In strong collaboration with the oil company consortium, contractor and their subcontractors successfully designed and installed a novel Water Intake Riser (WIR) on Prelude FLNG, the world's largest FLNG facility. The scope involved transforming a concept into reality by close collaboration between the contractor and client team at various offices and worksites from project start to offshore installation. Preparation for this operation included activities at various locations around the world such as Factory Acceptance Testing in Norway, USA, UK and France. The final Site Integration Testing was performed at the FLNG in South Korea before Prelude FLNG left the yard. Designing a Water Intake Riser (WIR) at this scale capable of surviving 10,000 years cyclone with a design life of 25 years has raised a variety of engineering challenges including; riser head-loss, loadings under survival events, novel flying leads and umbilicals, fatigue of key element such as chains, spacer-frames and riser girth welds. Full-scale tests were performed on critical components of the WIR for example the rubber hose, chain, and connectors. In addition, the system was tested at scale in model scale basins. Offshore execution in Australia involved the installation of large diameter steel pipe sections assembled with merlin connectors and the largest submersible pumps of their kind inside the FLNG Hull. Bespoke installation aids were used such as an over-the-side Riser Assembly Tower. Successful execution required maintaining Prelude FLNG at a favorable heading to minimize motions and achieve millimeter precision pipe assembly.
Prelude FLNG ("Prelude"), the largest offshore floating facility ever built, was constructed in Geoje, South Korea, requiring a 3,200nm ocean tow to its installation location 475km north northeast of Broome, Western Australia. A team of station keeping vessels then took control of Prelude to accurately hold her in position above the pre-laid moorings for mooring hook-up operations. Planning and executing the tow, station keeping and mooring hook-up operations for mega floaters in remote locations requires precise planning, bespoke solutions to unprecedented challenges, comprehensive testing over a prolonged period and a global team with a diverse skill set. Overcoming key challenges required extensive engineering coupled with state-of-the-art vessel simulations, a bespoke mooring handling system, and full-scale winch wire testing. The result was a safe, successful and efficient operation demonstrating the industry's ability to execute the unprecedented challenges of projects in the search for economic development of remote and challenging reservoirs.
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