Sicily

Abstract Some of the offshore oil and gas infrastructures are ending their operational life in most areas of the world, and the impact of decommissioning activities is still largely unknown. Removal of such structures is unlikely to represent best environmental practice; recognition of this has resulted in some nations leaving not productive structures in place as artificial reefs or to find alternative solutions for their sustainable re-use. The PLaCE project aims at investigating for the first time at Italian national level solutions for the eco-sustainable re-use of offshore platforms located in the Adriatic Sea at the end of their productive phase. The selected re-use solutions to be tested in the offshore location are a set of innovative eco-sustainable strategies for offshore aquaculture and a life-extension strategy for reutilization of offshore platforms into new and eco-sustainable economy, based on mineral accretion technology under low voltage electrolysis of seawater to protect offshore structures from corrosion. To do this, a suitable offshore asset was selected to perform a substantial asset conversion investigation on such infrastructure. The paper describes the asset conversion process to meet the project requirements, the design of a dedicated remote-controlled renewable power system, the planning and carrying out of the relevant offshore works. A dedicated lesson learnt summary is also included in the last paper section. The project is co-funded by the European Union within the projects PON - Ricerca e Innovazione 2014-2020. Introduction Several offshore platforms around the world oceans will reach the end of their production phase in the next decade and will require sustainable management solutions. Options alternative to the complete removal has been explored at international level, including partial decommissioning and leave in place for sustainable and beneficial re-use. Indeed, platforms at the end of their operational phase can represent multi-use hubs for the development of the Blue Economy, such as renewable energy production and aquaculture in line with the principles of the sustainable use of marine space and its resources. At Italian level, on the basis of the available information contained in the UNMIG database (latest update October 2020), there are 124 oil and gas offshore platforms of which 115 located in the Adriatic Sea, 4 in the Ionic Sea and 5 in the Sicily Channel and some of them are ending their operational life.

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2021-053

OMC Med Energy Conference and Exhibition

Country: Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.24)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Management (1.00)
Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Sustainability/Social Responsibility > Sustainable development (1.00)
Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment (1.00)
(2 more...)

Technology: Information Technology (0.95)

Add feedback

Ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea

Knutsen, Øyvind (SINTEF Ocean) | Stefanakos, Christos (SINTEF Ocean) | Slagstad, Dag (SINTEF Ocean)

OnePetroJune, 2021

Abstract In the present study, ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea are studied by implementing our inhouse hydrodynamic 3D ocean model SINMOD. The model is a fully coupled ocean model with hydrodynamics, ecology and sea ice, and it has been developed at SINTEF since 1987. SINMOD resolves sufficiently well the circulation dynamics of the oceans. Validation of the model has been performed throughout all these years using not only measurements of current, salinity and temperature but also data of primary production. The model has run in a double nested setup with an outer grid of 20 km resolution for the North Atlantic, which gave input to another grid for the Mediterranean with 4 km resolution, which again gave input to a finer grid with resolution 800 m of the Ionian Sea. Other input includes ERA5 atmospheric parameters for the period 2010–2019, as well as information concerning freshwater influx (main rivers) and tides. The analysis of results includes monthly, annual and interannual variability of fields of temprature, salinity, currents and wind at sea surface, and a diagonal cross–section along the Ionian Sea. The largest variability is exhibited by currents and wind speed, followed by temperature, and the lowest by salinity. INTRODUCTION Many studies in the past have highlighted the importance of the Ionian Sea as it is a region where water masses meet and interact; see, e.g.,Budillon et al. (2010), Gačić et al. (2010), Kalimeris and Kassis (2020), and references therein. In west, the Ionian Sea is connected to the Western Mediterranean via the Strait of Sicily, the Levantine Sea in South East, the Aegean Sea in East and the Adriatic Sea in North via the Otranto Strait. The southern Adriatic Sea is the traditional “engine” of the Eastern Mediterranean internal conveyor belt, which is the main and historical contributor to the deep and bottom waters of the Ionian and Levantine basins, from which the Adriatic Deep Water (ADW) exits crossing the Otranto Straits (Budillon et al., 2010).

