Distributed Temperature Monitoring of

Flexible Risers on the Dalia Field

A. Felix-Henry, S. Jacquemin (TECHNIP),

R. Hanssen (TOTAL), A. Strong
(SCHLUMBERGER SENSA)

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Abstract:
The Greater Dalia area is located in Block 17 offshore Angola, in 1300m water depth. The
subsea production and injection wells are connected to the FPSO via subsea manifolds, with
static and dynamic umbilicals, flexible risers, rigid flowlines and jumpers. Treated stabilized
crude oil will be periodically offloaded from the FPSO through mid-water offloading flexible
pipes between the FPSO and a Single Point Mooring buoy.
The design selected for the eight (8) insulated production risers, named Integrated
Production Bundle (IPB), is a new and innovative riser concept: the core of the structure is a
standard 10.8 ID flexible pipe dedicated to production fluid, and around the core, the
following components are equally distributed: electrical heating cables (6 off, for hydrate
management following shutdown), and gas-lift tubes (24 off, for riser base gas-lift injection).
Temperature monitoring of subsea pipelines is generally achieved by tapping into live pipe
with invasive temperature transducers located in subsea structures (manifolds, trees, etc.).
However a new method was selected on the Dalia field to monitor temperature along the IPB
flexible risers: the Distributed Temperature Sensor (DTS) using optical fibre technology.
Optical fibre temperature measurement has been used for several years in the offshore
industry and in downhole monitoring. Use of this technology in flexible risers and flowlines
was also fully validated in 2002. However the Dalia project was the worlds first practical
implementation of a DTS system in an offshore field flexible riser.
This paper presents the extent of the work performed on Dalia in relation to the choice of
temperature monitoring by optical fibre technology: integration of DTS system in IPB design,
thermal analysis of the riser and definition of the transfer functions (the link between bore and
gas-lift temperatures and temperature measurement at optical fibre location in the riser crosssection), offshore installation and calibration of the system and validation through site thermal
test of the production loops.
Operational considerations and field experience from the field operator are also presented in
this paper, confirming the real added value of this monitoring tool for the daily operations.

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Introduction:

The Integrated Production Bundle (IPB) is a new and innovative riser concept. It assembles
elements with various functions around a large bore flexible pipe structure. The assembly is a
bundle wrapped in a SZ configuration around the core which can incorporate tubes, hoses,
cables, optical fibres and riser heating system. Thermal insulation is also provided (Figure 1).

Gaslift tubes
Heat tracing cables

Figure 1 - IPB flexible pipe design

For the Dalia project [ref. /1/], the IPB riser system, incorporating gas-lift and riser heating
capability for preservation purposes, was selected to meet the challenging flow assurance
requirements [ref. /2/]. Following an earlier research and development phase, an extensive
qualification programme was conducted during the course of the project, including
mechanical and thermal tests, particularly required as this was the first offshore application of
the technology. The test program is further detailed in [ref. /3/].
In order to monitor the temperature along the IPB risers, a Distributed Temperature System
(DTS) based on optical fibres was incorporated in the pipe structure inside small stainless
steel tubes (0.25 diameter). The advantages of using small tubes integrated within the
flexible pipe structure for monitoring a flexible pipe system can be listed as follows:

The DTS can be easily implemented within an IPB structure or any flexible pipe
structure;

Only the stainless steel tubes are integrated during the pipe manufacture (i.e. optical
fibre is installed later): the tubes can therefore easily be welded or repaired if needed
with standard equipment and available personnel in the pipe manufacturing plant;

The optical fibre is deployed after installation of the riser in its final location;

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There is no risk of damaging the sensor during manufacture or pipe installation and as
such no need for optical fibre repair technicians which may delay the pipe
manufacture;

There is no need for complex and expensive optical fibre terminations and connectors:
only standard, cost effective tube connectors are used;

The optical fibre is integrated inside the flexible structure and is well protected by the
tube: it is not exposed to potential seawater ingress in the pipe annulus and corrosion
products;

The tubes are joined to form loops giving access to both ends of the optical fibre.
Double ended measurements are thus made with no fibre splicing; consequently the
accuracy of the measurements is increased;

In-situ maintenance of the system is feasible: the optical fibre can easily be replaced
during the life of the pipe.

