OSIL Present Scour Monitoring and Data Review Package for Wind Farms (UK)

OSIL offers a complete Scour Monitoring and Data Review Package for wind farms and other similar structures.

Scour is a significant concern for owners and operators of offshore structures, as erosion of the sediment in the vicinity of a structure can lead to a lowering of the seabed directly surrounding the structure, undercutting foundations and decreasing the stability and lifespan of the structure. Offshore wind farms are now being proposed for, or built in, increasingly hostile hydrodynamic environments, and many candidate sites are located on beds of mobile sediments. In these cases, the interaction of the sediments with the turbine support structure, and the effects of flow- and wave-induced scour of the sediments must be carefully observed.

The package available from OSIL comprises an acoustic Scour Monitor, which is then coupled to the clients own data handling system, or to the OSIL Falcon or Falconet Data to Web Logger – which will then permit instant access to a web-based data display, eliminating the need to re-visit the unit to manually download data, or to perform ship-based surveys (which are restricted in the areas they are able to survey).

The Scour Monitor is mounted directly onto the turbine pile, and comprises four downward looking narrow acoustic beams (fanned out on a single axial plane) which provide a profile of the seabed close to the base of the pile.

Changes in the seabed surrounding the structure, or scour, can therefore be measured and observed in real-time, even during storm periods, thus providing invaluable information for modelers, operators, civil engineers, and all interested parties, of these crucial changes as they occur.

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Offshore WIND staff, December 21, 2011; Image: osil