OnePetro

ISOPE

ISOPE-I-21-3233

The 31st International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference

circulation, cross-section, current condition, iav, inter-annual variability, Ionian Sea, mean annual variability, mean value, Mediterranean Sea, northern ionian sea, Oceanography, reservoir simulation, resolution, salinity, upper part, Upstream Oil & Gas, variability, wind speed

Country:

North America > United States (0.47)
Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.25)
Asia > Middle East > Israel > Mediterranean Sea (0.24)

Geologic Time: Phanerozoic > Cenozoic > Quaternary > Pleistocene > Ionian (0.85)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (0.34)

Oilfield Places:

North America > Canada > Quebec > Arctic Platform (0.94)
North America > Canada > Nunavut > Arctic Platform (0.94)
Asia > Middle East > Israel > Mediterranean Sea > Levantine Basin (0.94)

SPE Disciplines: Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Simulation (0.66)

Add feedback

Calculation of Lithology-Specific P-Wave Velocity Relations from Sonic Well Logs for the Po-Plain Area and the Northern Adriatic Sea

Benetatos, Christoforos (Politecnico di Torino) | Codegone, Giulia (Politecnico di Torino / SNAM-Stogit) | Marzano, Francesco (Politecnico di Torino) | Peter, Costanzo (Politecnico di Torino) | Verga, Francesca (Politecnico di Torino)

OnePetroMarch, 2019

ABSTRACT One of the most useful petrophysical parameters in hydrocarbon reservoir studies is the velocity of the seismic waves propagating in the Earth's subsurface. Seismic velocities have multiple applications in geophysical exploration, well log interpretation and petrophysical and geomechanical characterization. In this study we used publicly available well data (VIDEPI database) covering the Po Plain and the northern Adriatic areas to calculate the P-wave sonic velocity from the analysis of well profiles (1:1000 scale). Data were collected from 134 wells located inside the region of interest that included sonic log registrations. From each of the wells the cuttings interpretation log, the available spontaneous potential or gamma ray logs and the sonic log were digitized from existing profiles whereas the hydrocarbon-bearing-marker (resistivity log readings) and the geological formation log were constructed. The lithological and the geological formation logs were used to analyse the regional stratigraphy while the resistivity log was used to identify and exclude the hydrocarbon bearing intervals affecting the sonic log readings. The various lithologies reported on the well profiles were combined to characterize 9 main lithological groups (6 clastic, 1 marly, 2 carbonatic). For each group a linear regression was applied to extract the relation of velocity versus depth. The results show a gradual velocity increase with depth for most of the lithologies, while limestones and dolomites present constant velocities independently of the depth. Furthermore, at approximately 3.5-4 km the velocities of all lithologies tend to stabilise at a value that remains relatively constant even for larger depths. The results of this study can prove helpful for the construction and calibration of velocity models and for the calculation of dynamic geomechanical parameters (e.g. Young's modulus), which are crucial for the mechanical characterization of the rock during geomechanical studies. INTRODUCTION Italy is one of the richest countries in terms of hydrocarbon reservoirs in southern Europe. Gas and oil accumulations in the Italian territory and in the off-shore area are mainly located along the Apennine chain, within the associated foredeep basins and along the Adriatic foreland. The gas fields are mainly concentrated in the Po Valley and within the northern and central Adriatic basin, while the oil fields are located in the Western Po Valley, Southern Apennines and Sicily [1], [2]. The current geological structure of the Italian territory is the result of a complex tectonic and sedimentary evolution that began at the end of the Palaeozoic period and lasted until the Pleistocene. The Tertiary, the Alpine and Apennine orogenic events produced a chain-foreland-foredeep system whose evolution created the necessary conditions for the formation of hydrocarbon bearing deposits both on-shore and off-shore. The analysis of data from more than 250 hydrocarbon fields shows large amounts of hydrocarbon were produced in the Italian peninsula as well as extensive drilling activity for exploration purposes in a broader area [3]. Over the last decades, more than 7000 wells were drilled in the entire Italian territory [4] reaching, on average, a depth of 3-4 km inside the earth's crust. In this work we focus on the Po plain and the northern part of the Adriatic Sea where more than 3500 wells provide a large amount of data suitable for the study of the geological characteristics of the sedimentary deposits present in the area.