The paper describes the optical fibre technology, the challenges met during the project phase,
the extent of work required to qualify and implement the DTS monitoring technology in the
Dalia IPB flexible risers and a highlight of the field experience following initial production
start-up.

IPB and DTS Qualification:

The developments performed since 2000 on the electrically heated IPB were summarized in
[ref. /4/]; further references are given in this paper.
Several IPB prototypes integrating heating systems were manufactured and tested as part of
an extensive qualification programme. Apart from the usual temperature measurements from
thermocouples incorporated within the prototype layers during manufacturing, the IPB
prototypes were instrumented with a Distributed Temperature System (DTS) based on optical
fibres. The DTS technology is described in detail in the following paragraphs.
For the first prototype [ref. /5/], optical fibres were inserted both inside small diameter steel
tubes located in the tensile armour layers and inside tubes located in the bundle layer. Once
the end-fittings were mounted onto the flexible pipe, the optical fibre was injected inside
those tubes using a blowing technique.
The prototype was submitted to thermal tests (vertical and horizontal position), [ref. /6/, ref.
/7/] and also to a full scale dynamic bending test: after one million cycles, the prototype

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passed successfully all the final tests (pressure test and electrical tests on all circuits). The
optical fibre DTS system also showed no degradation of its performances after this
mechanical fatigue test.

Temperature Monitoring With Optical Fibre Technology:

Temperature monitoring of subsea production lines is generally achieved by tapping into live
pipe with invasive temperature transducers located in subsea structures (manifolds, trees,
etc.). However a new method was chosen on Dalia to monitor temperature along IPB risers:
the Distributed Temperature Sensor (DTS) using optical fibre technology.
The DTS launches pulses of laser light into a sensor fibre and then detects the small amount
of backscattered light energy that returns to the instrument. This technique is known as
Raman OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometry) (Figure 2). The ratio of intensities of
the two wavelength-separated (Raman) components of the backscattered light yields the
temperature at the point of scattering, whilst the time of flight between the launch of the
pulse and when the returning light is measured provides information on position (from a
knowledge of the velocity of light in the fibre). In this manner the temperature can be
determined continuously along the entire length of the sensor fibre, and a temperature vs.
distance graph for the whole length of the optical fibre can be constructed; this is the basis of
the Raman OTDR.

Figure 2 - DTS Technology

The Dalia project is the worlds first practical implementation of this temperature monitoring
technology in an offshore field flexible riser. Fibre optic sensors are highly attractive in deep

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water applications because of their immunity to electromagnetic interference, reliability,

lifetime and long distance signal transmission ability, in addition to their linear and nonintrusive nature when incorporated in long flexible structures such as risers.

DTS System Implementation in IPB Design:

In view of the riser design, it was decided to incorporate the temperature sensor in the IPB
bundle: one optical fibre per riser, looped at the riser bottom (Figure 3), was inserted in a
control line (0.25 OD) located in dedicated grooves in the fillers between the bundle
components (Figure 4). Control lines were pre-installed during the IPB riser manufacturing
(Figure 5), and the optical fibres pumped within these lines, after FPSO riser hook-up. The
fibre pumping process involved the use of fluid drag to run the fibre into the control line. This
was accomplished with a proprietary mechanical arrangement that feeds the fibre into the
system, a pump that pressurises the system, drag tubes that provide the fluid drag, and
proprietary fittings that allow fluid to flow through the system whilst directing the fibre into
the control line.
Since the motive force on the fibre is distributed along its entire length, the pumped
deployment method of installing optical fibre into pre-installed control line is extremely
gentle with the fibre and as a result offers optimum reliability of the system through the life of
the riser. In the event that the fibre should degrade or fail in service then it is possible to pump
out the old fibre and pump in a new length of fibre, thereby restoring the data-gathering
function with a minimum of disruption.

