SS: FPSOs and Floating Production Systems: Overview of the Monitas JIP

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Monitas project, aspects of which are further detailed in accompanied OTC 2010 papers. The Monitas project is a Joint Industry Project that was presented to the offshore industry in 2005 and now the project is close to its completion. The Monitas project has developed the Advisory Monitoring System (AMS) that presents, explains and advises on the fatigue lifetime consumption of FPSO's hulls. The advice is based on comparisons between the design and the actual fatigue lifetimes predicted by replacing the design factors like operational settings, environmental conditions and hydro-structural response by the measured ones. The name Monitas stands for Monitoring Advisory System.The project has demonstrated that the Monitas system installed on board an FPSO enhances the safety of the crew, the asset and the environment by controlling the lifetime consumption of the hull. Deviations from the design conditions can be timely identified and actions can be undertaken to secure sufficient lifetime in case it is being consumed too fast. The beauty of the system lies in the fact that the system identifies which factor contributes mostly to faster lifetime consumption. The project recommends including the requirement for such a system in the contract specification. This allows for a proper documentation of the fatigue lifetime calculations and cost-effective implementation of the system without expensive change orders.The project results are applicable directly to all FPSOs and with some modifications to all floating structures. The Monitas system, when installed, can give justification for lifetime extension. The paper ends with plans for improving the system.