University of Alexandria Dept.

of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

CHAPTER 6 DIVING AND SUBMERSIBLES

Offshore installations used in the oil and gas industry lie largely beneath the seas
and are constantly in need of construction, inspection and maintenance; and as such
the industry is heavily dependent on diving and submersibles. Such needs are
fulfilled by diving contractors using a combination of human divers and submersibles.
A brief discussion of diving, manned and unmanned submersibles with emphasis on
remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s) is given.

6.1 Diving
Commercial offshore divers are highly trained people who work on offshore oil rigs
and diving support vessels (DSV’s). At oil-drilling platforms they may perform such
tasks as welding underwater. The tasks they are required to perform can require that
they spend extended time underwater.
Three main respiratory problems can occur in diving operations. The first is
hypercapnia (carbon dioxide excess) that is the situation in which the tissues have
an excess of carbon dioxide. This can be caused by an excess of carbon dioxide in
the breathing medium, the inability to remove carbon dioxide from the breathing
medium, or the inadequate removal of carbon dioxide from the tissues or blood.
Excess carbon dioxide may cause perceptive changes and discomfort, up to
dizziness, stupor and unconsciousness. The second is hypoxia (oxygen shortage).
This leads to unconsciousness and if oxygen is completely cut-off for 3 to 5 minutes,
irreparable damage to the brain is experienced. The third is oxygen poisoning
(excess of oxygen).
Pressure also causes problems for divers. The most common problem is ear
squeeze, but it can also cause problems in the sinuses and teeth. Pressure causes
greater absorption of gases by the bloodstream. The tissues of the human body are
saturated with the dissolved gases that constitute air. Gas embolism (clot or bubble
obstruction) caused by bends (expansion of gas in the blood stream) can occur if the
pressure is reduced too rapidly or the ascent from depth is too rapid. In this case,
dissolved gas comes out of solution forming bubbles in the tissues and blood. These
bubbles may block the circulation to the lungs, brain, heart, and spinal cord, and
death can be the result. Recompression is the only treatment. This treatment
requires the diver to be placed in a hyperbaric chamber, and subsequently the
chamber pressure is increased to the original depth of the diver (saturation
pressure). Then, a slow decompression procedure is followed to prevent the
reoccurrence of the embolism.

Pressure:
The standard atmospheric pressure (1 atm) is the average pressure found at sea
level and is given as 10 m of sea water, 101.33 KPA absolute, 14.7 psia or 760 mm
of Hg.
As we go deeper in the ocean, pressure increases in the amount of one atmosphere
for every 10 meters, e.g. for a water depth of 40 meters the pressure is 5 atm.

Diving operations may be divided into two categories which are dictated by water
depth. For depths of less than 50 meters, air diving techniques may be employed
while greater depths require a full saturation diving programme.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

6.1.1 Air Diving

Air diving is used primarily for dives of short duration in water depths of less than 50
meters. It is used for the vast majority of underwater inspection and repair
programmes carried out in shallow water. Dive duration is limited dramatically with
increase in depth and at 50 meters a stay of only 10 minutes is permitted. The
ascent must also include water stops to facilitate the body’s decompression
processes to proceed naturally.

There are two air diving methods:

a) Surface-supplied diving: diving with compressed air supplied from the surface.
The diver is separated from the supply of fresh air, which is kept on the surface. Air
reaches the diver through a long umbilical, which in its simplest form ends in a
regulator and mouthpiece carried by the diver. In more sophisticated systems the
umbilical leads into a dive suit or some larger enclosed space containing the diver.
Devices in this category include, diving bells, and rigid-helmet diving suits, see
Figure 40. In these devices the diver breathes air at the same pressure as the
surrounding water pressure, and so is at risk for decompression problems (bends, air
embolism, etc.) if ascent is too fast. Special 'high tech' mixtures, such as hydrogen-
oxygen, helium-oxygen and helium-nitrogen-oxygen, are used to dive deeper than
possible with compressed air.

Figure 40

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

b) SCUBA diving: diving with compressed air or other gas mixture that is carried by
the diver. SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
SCUBA gear is shown in Figure 41. There are two principle types of SCUBA: open
and closed circuit. Open circuit vents all expired air into the water, and is the mode
used in recreational diving. Closed circuit systems, in which exhaled air is re-
breathed after carbon dioxide is absorbed and oxygen added, were widely used
before open circuit became available, particularly by military divers who wished to
avoid showing any air bubbles. As with divers using surface-supplied compressed
air, scuba divers are at risk for decompression problems if they ascend without
proper decompression. Helium-oxygen and other mixtures can be used to go deeper
than possible with compressed air.