Figure 3 - DTS System Overall Arrangement

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Control lines

Figure 4 - IPB Cross-section

Figure 5 - IPB Manufacturing Process

DTS System Functionality:

To comply with the initial stringent requirements (measurement accuracy of +/-0.5C, spatial
resolution +/- 1m, acquisition time as short as possible), averaging of the raw data was
performed to improve the measurement accuracy whilst maintaining a short acquisition time.
Therefore, instead of displaying the raw temperature profile along the riser in the FPSO
control room (ICSS), temperature data points were averaged and grouped in 8 different riser
zones along the riser: the riser touch down point, gas-lift injection point in the subsea endfitting, topside part in the FPSO I-tube, and 5 points equally distributed along the riser as a
function of water depth. DTS raw data can however still be displayed on a dedicated PC,
providing the temperature profile all along the IPB risers.
To confirm the level of accuracy of the system, several tests were performed in laboratory
environment. From these tests, a full calibration protocol was established and followed during
the offshore installation phase.
DTS system integration in the ICSS was also needed to provide easy access to the
temperature monitoring data during operation. Communication between the DTS system and
ICSS was implemented based on the Modbus protocol, and a dedicated GUI was programmed
and displayed in the FPSO control room (figure 6). The riser monitoring view was made
intuitive by graphically displaying the 8 monitoring points along the riser to ease supervision
for control room operators. Temperatures are displayed for the relevant locations within the
cross-section of the IPB, i.e. the pipe bore to monitor the production fluid temperature, the
coldest and warmest gas-lift line for hydrate prevention purposes and the electrical cable to
monitor the temperature within the cable during active heating phases. All temperatures
within the cross-section are derived from unique transfer functions (see the next paragraph for

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further details). This was a necessity due to the complexity of the bundle design, but also to
display temperatures at the different locations with as accurate as possible in order to optimise
preservation procedures. The monitoring view comprises in addition the following
functionalities:

Status on operational mode (production or shutdown, gas-lift injection, active heating)

Details of active heating: power setting, number of cables in service, start of active
heating for direct follow-up of operational procedures

Display of temperatures in the production manifolds as well as the temperature

upstream and downstream of the top riser choke for a complete overview of each
production loop

Figure 6 - Riser Monitoring View in FPSO Control Room

An important point for temperature monitoring is the gas-lift injection point located within the
subsea end-fitting, which is the connection point between the IPB riser and the pipe-in-pipe
flowline (figure 7). Integrity of the gas-lift injection point is of crucial importance for

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production optimisation during the field life of Dalia. The temperature in the production fluid
could not be derived from transfer functions due to the complex internal geometry of the endfitting. However, considering that the end-fitting is flooded with inhibited water, DTS
temperature measurement at this location can provide the temperature of the enclosed water
during cooldown phases. This monitoring function was therefore integrated in the view to
serve two purposes:
1. Track the temperature during cooldown for hydrate prevention
2. Detect any leakages at the water-tight end-fitting
As an additional feature, this monitoring point can provide an indication of the gas-lift tube
temperature in steady state phases when gas-lift injection is used.

Figure 7 Subsea end-fitting

One of the main operational benefits of the DTS system is to detect cold spots along the IPB
riser, and consequently prevent against hydrate formation. For that purpose, alarms were also
implemented in the system to warn operators in case of low temperatures in the riser. In active
heating phases, high temperature alarms enable the detection of overheat conditions that could
potentially damage the IPB risers.
IPB Thermal Analysis and Definition of IPB Transfer Functions:

A dedicated tool was needed to assess the complex thermal behaviour of the IPB risers. It was
decided to build a complete new model of the Dalia production loops using multiphase flow
assurance software (Figure 8, see also ref. /8/). The principal advantage of this software was
the ability to couple the axial flows in the IPB riser (production fluid and gas-lift reverse

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flows) with the radial heat transfer in the IPB cross-section. Active heating phases could also
be simulated with full incorporation of the presence of the electrical cables.
During the engineering phase of the Dalia project, IPB full scale vertical thermal tests were
performed to demonstrate that the risers complied with the design specifications (Figure 9). A
sample of about 15m long was tested in a vertical caisson within which refrigerated water was
circulating. It was submitted to various warm-up, cool-down and stabilisation sequences to
confirm the U-value of the pipe in stable regimes and the transient behaviour in all pipe
layers. These tests enabled confirmation of the IPB thermal performance in steady state and
transient conditions.
The thermal model was used initially to predict the outcome of these tests, and the test results
were later used to fully calibrate the thermal model against real pipe performance in steady
and transient phases.

