. These sensors are proven, cost-efficient, and accessible for servicing, ensuring they don’t interfere with mooring operations.
Data from MCMS sensors is processed through the BMT DEEP analytics platform, using Digital Twin technology to synchronize data from multiple sources. BMT analysts and algorithms control the data quality, feeding it to a mooring solver engine that evaluates tension loads and fatigue damage.
Business insights can be accessed securely through dashboards on the BMT DEEP cloud platform, with clients retaining data ownership.
BMT’s innovation is highlighted in a paper co-authored by Dr. Suvabrata Das, awarded first prize at the OMAE® 2024 ASME conference. Access the full paper to explore how this innovation helps tackle challenges in floating offshore windfarm projects.
Note: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of offshoreWIND.biz
Original Story at www.offshorewind.biz