Figure 41

6.1.2 Saturation Diving

In saturation diving, the divers are transported to the work site within a diving bell. At
the site, the divers enter the water through a hatch in the base of the bell having first
put on helmets/masks and attached their umbilicals to the distribution manifold on
the inside of the bell. The umbilicals provide the diver with breathing gas and a
supply of hot water to heat the diving suit. The divers may spend up to 8 hours
inside the diving bell where they can eat and rest. On completion of work the divers
return to the bell, lock the hatch and are winched back to the diving support vessel
(DSV). They are then transferred to the Deck Decompression Chamber (DDC)
where they remain until their next shift. Throughout the operation, the divers remain
under pressure. They may remain for a period of three weeks after which they
commence decompression.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

Decompression involves the gradual reduction of the pressure within the DDC to
atmospheric. It takes approximately one hour per meter of water depth to effect safe
decompression, thus a saturation depth of 180 meters requires a decompression
interval of nearly a week. A maximum depth of 500 meters is possible.

6.1.3 One Atmosphere Diving Systems ADS

One atmosphere diving systems (ADS) were developed to overcome the difficulties
associated with decompression. The diver in these systems remains at one
atmosphere pressure and can work for relatively long periods without having to
spend days in decompression. The diver uses manipulators to perform the
necessary work.
All ADS require a system to both provide fresh air (usually by adding oxygen to the
existing air) and get rid of exhaled carbon dioxide. A modern extension of the one-
atmosphere vessel is the self-contained armored diving suit, flexible yet able to
withstand pressures at depth: in effect, the diver becomes almost like a small
submarine. With these one-atmosphere suits a diver can work at a depth of up to
1000 meters.

6.1.4 Diving Equipment

Commercial divers use special equipment to stay underwater for long periods.
Surface-supplied diving, also called hard-hat or helmet diving, affords commercial
divers an unlimited air supply; a compressor connected to a surface reservoir
provides the air to the diver’s mask or helmet through a long, flexible tube (umbilical).
The diver also wears bailout tanks in case of a malfunction with the air supply. The
equipment used in helmet diving is cumbersome and hampers mobility, making it
difficult to perform tasks with the arms, such as moving heavy equipment
underwater.
To breathe underwater, scuba divers wear a metal tank filled with compressed air,
and a regulator that attaches to the tank. The regulator reduces the pressure of the
air to match the surrounding water pressure, so that the diver can breathe the air
comfortably. The regulator also distributes the air among four hoses. One hose
delivers air to a mouthpiece, through which the diver inhales and exhales. Another
hose from the regulator attaches to an adjustable air bladder called a buoyancy
compensator (or control) device (BCD or BC), which the diver wears as a vest, see
Figure 41. By adding air to the BCD, the diver becomes more buoyant and rises. By
releasing air, the diver becomes less buoyant and sinks. With minor adjustments of
air, the diver can achieve neutral buoyancy. A third hose attaches to pressure
gauges that divers use to monitor how much air remains in the tank. A fourth hose
attaches to a backup breathing device called an alternate air source, or octopus.
Divers also wear a belt with lead weights to help them descend and stay underwater.
The weights are spaced evenly around the belt for balance. Most divers carry from 5
to 20 lb (2.3 to 4 kg) of weight, depending on their body weight, the suit they are
wearing, and where they are diving (buoyancy is greater in saltwater than in fresh
water). A quick-release buckle enables the diver to shed the belt and rise to the
surface in an emergency.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

Emergency equipment includes a dive knife, in case the diver becomes entangled in
fishing line or marine plants, and whistles, lights, or signalling devices, in case the
diver is lost or swept out in a current.

Diving Bells:
The diving bell provides transportation to and from the work site. It is secured to the
DSV by a steel cable and an umbilical providing the occupants with breathing gas,
heated water, electrical power and communication facilities.
The bell is housed within a substantial steel framework designed to provide
protection against impact and a location for the ballast tanks and life support
systems. An emergency release system permits disconnection of the steel cable and
umbilical should the divers encounter a situation which necessitates isolation from
the DSV for instance a fire on the DSV or a broken umbilical. The life support
systems contain 96 hours of breathing gas and the facility to de-ballast the bell to
return to the surface.

Deck decompression chambers:

A DDC provides an out of water home for up to 6 divers for the duration of the diving
programme. The occupants are monitored 24 hours a day and especially during the
decompression process.
A DDC contains beds, toilets, showers, messing and recreational facilities.

Diving suits:

Diving suits used for offshore inspection and repair programmes fall into two
categories largely dictated by the degree of thermal protection required by the diver.
a) Dry suit: it is a watertight suit under which the diver wears thermal clothing. In a
cold environment it is suitable for air dives of short duration.
b) Wet suit: for saturation diving, a heated wet suit is required. Hot sea water
supplied via the umbilical is circulated around the inside of the suit and exits at the
diver’s extremities.

