Recover the Electrical Integrity of Subsea Circuits.

V-LIFE is a preventative and active ‘healing’ solution for low insulation resistance caused by water ingress.

The most common cause of subsea electrical failures is the ingress of water into the cable insulation, which decreases the IR and may produce short circuits or leakage to earth. These faults often lead to loss of power and/or communications to subsea equipment and have the potential to halt production from subsea wells.

It has also been demonstrated that prolonged operation of subsea power circuits with particularly low Insulation Resistance can lead to the loss of copper from the conductor at the fault site which in turn can lead to the complete loss of operability of the system. Before V-LIFE became available expensive subsea fault-finding interventions and the replacement of cables, equipment and umbilicals were the only solutions to this problem.

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Proven in Field Operation

The V-LIFE effect is achieved by the application of a low voltage passivation signal to the faulty line which through an electro-kinetic and electrochemical process generates and sustains a solid precipitate at, and only at, the location or locations in the subsea circuit where seawater has ingressed. The precipitate produced is electrically insulating and its propagation at the source of the fault results in an increase in the Insulation Resistance of the circuit often by more than 100x.

A V-LIFE application involves the installation of a V-LIM line insulation monitor (the hardware) and the enabling of its V-LIFE passivation signal by the upload of a software config file. V-LIM and V-LIFE can typically be installed and commissioned within 2 to 3 shifts offshore. The installation work is all topside. No subsea intervention is required.

Additional support is provided as part of the V-LIFE service in the form of condition reports, trend analysis and engineering recommendations.

V-LIFE is currently implemented on control systems supplied by six different OEMs. Widely used by 40 operators globally, V-LIFE is the leading alternative to subsea interventions.

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Product Features.

  • Compatible with comms on power systems
  • Provides all the features of the V-LIM including IR measurements and configurable alarms/trips
  • Compatible with power and/or signal lines
  • A range of installation options to suit all field applications
  • Displays IR measurements graphically in real time
  • Compatible with single or three phase systems
  • Graphical touch screen LCD
  • Advanced control and configuration via USB and Ethernet interfaces
  • Typically recovers IR from kΩ to MΩ within a few days

  • Increases IR without subsea intervention
  • Recovers multiple IR failures throughout the system
  • Extends the life of failing umbilicals and electrical distribution equipment
  • ‘Buys time’ whilst a new umbilical is procured
  • Used as an alternative to installing new, costly and long-lead time umbilicals
  • Used to delay early field abandonment
  • V-LIFE “finds” the points of water ingress, no diagnostics required.

  • Electro-Hydraulic Subsea Production Control Systems
  • Mission critical IT (unearthed) electrical distribution systems