Heated Production Pipelines

 

9 November 2011 Aberdeen Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman David Kaye, Engineering Manager, Aquamarine Power

Sponsored by Technip

 

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Overview

More challenging subsea field developments need more sophisticated technology to export reservoir fluids back to host processing facilities. This evening meeting looked at recent developments in the active heating of subsea production pipelines. The evening’s programme included two recent pipeline case histories using different types of heating technology, the demand for the technology from the perspective of the process engineer, and a short technology bite on a new and related technology for pipeline cleaning.

 

Presentations

The Industrialisation of Electrically Trace Heated Pipe in Pipe (ETH-PIP)

Rob Fisher – Project Manager, Technip UK Limited

This presentation covered the industrialisation of Electrically Trace Heated Pipe-in-Pipe, a new pipeline technology which provides the last piece of the jigsaw in the flow assurance puzzle. Rob discussed qualification, industrialisation and the product’s first ever installation as part of Total’s Islay field development in the UK North Sea.

 

Apache Bacchus Project

Mark Richardson – Subsea Projects Manager, Apache North Sea

The Bacchus Project comprises three subsea production wells tied back to the Forties Alpha platform via a 6.8km subsea bundle. The new riser caisson was installed in late 2010 with the bundle being installed in March 2011. The topsides modifications and subsea infrastructure are now mechanically complete and pre-commissioned with drilling the first well being the critical path to first oil.

 

Flow Assurance, Thermal Management of Subsea Systems

Ratnam Sathananthan – Global Flow Assurance Manager, Subsea7

As subsea oil & as production extends into ever deeper waters, effective flow assurance can offer greatly enhanced systems with superior availability, deliverability and operability throughout field life. Using the philosophy “Design from the Inside”, thermal management within subsea production systems helps to effectively manage wax/hydrates and enhances production. The author foresees a need for systems that can improve economics from deepwater fields.

 

Techbite Slot

John Burns – Pipeline Cleaning Solutions

A 5–10 minute presentation highlighting a technology capability that has been the subject of an initial investigative project with ITF to prove a new concept for removal of sand and debris from pipes. With wider applications for cleaning tanks, wireline equipment and chemical removal, this project is gaining traction in the industry and is moving to another phase.

 

Optoelectronic Technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry

 

8 November 2011 SUT supported third annual technical meeting, Bergen, Norway

 

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Overview

Following on from the successful two previous meetings in addressing this rapidly expanding technology area within the oil and gas industry, the 3rd Annual Optoelectronic Technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry Technical Meeting highlighted major developments in optoelectronic technology relevant to current and future oil and gas industry applications. The breadth of optoelectronic technologies that may be utilised by the oil and gas industry will be reflected in presentations covering optoelectronics for Downhole, Seabed, Subsea and surface applications. The 2011 meeting was held in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, and a centre for the oil and gas sector. This annual meeting provides a unique opportunity for oil and gas industry professionals, technology developers, academics, and researchers to share the latest innovations in this rapidly expanding technology area.

 

Report

After being held in Aberdeen for two years, the annual Optoelectronic Technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry technical meeting was held for the first time this year in Bergen, Norway. The event was co-sponsored by FMC Technologies, The Michelsen Centre, NCE Subsea, Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), Norwegian Petroleum Society and Institute of Physics. Around 110 people attended the technical meeting, which is a new record and continues the growth of attendees from previous years’ events.

This annual meeting has established itself as an international event with a unique mix of representatives from various operators, service companies, subsea systems suppliers, technology providers, R&D institutes and universities. The evening commenced with an icebreaker reception attended by more than 60 people, held before the technical meeting began.

Optoelectronic technologies have developed rapidly over the last few decades, with telecommunication being one of the drivers for this rapid development. Principal researcher Kjetil Johannessen from Statoil gave the first keynote speech. Kjetil explained that it has only been ten years since Tampnet was established, but it now operates the largest offshore high capacity communication network in the world, serving 34 fields and carrying traffic for approximately 50 platforms in the North Sea, using optical fibre as the backbone. It is only in recent years that Statoil and many other operators have started to specify and use fibre-optical communication for subsea installations.

Christina Johansen, from FMC Technologies, gave the second keynote address and emphasised the importance that all obtainable data is aggregated and presented as useful information to the appropriate people. Increased oil recovery (IOR) is the key driver for technology development within the oil and gas industry. Aspects such as high temperature and high pressure (HPHT), longer tie-back, deeper water and Arctic conditions are pushing this development. As the bandwidth is now available, this should be utilised so that the recovery rates from subsea wells approach those of topside wells.

In addition to the keynote addresses, 10 technical presentations, 16 scientific posters and 10 tabletop displays were presented, with the main focus on optical sensing. Four of the presentations were related to distributed fibre-optical sensing, an area attracting much interest. Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) has been known and used for some time, but distributed strain is now more mature, and distributed acoustic sensing is also being developed. High temperature capability and the possibility for distributed sensing are two of the arguments for using fibre optics for downhole applications. Fibre-optical sensing allows the possibility of placing the transmitting and receiver optics and the electronics in a benign environment topside or marinised subsea, with the sensing element consisting of a passive optical fibre.

The meeting also included presentations on new optical sensor developments with environmental monitoring and fluid characterisation, in addition to presentations covering subsea fibre-optical architecture and test equipment.

Select presentations will be available from the event webpage, www.optotechmeeting.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Assessing the Environmental Risk of Produced Water Discharges

 

20 October 2011 London Evening Meeting

Chairman Dr Bob Allwood, Chief Executive, SUT

Sponsored by Xodus Group

 

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Overview

Media and public interest in environmental issues and the oil and gas industry are currently the greatest they have ever been since hydrocarbon reserves were discovered in the North Sea. Although much of the interest currently focuses on oil spills, there has been interest in discharges of hydrocarbons and other components in produced water.