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2019-1161

Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition

Country: Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.24)

Genre: Research Report > New Finding (1.00)

Geologic Time:

Phanerozoic > Cenozoic > Quaternary > Pleistocene (0.68)
Phanerozoic > Cenozoic > Neogene > Pliocene (0.48)
Phanerozoic > Cenozoic > Neogene > Miocene (0.48)

Geophysics: Geophysics > Seismic Surveying > Seismic Modeling > Velocity Modeling (0.87)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

Oilfield Places: Europe > Italy > Adriatic Sea > Adriatic Basin (0.99)

SPE Disciplines:

Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Seismic processing and interpretation (1.00)
Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Exploration, development, structural geology (1.00)
Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management > Open hole/cased hole log analysis (1.00)

Technology: Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Statistical Learning > Regression (0.50)

Add feedback

Clean Sea Platform: Development of a Seabed Environmental Guard E-Pod

Nali, Micaela (Eni S.p.A) | Carminati, Stefano (Eni S.p.A) | Gasparoni, Francesco (EniProgetti) | Bruni, Federico (EniProgetti)

OnePetroMarch, 2019

Abstract We developed a system, whose skills find application in different fields related to O&G offshore activities. These applications comprise the characterization and mapping of light and heavy hydrocarbons at the sea bottom. Therefore, the system can contribute to methane hydrates/shallow gas detection that constitute a geological risk (geohazard) for the O&G activities and contribute significantly to the phenomenon of global warming. On the other hand, the mapping of heavy hydrocarbons, which are the scarcely biodegradable residue of oil spills, can be useful for determining an environmental background before undertaking any new O&G activity. The applications of the system, however, are not limited to environmental assessments. It also allows the acquisition of useful data for exploration activities. Sea bottom geochemical surveys (determination of natural seepages of hydrocarbons of thermogenic origin) prove to be more precise, increasing sampling density, and with a lower environmental impact than the standard approach, that requires sea bottom piston/gravity cores. Together with real-time measurements, the system can collect interstitial water samples to be analysed in laboratory. Introduction This work is based on a well-established Eni's technology: the Clean Sea platform (Ref. 1 and references therein cited). In the recent years Eni developed an innovative submarine robotic technology, called "Clean-Sea", which performs monitoring and inspection of offshore O&G plants, in a completely automatic manner. Clean-Sea is based on the use of a commercial autonomous submarine vehicle or AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), equipped with a modular system of instrumented devices (sensors, samplers, analyzers), interchangeable according to the specific missions to be performed, able to automatically carry out the real-time measurements of specific selected parameters. The distinctive feature of the system is its "intelligent" behavior, that is its autonomous ability to modify, in real time, the pre-set mission, based on the data actually acquired. This reactive behavior allows it to concentrate the measurements in the vicinity of any anomaly present in the marine environment, in order to obtain the best accuracy in detecting both the position of the anomaly and its chemical-physical characteristics. It is therefore a relatively low-cost, hybrid, modular, robust system with limited logistical needs. It already worked in Oil & Gas facilities such as offshore Norway, Caspian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Sicily Channel, Eastern Mediterranean. It works up to 3000 m water depth, currently it has been tested up to 1150 m. Various types of support vessels have been used, in terms of size and rental costs (tugs, icebreakers).

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2019-0984

Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition

Artificial Intelligence, benthic chamber, clean sea platform, climate change, concentration, detection, fluorescence, gasparoni, hydrocarbon, instrumented module, mass spectrometer, methane concentration, module, real time system, real-time measurement, seabed environmental guard e-pod, sediment, Upstream Oil & Gas

Country:

Europe > Belarus (0.29)
Europe > Norway (0.25)
Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.25)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment (1.00)
Data Science & Engineering Analytics > Information Management and Systems (1.00)
Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Non-Traditional Resources > Gas hydrates (0.49)

Technology:

Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence (1.00)
Information Technology > Architecture > Real Time Systems (1.00)

Add feedback

A Case Study of Pipeline Integrity Management in Greenstream Natural Gas Export Pipeline Through Corrosion Mitigation and Inspection Strategy

Ahmad, Iftikhar (Mellitah Oil & GAS B. V.) | Elshawesh, Fawzi (Mellitah Oil & GAS B. V.) | Sassi, Osama (Mellitah Oil & GAS B. V.) | Aburiah, Husaameddin (Mellitah Oil & GAS B. V.)