Figure 8 - IPB Thermal model cross-section

Figure 9 Vertical thermal test set up

A total of 73 transfer functions were built from the thermal simulations (Figure 10), covering
all operation phases of the Dalia field. These transfer functions provide temperature
predictions of the bore pipe, the gas-lift lines and the heating cable skin, all from a single
temperature measurement at the optical fibre location.

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Figure 10 IPB Thermal Simulations

DTS system offshore installation / Site Thermal Test:

DTS system installation onboard the FPSO and fibre pumping into the risers took place
during third quarter of 2006. An optical fibre was successfully installed in each IPB; the fibres
were pumped in using a specific deployment fluid followed by backfilling with protective oil.
Each fibre was spliced in its respective junction box to the fibre optic transit cable, which in
turn was spliced in the main junction box to one of the 32 fibre transit cables that connects to
the DTS cabinet (Figure 3). Each DTS control line was sealed in the junction box and an oil
expansion tank was fitted to each DTS line below the junction box.
In the DTS cabinet, optical fibre pig tail connectors were spliced to the 32 fibre transit cables
and were connected to their respective channel on the DTS. There being 8 IPBs, the cabinet
had 2 DTS systems for redundancy, using 4 channels on each DTS.
Once the fibre lengths were set up, zones were configured on each fibre to represent the
different sections of the fibre/IPB. Temperature data from these zones were sent to the FPSO
control system (ICSS) for display via 2 PLCs. The same zone data was sent to the GUI
display in the DTS cabinet.
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Next, calibration was performed using a Portable Calibration Unit (PCU) and the same fibre
used in the installation. The fibre was heated to a known, constant temperature and the DTS
measurement calibrated to it. The PCU was verified against a calibrated electronic
thermometer (calibration accuracy 0.1C).
To determine the positions of the individual zones along the riser, a section of fibre at the top
of the riser was cooled, and the DTS temperature then logged to enable identification of the
two resulting cold points; these positions were then used as a reference to determine the zone
positions. However once the riser heating was activated it was quite obvious where the major
features were in the IPB (IPB buried section on the seabed, IPB subsea end-fitting) and the
zone positions were then able to be adjusted to be within less than 1m discrepancy.
Communication tests between DTS system and ICSS were carried out and operators were
trained to use the software.
A site thermal performance test was done after riser hook up on the FPSO (Figure 11) in order
to verify the behaviour of the production system in warm up, flowing and shut-down
conditions. The IPB thermal model was used to perform simulations and to build a test
procedure. The curves below (Figure 12) show results of the predictions in warm-up,
stabilisation and cooldown phases at different locations in the production loop. The model
prediction and transfer functions were fully validated by the site thermal test results.

Figure 11 Dalia FPSO

Figure 12 Test predictive simulations

Operational considerations and field experience :

Hydrate formation due to low reservoir temperature, high water depth and flowline length is
one of the main flow assurance risks for Dalia. Temperature monitoring and control are
therefore of crucial importance [ref. /2/].

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The production of the Dalia crude provides a particular challenge as the temperature of 45C
at the wellhead is relatively low when considering a required arrival temperature at the FPSO
of 35C, knowing that the physical Joule-Thomson rule regarding the gas-lift effect in the
riser leads to a temperature loss of about 7C. The requirement for the IPB riser during
shutdown was a cooldown time of 8 hours before activating the electrical heating system.
Accurate temperature monitoring was thus required at the different locations within the IPB
cross-section in order to track the evolution of temperature and avoid over-conservative
preservation procedures.
Implementation of the DTS system in the IPB design facilitated temperature monitoring along
the entire length of the riser enabling important operational benefits such as:

Hydrate management based on accurate temperature monitoring of both the

production bore and the gas-lift lines. The temperature at the coldest location can thus
be monitored during cooldown phases which provides a basis to optimise preservation
procedures.

Cold spot management throughout the riser in order to detect regions with lower
thermal resistance (cold spots). Low temperature alarms were implemented as part of
the riser monitoring view and the operational control system

Heat tracing system monitoring to avoid over-heating of the pipe raw material. High
temperature alarms were implemented to ensure that the integrity of the heat tracing
system is maintained

Temperature drop monitoring throughout the riser to assess the Joule-Thompson effect
with and without gas-lift

Temperature monitoring of all points for different operation modes (steady state,
shutdown, electrical heating) through dedicated transfer functions

The majority of these aspects were successfully tested and validated during the site thermal
test of the system though without any gas. Production shutdowns during initial start-up did
provide a basis to review preservation procedures and alarm settings based on real-time data
for all points along the production system. The riser monitoring view proved particularly
valuable during shutdown conditions due to its intuitive functionality and display of the entire
riser length.