Heliox:

Air consists primarily of oxygen and nitrogen and both these gases cause problems
when ingested under pressures associated with water depths greater than 50
meters. Oxygen becomes toxic and nitrogen leads to drunkenness of the deep.
Heliox, a specially formulated mixture of helium and oxygen provides a solution to
both these problems since it permits the quantity of oxygen to be regulated to suit
the body’s respiratory needs at a particular depth. It is a gas primarily associated
with saturation diving. It is much lighter than compressed air thus requiring less
respiratory effort while the divers are in the DDC.

6.2 Manned Submersibles

Submersibles are pressurized vehicles that maintain surface air pressure inside
while they descend deep into the ocean. The most common type of submersible is a
submarine. Smaller submersibles are used in deep diving to transport divers to and
from work sites.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

Submarines supplement divers and extend underwater surveying capabilities. They

are fitted with video, high-intensity light sources, sonar sensors, and manipulators.
A mobile diving unit (MDU) incorporating variable buoyancy and high power
propulsion is an example of a manned submersible. The MDU shown in Figure 42 is
a six-man vertical configuration submersible. It has two diving chambers each
capable of carrying three men. It is equipped with thrusters for mobility. An umbilical
provides power, heat and gas (heliox). It comes with manipulators, diver operated
welding equipment, water jetting equipment, external area lights, video and
photography systems. It is capable of operating to a depth of 350 meters in up to a
sea state of Beaufort 9.

Figure 42

Remotely operated vehicles ROVs and autonomous underwater vehicles AUVs now
do the work of manned submersibles in most oilfield applications, because of cost
issues related to insurance, manning requirements and vehicle and handling system
complexity.
Manned submersibles are being discouraged by the leading oil companies on the
grounds of safety, in spite of their excellent safety record.

6.3 Unmanned Submersibles

These are unmanned underwater vehicles controlled from a remote location such as
a ship, fixed offshore platform, floating platform, or other above water structure. The
development of unmanned underwater vehicles began in the 1950’s, but reliable
waterproof electrical connectors held back their early development.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

6.3.1 ROV’s

It is a mini submarine that can be controlled via an umbilical (Figure 43). The
concept was developed in the 1970’s to provide a cost effective alternative to the
deep sea diver. ROV’s were further developed in the 1980’s due to the emergence of
the sub-sea wellhead. These wellheads can be installed, maintained and repaired
entirely by ROV, ending the reliance on saturation divers and permitting the
exploitation of reserves located in water depths beyond the range of conventional
diving techniques.

Figure 43
Classification:

There are two ways to classify ROV’s: a) according to the means of propulsion and
b) according to function.
a) There are six categories:
• Tethered (free swimming), see Figure 44: constitutes the large majority of
ROV’s. Connected to the surface by cable. Equipped with closed circuit video.
Positively buoyant.
• Towed: propelled by surface vessel.
• Bottom reliant: power and control from surface vessel. Equipped with closed
circuit video. Propulsion by wheels or tracks.
• Structure reliant: power and control from surface. Closed circuit video.
Propulsion from wheels or tracks in contact with structure.
• Autonomous (untethered): self powered with 3-D maneuverability. No physical
connection to surface.
• Hybrid: combination of above types.
b) There are 5 categories:
• Work class.
• Observation class.
• Drill support.
• Construction support.
• Pipeline and cable trenchers.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

In the offshore oil and gas industry the ROV’s most widely used for construction,
intervention, drill support and survey are known as Work Class ROV systems. Over
the years these systems have become larger, more powerful and more capable with
the increasing demand to replace manned intervention by divers with remote
intervention by machines. This process has recently been accelerated with
exploration and production moving into deeper water well beyond the reach of
divers.
Today a standard work class ROV will have at least 100 shaft horse power, weighing
about 3 tons in air and have a 'payload' or reserve of buoyancy of around 200 kilos.
Most new builds are rated for operations to depths of 2000 or 3000 meters
(maximum at 6000 m presently).

6.3.2 AUV’s

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a self-propelled, unmanned underwater

vehicle controlled by an onboard computer. There is no tether. They are totally
preprogrammed to think for themselves.
The AUV entered the commercial market in late January 2001. It is used for
surveying, inspection and can perform limited manipulator tasks. In case it fails in
performing its task, it should be able to abort its mission and return to the surface.
The major problem for AUV’s is that they have limited power due to battery
power/size ratios.

