A measure of subsea systems’ readiness level

Abstract

Systems readiness level (SRL) is a metric for assessing progress in developing major subsea systems. SRL methodology builds on technology readiness levels (TRLs), developed by American Petroleum Institute (API) 17N to assess the readiness of subsea components for insertion. To estimate the level of readiness of a system comprising multiple components in their current state, SRL combines the TRL of each component with another metric called the integration readiness level (IRL). This metric expresses the readiness of each of these components to be integrated with other components of the system. An averaging approach is then used to estimate an overall level of systems readiness if these components were to be used. This paper presents a distillation of experience gained in applying the readiness metrics to subsea systems by the author and others. The methodology for determining the progress of a typical subsea system development, using TRL, IRL and SRL metrics is illustrated using a typical subsea system.