OnePetroMarch, 2019

ABSTRACT The GreenStream pipeline is the longest underwater pipeline ever laid in the Mediterranean Sea. The primary objective of pipeline integrity management (PIM) is to maintain pipelines in a fit-for-service condition while extending their remaining life in the most reliable, safe and cost effective manner. The objective of a corrosion management plan is to define all necessary activities to assure the integrity of the pipelines by control of corrosion. This will ensure consistent availability and safe operation of the transmission pipelines throughout the specified design life. Under these circumstances, it has become crucial to manage operational risk through the use of effective technology and best practices for inspection and maintenance planning. This paper presents the experience of corrosion management of GreenStream pipeline through corrosion mitigation, corrosion monitoring and inspection strategy used in Mellitah Oil & Gas BV. External corrosion on GreenStream pipeline is controlled with a combination of coatings and cathodic protection while internal corrosion is controlled with a combination of chemical inhibitors, periodic cleaning, internal lining and process control. The monitoring and inspection techniques provide a way to measure the effectiveness of corrosion control systems and provide an early warning when changing conditions may be causing a corrosion problem. This paper describes corrosion management system used in Mellitah Oil & Gas BV for its natural gas export pipeline based on standard practices of corrosion mitigation and inspection. INTRODUCTION The GreenStream pipeline is an offshore pipeline laid in the Mediterranean Sea. It is 516 km long natural gas pipeline which has 32 inches diameter. It runs from Mellitah in Libya to Gela in Sicily, Italy. It was constructed with initial capacity of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year. Later the capacity of the pipeline was increased to 11 bcm. The pipeline parameters are given in Table -1. Maintaining pipeline in a safe and reliable condition is one of the major tasks for pipeline owners and operators. Assuring safety and reliability of a pipeline demands an integrated and efficient integrity management system. Pipeline integrity management is a process for assessing and mitigation pipeline risks in order to reduce both the likelihood and consequences of incidents. The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has established a set of regulations impacting operators of hazardous liquids and natural gas transmission lines. Part of the mandate is the development of a comprehensive integrity management program to address ongoing pipeline safety. Other international references related to pipeline integrity management are:ASME B31.85 - 2012: Managing System Integrity of Gas Pipelines UK Pipelines Safety Regulations Pipeline Risk Management Manual - by Muhlbauer

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2019-0873

Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition

Country:

North America > United States (0.94)
Africa > Middle East > Libya (0.24)
Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.24)

Industry:

Energy > Oil & Gas > Midstream (1.00)
Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (0.47)

SPE Disciplines:

Production and Well Operations > Production Chemistry, Metallurgy and Biology > Corrosion inhibition and management (including H2S and CO2) (1.00)
Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Offshore pipelines (1.00)

Technology: Information Technology (1.00)

Add feedback

Bounded-region wavelet spectrum: A new tool for depth estimation of gravity and magnetic data

Fedi, Maurizio (Università di Napoli, Department of Earth, Environment and Resource Science, Largo san Marcellino 10, 80138 Napoli, Italy) | Mastro, Simona (Università di Napoli, Department of Earth, Environment and Resource Science, Largo san Marcellino 10, 80138 Napoli, Italy)