The discharge of produced water from offshore installations has been a topic of discussions for OSPAR and the preceding Paris Commission since 1978. The Offshore Industry Committee (OIC) of OSPAR has revisited the topic of produced water many times over the intervening years and has addressed sampling and analysis, BAT, BEP as well as standards. Most recently OIC have been developing a ‘Risk Based Approach on the Assessment of Produced Water’. In addition, EU regulations such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and REACH have potential to impact on produced water discharges in the near future.

These regulations often lead to the installation of compliance based process improvements to reduce the potential of produced water discharges to adversely impact the marine environment. In bringing about such modifications these regulations may have a direct and significant impact on both the capital expenditure of projects as well as the subsequent operating expenditure of assets, and can contribute to business and project risks. They will also have an impact on the environmental performance of a project, for example as the balance of different environmental emissions shifts from marine discharges to atmospheric discharges.

In order to understand and achieve BAT and BEP for the management of produced water it is essential to understand the risk of the discharges to the marine environment. This presentation reviewed the potential methodologies for a Risk Based Approach to the Assessment of Produced Water and provided background to the work of OIC in this area. Context to current concerns regarding the environmental impact of substances in produced water was provided from an overview of the current available information on produced water discharges in the North Sea in the light of OSPAR drivers of BAT and BPEO.

 

Presentation

Dr Anthony Millais, Principal Environmental Consultant, Xodus Group Limited

Xodus Group is an independent, international energy consultancy providing a uniquely integrated package of solutions for clients as they seek to overcome challenges throughout the life of their assets.

From conceptual definition, through design and construction and into operation, Xodus provides the clever and innovative thinking needed to maximise the return on our customers’ investment.

 

SUT Perth Branch Inaugural SUT Family Day –
Exploring the Immerse Exhibit

 

16 October 2011 SUT Perth Branch Inaugural SUT Family Day, Fremantle, Australia

 

Immerse Exhibit Flyer

 

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Following the successful launch of the Immerse exhibit in early September, visitor numbers to this public exhibition on subsea technology have been exceptional – not only have over 9400 people visited the exhibit in the first five weeks since its opening (an increase for the museum of over 170% on the same time last year), a number of school group excursions and public lectures have also been hosted with the support and participation of SUT members.

A key motivation for SUT in collaborating with the West Australian Museum on the Immerse exhibit was to reach out to young people and encourage them to continue with maths, science and technical subjects which could enable them to progress into careers subsea. We were also keen to raise awareness in the community about the challenges of working in and under the ocean, and the innovations which enable us to do so. Of course, where better to achieve these aims than within our families! So on the 16th of October SUT arranged our inaugural SUT Family Day, which provided a chance for members to not just have a look at the Immerse exhibit with our spouses and partners, but also to have a go (whenever the kids would share!) at piloting the observation-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in a tank, or trying to stack wooden blocks with five-function robot arms. The museum had also arranged for REmida to run children’s craft activities using a variety of industrial off-cuts to make their own ROVs or hard-hat diving helmets. The Family Day was also intended to be a chance for SUT members and their families to catch up over a casual ‘sausage sizzle’, however, unfortunately the catering for lunch was not successful – we would like to apologise to members for this rare glitch in our planning and organisation.

All in all, the success of the day can be judged by the feedback from the kids – their enthusiasm and engagement with the Immerse exhibit was fantastic to see, something that could not have happened without the very generous support of the corporate members who sponsored the exhibit, including Woodside as Principal Partner and GE Oil and Gas as Major Partner, and also the very generous individuals and organisations who have loaned equipment for us to display. Whatever challenges and fields of endeavour our offshore and subsea industry is focused on in the future, it is clear that some of the bright minds who came along to the SUT Family Day may be making their mark in due course.

 

Emergency Response

 

5 October 2011 Aberdeen Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Mark Richardson, Subsea Projects Manager, Apache

Sponsored by Apache

 

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Presentations

The Roles and Responsibilities of Government and Industry Groups Involved in Emergency Response

Brian Tadeo – Apache North Sea

Brian’s presentation was an introduction to the policy and infrastructure in place to deal with an emergency on the UKCS. It provided a background of why the legislation has been shaped as it has followed by an overview of the responsibilities placed on operators and contractors and a look at the collaboration between government and industry to implement the processes and procedures to keep both the people and environment safe.

 

An Introduction to Oil Spill Response on the UKCS.

Tina Massoura – Apache North Sea

The presentation covered the emergency response system in place to deal with an oil spill on the UKCS, including the roles of operators and stakeholders and the oil spill capabilities available to respond to such event.

 

The ‘All Hazards’ Approach to Risk Management

Albert Duncan – Altor Risk

Altor’s presentation looked at the principle of Dynamic Uncertainty with the Ripple Effect showing how the different aspects of response cannot be addressed in isolation. The ripple effect can trigger responses that affect people, environment, media and security issues. This is compounded by triggering individual ripples in each of these areas causing an interlinking ripple effect.

 

Business Continuity Management in the Offshore Industry

Duncan Salmon – Pracius

Business continuity management is the holistic term for the management and governance process that identifies the business’ critical processes, the impacts on the business that the loss of them would cause and builds and maintains proper recovery strategies and plans to keep the company running at ‘Business At Usual’, despite the crisis it may be experiencing. It gives the business enough resilience to cope with a loss of people, property, critical suppliers or important technology. The on-going management and updating of these plans is kept up through training, exercises and plan reviews.