Meteorology

 

16 February 2011 Aberdeen Branch Evening Meeting

Chairmain David Kaye, Aquamarine Power

Sponsored by Aerospace & Marine International, Amarcon and StormGeo

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Overview

Meteorological conditions have a huge impact on the offshore industry, through all of the design, construction, operation and decommissioning phases of an offshore development. This evening meeting looked at some of the key principles of offshore meteorology, including extreme weather forecasting for design and short-term forecasting for construction and operations, the new meteorological issues facing the emerging renewable industry and the topical issue of climate change. The meeting closed with a presentation and demonstration of weather monitoring and decision support system to optimise offshore operations.

 

Presentations

Forecasting for Design and Operations

Keith Thomson, Aerospace & Marine International (AMI)

For offshore operations the presentation gave a brief outline of weather forecast providers and their relationship to users of the forecasts, before explaining how global numerical models operate and how they are initialised with observational data. For design criteria an explanation of how observations of wave height are averaged and processed was given.

 

Meteorology for Renewables

Hilde Holdhus and Alan Binley, StormGeo

The presentation focused on meteorology for the offshore renewables industry. Accurate meteorological data and forecasting is essential to determine the optimum location of renewable devices and the expected revenue. Renewable devices are generally located in the inshore region with different meteorological characteristics and less operational experience than the more conventional offshore industry locations. This presentation addressed the key aspects of meteorology for renewables, including offshore wind and marine renewable sectors.

 

Climate Change, Variability and Data Trends

Ian Leggett, OceanExpert Ltd

Climate change continues to be a source of public debate. The principles are well known, however the impact on the offshore industry is less understood, even within the industry itself. This presentation addressed temperature changes through time, key concerns and impacts of climate change, trends/changes, science and perception and natural variability, and trends in North Sea wave heights.

 

Monitoring and Decision Support System for Weather-Sensitive Operations

Leon Adegeest, Amarcon

Once you have the weather forecast available, what will be the impact of the weather on the vessel? And how can you optimise the performance in the expected weather?

 

 

 

 

 

Salvage and Decommissioning

 

26 January 2011 North of England Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Ian Frazer, GL Noble Denton

Sponsored by GL Noble Denton

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Overview

The very term ‘Design Life’ predicts a precipice at some future date against which all engineering and financial calculations are derived – and yet what shall actually be involved in removing the structures, that were often a feat of ingenuity to install in the first place, is all too frequently considered as a distant problem. Decommissioning, however, is already taking place and increasing in volume. There is disquiet within the oil and gas industry which has been caught largely unprepared for the challenge, let alone the opportunity.

The SUT’s newly formed Salvage and Decommissioning Committee and its interactive Special Interest Group were established in February 2010 to help address this situation, by bringing together the offshore, marine salvage and scientific sectors in order to exchange technologies, methodologies, ideas and information.

This evening meeting began with a brief overview of aims of the Committee and the means by which it intends stimulate activity, before highlighting specific aspects of practical work.

 

Presentations

Global Decommissioning Opportunities

Brian Twomey, Managing Director, Reverse Engineering Limited

Brian gave a global market overview which contained a summary of the structures to be decommissioned and an estimate of market value and timing.

 

Synergies between Decommissioning, Wreck Removal and Cargo Recovery

Moya Crawford, Managing Director, Deep Tek Ltd

The international salvage community forms a responsive, risk-based industry that removes structures and recovers property from the seabed as part of its everyday work, using a wide range of equipment, cutting and lifting techniques. The presentation discussed the synergies and highlighted some of the applications.

 

Overview of North Sea Decommissioning Campaigns

Don Orr, Principal Engineer, GL Noble Denton

A substantial number of offshore facilities have now been removed from the North Sea. The presentation explored the variety of structures decommissioned and the range of techniques employed. This was demonstrated using experience from 3 decommissioning campaigns supported by GL Noble Denton over the last 3 years.

 

HPHT

 

20 January 2011 London Evening Meeting

Chairman Dr Bob Allwood, Chief Executive, SUT

Sponsored by Subsea Communities and supported by Acteon

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Overview

HPHT fields and projects pose unique operating challenges that we believe the industry can overcome together. To address this, Acteon is building an industrial community where knowledge and experience can be shared for the benefit of all involved. This evening’s meeting is hosted by Will Rowley, Acteon Group, Analyst responsible for the Acteon Subsea Communities. The evening’s speakers presented information on HPHT (Seabed to Surface) that would typically be presented at a Community Event.

 

Presentations

HPHT Trends, Definitions and Issues

Will Rowley, Group Analyst, Acteon

Drawing on recently correlated data, this presentation provided an overview of current trends and influences in regards to HPHT projects and field developments. It  also introduced the Acteon led HPHT (Seabed to Surface) Industrial Community, highlighting the aims and benefits of working together to overcome the challenges that the industry will face in the future.

 

HPHT Subsea Design

John McGrail, Director, 2H Offshore

As a global engineering contractor that specialises in the design and structural analysis of risers and conductor systems, 2H has direct experience of the key challenges of designing subsea equipment for HPHT service. John identified and discussed the difficulties faced in the design of riser and flowline systems for HPHT conditions, highlighting the technologies and step changes required for future progress.

 

Riser Systems and Connection Options

Rick Moralee, Sales Manager, Claxton Engineering

Holding one of the largest jack-up drilling riser stocks in Europe, Claxton is at the forefront of HPHT riser system operation and deployment. This presentation provided an overview of HP drilling riser systems with particular attention to connection options and the associated operational advantages.