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Conclusions:

The Dalia DTS system is the world first distributed temperature monitoring system integrated
into an offshore field flexible riser. Its successful implementation makes this technology now
field proven, and constitutes a real added value for field operators by enabling temperature
monitoring along the entire length of the riser, and therefore bringing operational benefits
such as improvement of hydrate and cold spot management. The DTS system can easily be
implemented in the IPB riser concept, but it can also be deployed in classical flexible riser
designs: in this case the control line can be included in the pipe armour layers.
Thanks to the high temperature resolution and spatial resolution of the DTS system, data can
also be used for riser inplace analysis during field life. For example: determination of
potential riser damage or annulus flooding, refined diffusion calculations (the diffusion
process being highly dependant on pipe temperature) and fatigue analysis, pipe selfembedment assessment, and backfill check of trenched flowline.
Finally, with the deployment method of the sensor integrated inside a control line, the DTS
monitoring can easily be extended to monitor both a riser and its flowline down to the
wellhead with a single system, without requiring any subsea hardware such as dataloggers or
any subsea optical fibre connectors. A control line simply needs to be integrated in the
flowline whether rigid pipe-in-pipe or flexible pipe and connected to the riser.

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Acknowledgements:
The Dalia field is operated by Total under a Production Sharing Agreement awarded by
Sonangol to the Block 17 Contractor Group including Total, Esso Exploration Angola Block
17 limited, BP, Statoil and Hydro. Total, Technip and Schlumberger Sensa would like to
thank Sonangol and Partners for their permission to publish this paper.

References:
/1/ D. Picard and J. Thebault, Total E&P Angola, and F.J. Goncalves and R. Costa, Sonangol,
The Dalia Development Challenges and Achievements, Offshore Technology Conference,
Houston, May 2007, paper OTC-18538
/2/ A. Courbot and R. Hanssen, Total E&P Angola, Dalia FieldSystem Design and Flow
Assurance for Dalia Operations, Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, May 2007,
paper OTC-18540
/3/ M. Gloaguen, H. Bourdillon, F. Roche, and T. Boscal de Reals, Total E&P Angola, and P.
Menier and A. Marion, Technip, Dalia Flowlines, Risers, and Umbilicals, Offshore
Technology Conference, Houston, May 2007, paper OTC-18543
/4/ A.Flix-Henry, Ph.Lembeye, Technip, Flexible Pipes In-Service Monitoring", 23rd
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering conference, Vancouver, Canada, June 2004,
paper OMAE2004-51348
/5/ P.Secher, A.Felix-Henry, Technip, Thermal Performance of Flexible Bundled Risers,
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, May 2002, paper OTC-14322
/6/ S.Denniel, J.Perrin, A.Felix-Henry, Technip, Review of Flow Assurance Solutions for
Deepwater Fields, Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, May 2004, paper OTC-16686
/7/ A.Chalumeau, A.Flix-Henry, Technip, Water Absorption Effect on syntactic Foam
Thermal Insulation, Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering conference, Hamburg, June
2006, paper OMAE2006-92495
/8/ L.P.Endresen, A.Bachelet, G.Pringuay, P.Duchet-Suchaux, W.Vandersippe, N.Hoyer,
Z.Gang Xu, A new multi-dimensional thermal model for transient simulation in deep
offshore conditions, 11th International Conference MULTIPHASE03, San Remo, Italy, June
2003
/9/ A.Flix-Henry, Technip, Prevention and Monitoring of Fatigue-Corrosion of Flexible
Risers Steel Reinforcements ", 26th Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering conference,
San Diego, CA, June 2007, paper OMAE2007-29186
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Nomenclature:
DTS

Distributed Temperature Sensor

FPSO

Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit

GUI

Graphic User Interface

ICSS

Integrated Control Safety System

ID

Internal Diameter

IPB

Integrated Production Bundle

OD

Outside Diameter

OTDR

Optical Time Domain Reflectometry

PLC

Programmable Logic Controller

PCU

Portable Calibration Unit

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