ABB Subsea Power JIP – Going the Distance

ABB is running a joint project with Equinor, Total and Chevron to develop technologies for subsea power transmission, distribution and conversion. The output will form a critical part of future advanced subsea field developments. As such an undertaking has never been achieved before, it is a journey with considerable learnings to be shared not only upon completion (anticipated by the end of 2019) but also en route. The paper will describe steps taken to build confidence along the way that the proposed solution will be fit for purpose when fully launched. Readers will gain insights into the key steps of this cutting-edge project. These include modifying prototypes of the equipment based on rounds of simulations, laboratory assessments (eg accelerated aging, vibration and shock testing) and water testing. Insight will be provided on tedious testing and qualification effort required to achieve the technology readiness level (TRL) required. Readers will learn from the challenges experienced in this ground-breaking project and how they were overcome. Insight will be given into the overall challenge of both research/development and qualification of the novel technology developed in the JIP. Findings from testing, including extensive lab testing against industry standards, and the impact on subsequent development will be presented. The paper will eventually share results from extensive joint research work between the partners and ABB. The results are ground breaking and will by the end of the day introduce completely new opportunities for development of subsea fields. As a first-of-kind-project, the results gained, and the subsequent technology developed will be of considerable interest to the industry. By the end of the day, the results from this project will be a key enabler for the subsea factory vision envisioned by the industry.

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Shallow Water Testing of 9 - 12 MVA Variable Speed Drive for Subsea Installation

Lendenmann¹,

Laneryd²,

Virtanen³

et al. 2019

Day 3 Wed, May 08, 2019

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The electrical Variable Speed Drive (VSD) system presented is designed for installation on the sea floor to drive nearby electric motors for pumps and gas compressors. A modular concept of the VSD is developed and intended to operate a wide range of subsea motors of powers from 0.5 to 18 MVA, with voltages from 2.0 kV to 7.2 kV or more, and fundamental frequencies up to 300 Hz. Step-out distances from a few km to over 600 km can be accommodated. The pressure compensated design effectively removes limits as to the depth of deployment. Pressure compensation is achieved by submerging the drive hardware including the drive transformer in a dielectric liquid which also acts as coolant. The electric power components, including capacitors, semiconductors, and the control electronics are designed with increased margins and redundant hardware, pressure resistance, and materials chosen for compatibility with the dielectric liquid, to achieve a highly reliable design of the overall VSD. The drive was deployed into shallow water in a harbor in Vaasa Finland for testing. A top side station was built implementing a "Power-In-the-Loop" approach, where the VSD output energy is recovered back into the drive input such that the grid supply only provides the lost power, but not the much higher circulated power. The drive operated more than 1000 h at 22 kV input and 6.9 - 7.2 kV output voltage at different power levels. We conclude from this first shallow water test, that all components of the VSD system work properly together up to 1000 A output current. Different operation conditions reflecting the envisioned application, including redundancy capability were successfully tested. The thermal performance was extensively verified, including an optional external heat exchanger to achieve high ratings even in warm waters. To our knowledge this is the first time a medium voltage drive is operated at 9 to 12 MVA for an extended time submerged in a sea water environment. All its modules are designed to operate down to depths of 10’000 ft / 3000 m or more and are concluding qualification according to API17F and SEPS 1002.

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ABB Subsea Power JIP – Going the Distance

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

A novel cooling geometry for subsea variable speed drives

A novel cooling geometry for subsea variable speed drives

ABB Subsea Power JIP - A Game Changer for Next Generation Subsea Processing

Shallow Water Testing of 9 - 12 MVA Variable Speed Drive for Subsea Installation

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