SUBSEA SYSTEMS
Gene Kliewer - Houston
Parque das Conchas gets boost from ESPs
Baker Hughes has installed Centrilift XP enhanced run life electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems in six vertical subsea boosting stations on the seafloor at Shell’s Parque das Conchas (BC-10) field in the Campos basin offshore Brazil.
The ESPs are about 5 mi (8 km) from the FPSO in 5,250 ft to 6,250 ft (1,600 m to 1,905 m) of water and are designed to boost up to 100,000 b/d of fluid, the capacity of the FPSO.
Three fields, Ostra, Argonauta, and Abalone, make up the project. Ostra and Argonauta use vertical boosting systems at the seabed and each requires its own configuration. In the Ostra, the caisson design includes a gas line to separate the gas and fluids prior to the fluids entering the ESP system. Argonauta does not include gas separation, so its ESP systems handle more than 40% gas entrained in the fluids.
ESP design considerations at BC-10 include temperature cycling, rapid gas decompression, high-horsepower lift requirements, and high-fluid volumes. The newly developed Centrilift XP high-horsepower pump handles the fluid volume with the required differential pressure and has redesigned seal to withstand rapid gas decompression and high thrust forces from the pump.
“The successful culmination of the BC-10 project is an important step change for artificial lift technology specifically designed for deepwater applications,” notes Nelson Ney, president of Latin America operations for Baker Hughes. “Complex deepwater projects require a commitment to invest in research and development and, just as important, a commitment to bring together the best resources throughout our organization to design fit-for-purpose solutions for never before encountered challenges.”
Shell designed and operates BC-10 on behalf of partners Petrobras and ONGC Videsh.
Live export line isolation eases valve replacement off Malaysia
A pipeline pressure isolation and joint testing operation offshore western Borneo in Malaysia for Sarawak Shell Berhad facilitated the replacement of a new valve without the need to pressurize the whole line. The operation made it possible for Shell to install a motor-operated valve in preparation for a new compressor module.
TDW used its SmartPlug on platform F23P-A to isolate the section of the line that required a new valve. To isolate the working area while the line was cut and the new valve was installed, TDW “pigged in” a 30-in SmartPlug isolation tool from the launcher past the site designated for valve installation. While isolated, the line was successfully cut, and a new flange was welded on.
Work in progress at the Sarawak Shell Berhad F23P-A platform offshore Malaysia in the South China Sea.
To ensure proper installation without pressurizing the entire line, TDW tested the weld with a joint tester tool. Following weld testing, the new valve was installed. Overall, the affected portion of the gas export line was isolated for one month.
The Sarawak Shell Berhad facilities are 80 to 200 km (50 mi to 124 mi) from Miri and Bintulu. The operation was carried out on a gas export line that forms part of the line from F23P-A to the E11R-A platform. The network extends to one of the major trunklines connected to an LNG plant onshore in Bintulu.
The Sarawak Shell Berhad facilities include the M3, B11, E11 RB, F23, and F6 platforms. Natural gas is transported through four major trunk lines of the pipeline network to onshore processing in Bintulu.
Grenland to install Laggan, Tormore
FMC Technologies has agreed with Total UK on subsea installations at Laggan and Tormore fields on the UK continental shelf 125 km (15.5 mi) northwest of the Shetland Islands. The two gas fields are at approximately 600 m (1,968 ft) water depth in blocks 206/1a and 205/5a, respectively.
Grenland Group has agreed to deliver two integrated template structures and two manifolds for the project. Total weight of the delivered structures will be about 1,600 metric tons (1,764 tons).
Most of the work is to be performed at Grenland Tønsberg site. Anticipated contract value for Grenland Group will be around NOK 120 million ($19.5 million). Plans are for construction to start this August, and delivery of both systems is planned for February/March 2012.
Technip awarded Tupi flexible pipe contract
Petrobras has awarded Technip a contract for the infield lines of the pilot system for the Tupi field. This field is 2,200 m (7,218 ft) of water in the presalt layer of Santos basin, approximately 300 km (186 mi) offshore Brazil.
The contract includes the engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and supply of 90 km (54 mi) of risers and flowlines for water injection, oil production, gas lift, and carbon dioxide reinjection.
Key challenges are the water depth, and the large CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) content in the produced fluid. A new riser monitoring system using distributed temperature sensor (DTS) technology, has been developed specially for this application and will be incorporated in the flexible pipes.
Technip’s operating center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will execute the contract. The flexible pipes will be manufactured at the Technip’s plant in Vitória, Brazil, with the support of the plant in Le Trait, France. Delivery of the pipe is scheduled to start toward the end of 2010 and finish at the end of 2012.
Subsea 7 wins UK North Sea pipeline bundle contract
Subsea 7 Inc has won a contract in the UK sector of the North Sea valued in excess of $75 million. The company is to engineer, fabricate, install, and commission a pipeline bundle consisting of production, gas lift, methanol, and heating pipelines and controls umbilical.
Procurement, engineering, and project management begin immediately with offshore installation of the bundle scheduled for 1Q 2011.
A pipeline bundle integrates flow lines, water injection, gas lift, and control systems necessary for a subsea development and assembles them within a steel carrier pipe. At each end of the pipeline, the structures, manifolds, incorporating equipment, and valves, designed for the field, are attached. The fully tested system is launched and transported using the controlled-depth tow method. Once installed, no trenching or rock dumping is required.