FPSOs: Design Considerations for the Structural Interface Hull and Topsides

Krekel, Max; Kaminski, M.L.

doi:10.4043/13996-ms

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 4 publications

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“…Then in 2002, Kirkle et al examined the structure of the junction of the ship-mounted modules on the deck and focused on this issue. They recognized the basic concepts of deck structures and examined the results of making changes to each of the designs [6]. While the use of FPSO was developing, considerable attention was paid to increasing the speed of construction and installation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Structural Behaviour of the Topside Modules of FPSO under the Forces Exerted on the Ship Hull

Saleh

Amirabadi

Kheiri

2020

NMCE

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The extraction of oil and gas from deep water is one of the most important challenges of the oil and gas industry today. FPSO is one of the leading platforms for deep waters. This study discussed the performance of FPSO deck modules under loads exerted on the hull of the ship. Modeling of the studied module was executed by SACS software and the effect of support using neoprene in the function of the module's members was studied. The members of this module are divided into two general areas: the first area includes fulcrum members under the main deck of module and the second area includes installed members on the main deck and equipment of the module which is investigated in three directions; longitudinal, transverse and vertical. After analysis, it was confirmed that in the module which uses neoprene, the connected members to the neoprene have a significant decrease in relative stress, whereas, the transverse members exhibited increased relative stress. On the other hand, the vertical and longitudinal members displayed insignificant changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Structural Behaviour of the Topside Modules of FPSO under the Forces Exerted on the Ship Hull

Saleh

Amirabadi

Kheiri

2020

NMCE

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An Evaluation of Large Capacity Processing Units for Ultra Deep Water and High GOR Oil Fields

Pinto¹,

Vaz²,

Branco³

et al. 2014

Day 1 Mon, May 05, 2014

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A study of offshore production units with large fluids processing capacity is presented, focusing in ultra deep water scenario (higher than 2,000 m) and the production of light oil, with high Gas Oil Ratio (GOR) and CO2 contamination. This situation fits to some exploratory and production areas offshore Brazil. Taking a regular size FPSO as the comparative base, analysis explored the impacts of different processing capacities on energy demand, weight and footprint requirements. The evaluation considered two gas processing plants: the first is less complex, without CO2 separation from the produced gas, reinjecting the whole produced gas into the reservoir; the second is more complex, with CO2 removal and a more flexible plant, capable of exporting treated gas and reinjecting rich CO2 stream or the whole gas. As the driving force of CO2 separation by membranes is the pressure drop between feed gas and the permeated rich CO2 stream, the second option leads to a lower processing capacity, mainly due to the increase in compression and power demand. The risks and benefits of large production systems are also evaluated from the reservoir drainage and gathering systems point of view. One of the main constraints is the indication that for high GOR oil, considering or not CO2 separation in the processing plant, its capacity would have to be limited due to maximum topside dry weight and deck footprint that could be installed on a converted hull or a new built unit. Additionally, constraints related to maximum power generation must be taken into account. If CO2 is not removed, and the gas is reinjected with no export, a higher processing capacity could be achieved. The design of higher capacity plants shall also consider reservoir aspects, flow assurance through long tie back wells, operability, maintainability and increase in difficulty to purchase high capacity equipment, such as vessels, valves, pumps, compressors and other.

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Offshore Production Units for Pre-Salt Projects

et al. 2015

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Petrobras and partners have been developing Brazilian Santos Basin Pre-Salt ultra-deepwater areas through the use of Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units (FPSOs), equipped with topside facilities designed to receive produced fluids and process them to generate end streams to export and injection. The large hydrocarbon volumes in Santos Basin Pre-Salt areas, which have been successively confirmed by the results of exploratory and productions wells, have encouraged Petrobras and partners to choose an aggressive development strategy over a more conventional one. Based on this decision, FPSOs were chosen, mainly due to crude oil storage capability thus not requiring the construction of long-length oil pipelines, and also because of other characteristics that allow a short term completion with economic advantages. Therefore, the topside process plant conceptual design had to deal with uncertainties in the reservoir fluid compositions and production profiles. This means a wide range of CO2 and H2S contents, oil API gravity, flow rates and arriving fluid pressures and temperatures, in order to guarantee an adequate nominal capacity and turndown, and also the proper performance within the established design cases. The main purpose of the topside facilities is to gather and treat the produced fluids to be sent ashore. The treated oil is routed to cargo tanks, the produced water is treated and discharged overboard, an dthe bulk treated gas stream is exported through a gas pipeline network, which allows to send the stream to three different gas processing sites onshore. The separated CO2-rich stream is injected back to the reservoir. Besides the production units specially designed for Santos Basin Pre-Salt features, some Pre-Salt reservoirs from Campos Basin have been also being produced, by connecting new wells to existing production units. The main approaches regarding these units and its production in Campos Basin Pre-Salt are also part of the scope of this paper. As a result of these different strategies and due to the daily efforts to overcome the forementioned challenges, more than six hundred thousand barrels per day of crude oil, as a monthly average, have been produced in Brazilian Pre-Salt areas, after only eight years since the early developments of the area.

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FPSOs: Design Considerations for the Structural Interface Hull and Topsides

Cited by 5 publications

References 4 publications

Study on the Structural Behaviour of the Topside Modules of FPSO under the Forces Exerted on the Ship Hull

Study on the Structural Behaviour of the Topside Modules of FPSO under the Forces Exerted on the Ship Hull

An Evaluation of Large Capacity Processing Units for Ultra Deep Water and High GOR Oil Fields

Offshore Production Units for Pre-Salt Projects

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