Figure 44

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

6.4 Support Vessels

Supply vessels are usually suited to air diving operations, provided they contain a
DDC. For air diving, saturation diving and for submersible launching and operation, a
Diving Support Vessel (DSV), Figure 45, is required, provided it is equipped suitably
with DDC’s, diving bell and ROV launchers.
The DSV represents the diving company’s single largest investment. The vessel
should be capable of working in adverse weather conditions using hull stabilization
equipment and dynamic positioning (DP). The vessel may have two moonpools: one
for the deployment of diving bells and the other for deploying ROV’s. Some DSV’s
are provided with well service equipment for sub-sea wells.

Figure 45

6.5 Underwater Work Tasks

Underwater work tasks include surveying, mapping, construction, non destructive

testing (NDT), welding (wet and dry), electric arc cutting, salvage and diver support,
pipeline and cable trenching, mining, pipelaying; and sub-sea production system
installation, inspection, maintenance and repair.
Work ROV’s usually carry out the following tasks:
• Water Jet Cleaning
• Brush Cleaning
• Hydraulic Friction welding
• Dredging
• Hydraulic Cutters
• Hydraulic Socket Wrenches, Torque Wrenches
• NDT, Non Destructive Testing
• Seabed and Pipeline Survey

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

Cleaning:
This is usually performed using water jets or special brushes. Cleaning steel or
concrete oil platforms or other structures (from marine growth) is very easy for an
ROV to perform. Platform cleaning has been performed by several ROV companies
since the mid eighties. It was performed on all kinds of Platform Node configurations
from complicated K-nodes to straight leg sections.
Welding:
Modern welding techniques such as hydraulic friction welding have been developed
for new offshore installations.

Dredging:
Work ROV's can be fitted with several different water suction dredging modules, a
typical soil removal rate of 10 cubic meters an hour can be achieved.

Hydraulic Cutters:

All work ROV's can carry different kinds of hydraulic cutters, the cutters range from
rotary to shear cutting devices. A typical task for an ROV is to cut down lines during
and after construction work under water. The choice of cutter depends on the type
and access to the work piece due to be cut.
Generally the rotary kind of cutter is more versatile since it can be used to cut any
shape materials including ordinary wire rope.
There are some very specialized cutters that the ROV basically only carries to the
work site like a diver would, these cutters are large steel cutting cutters that can cut
steel to almost any thickness and size due to all the different jigs that can be
provided. Typically it is not inconceivable that the cutting tool the ROV uses can cut
through a platform leg with a diameter of several meters.

Hydraulic Socket Wrenches, Torque Wrenches:

All Work ROV's can carry different kinds of hydraulic wrenches, this means that the
ROV can undo nuts and bolts underwater even using the torque wrenches which will
make up connections to any pre determined torque required for the bolt connection.
The limitations are in the torque and access on the work site.

NDT Equipment:

Work ROV's can carry most NDT equipment. The ROV has shown on numerous
occasions that it can perform inspection tasks as well if not better than divers. The
ROV has no limit to bottom time and the engineer on the surface conducting the test
can guide the ROV and the sensors in a manner he prefers without the interpretation
of commands as you inevitably find when a diver performs a task underwater. Since
many of the NDT tasks expose humans (divers) to harmful substances and radiation
this is a task that can be made much safer by using ROV's.

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University of Alexandria Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Faculty of Engineering Instructor: H. W. Leheta

Seabed and Pipeline Survey:

The Work ROV is the perfect carrier of sonar, laser and magnetometers for seabed
surveys. The advantages with an ROV versus towed vehicles and AUV's is that you
can stop and have a close look at what you have just spotted with your sensor
equipment. Although large area surveys are performed faster by towed vehicles or
AUV's.
The ROV can also take immediate action recovering objects or take samples of the
seabed.

Seabed Survey:

The ROV can move along the seabed at high speeds without disturbing the seabed.
The ROV can also carry all the sensors the surveyors require for the survey and the
instruments can be monitored as the survey is performed. If any part of the survey is
unsatisfactory or any point of special interest has been found the ROV can return to
this point for further investigation.

Pipeline Survey:

In the offshore oil environment the ROV is used for pipeline surveys utilising
sidescan sonar, odometers, GPS navigation systems, video and still camera
photography and other NDT equipment.
The ROV generally travels along the pipeline using a wheeled undercarriage which
measures the distance travelled and also acts as a platform for several extended
video camera arms. The arms give the ROV operator the opportunity to see the
pipeline along the side without having to fly the ROV around the pipeline. Typical
sizes of pipelines are 36 Inches.
The ROV is also utilised before the pipeline is put on the seabed to make sure that
the pipeline does not end up on top of debris or a rocky seabed, if any obstacles are
detected the pipeline engineers can change the position of the pipeline before the
pipe laying is started.

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