OnePetroOctober, 2018

ABSTRACT Spectral analysis, based on Fourier Transform, provides a high-resolution analysis in frequency domain but it has not resolution in the space domain. In addition, the case of multiple sources is hard to be studied with standard techniques, such as that based on the well-known Spector and Grant’s method. We propose to fix these issues by resorting to a scalogram analysis, obtained through the continuous wavelet transform of the potential fields using the Morlet analyzing wavelet. In the scalogram it is indeed possible distinguishing and locating the source contributes for both their space and scale contents. In this framework, we propose a method to analyze locally the scalogram, in bounded sub-regions, so to estimate the depth of each source by Bounded-Region Wavelet Spectra, which provide simultaneously a good space and scale resolution. We tested successfully this approach with magnetic anomalies of synthetic multiple-source models and we finally applied it to the gravimetric data of Sicily (Southern Italy), for estimating a gravity-based Moho depth in Sicily. Presentation Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Start Time: 8:30:00 AM Location: 213B (Anaheim Convention Center) Presentation Type: Oral

OnePetro

doi: 10.1190/segam2018-2998315.1

SEG

SEG-2018-2998315

2018 SEG International Exposition and Annual Meeting

Country: Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.46)

Geophysics: Geophysics > Magnetic Surveying (1.00)

SPE Disciplines: Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Seismic processing and interpretation (0.70)

Technology: Information Technology > Data Science > Data Quality > Data Transformation (0.71)

Add feedback

Data Processing Strategies for Monitoring an Offshore SPM System

Rizzo, Michele (University of Florence) | Castelli, Paolo (University of Florence) | Spadaccini, Ostilio (University of Florence) | Vignoli, Andrea (University of Florence)

OnePetroJune, 2018

ABSTRACT Near the offshore production platform Vega A, the tanker FSO Leonis is moored to a steel column with circular section, 130 meters high and 10 meters in diameter, installed in 1988 in the Sicilian Channel, the connection is via a bridge structure with welded steel sections that make up the system SPM (Single Point Mooring). The structural system in steel box girders and column, with its cylindrical hinges, is calls-to the actions of the sea that induce cyclic stresses and fatigue. The paper presents the monitoring system of the structure connecting the ship to the column, installed on your system by structural in October 2009, is composed of strain gauges sensors, in fiber optic, and inclinometers biaxial that detect rotations of the column and the bridge. The Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) relies on the repeated observation of damage-sensitive features such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. The problem is that changes in temperature, relative humidity, operational loading, and so on also influence those features. This influence is in general nonlinear and also nonlinear is the system SPM-Yoke-Vessel. In this work, a technique based on kernel principal component analysis is used with both the sensor measurement (strain gauge data and inclinometer data); this method is used for eliminating environmental and operational influences on the damage-sensitive features. The results allowed us to evaluate the conditions assumed in the project and made it possible to define a program of inspection and maintenance of steel structures. INTRODUCTION The ship Leonis is located in the VEGA field that is approximately 12 miles south of the southern coast of Sicily, off the coast of Pozzallo. The field includes the platform called VEGA-A for the exploitation of the oil field and a 110,000 ton floating deposit obtained from the transformation of the former oil tanker Leonis in FSO (Floating -Storage - Offloading). The float is moored at SPM (single point mooring) located about 1.5 miles from the platform and connected to it via pipelines. In Figure 1 the ship Leonis and the SPM (column and yoke) are shown.

OnePetro

ISOPE

ISOPE-I-18-572

The 28th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference

Country:

North America > Canada (0.67)
Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.24)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

Oilfield Places: North America > United States > Colorado > Vega Field (0.99)

SPE Disciplines:

Data Science & Engineering Analytics > Information Management and Systems (1.00)
Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems > Mooring systems (0.55)

Technology: Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Statistical Learning (0.90)

Add feedback

Improvement of Structural Monitoring of Jacket Platform

Rizzo, Michele (University of Florence) | Betti, Michele (University of Florence) | Spadaccini, Ostilio (University of Florence) | Vignoli, Andrea (University of Florence)

OnePetroJune, 2017

ABSTRACT The offshore platform VEGA-A is eight legs fixed jacket structure operating from 1988 in the Sicily channel (Italy). In the platform is installed an environmental and structural monitoring system. In September 2015 the processing mode of the acquired data was modified, in order to better establish its representativeness in relation to the structural health monitoring (SHM) of the platform. This paper shows the results of the data processing provided by the monitoring system, employed to perform spectral analysis and dynamic identifications. The frequencies and the mode shape were analyzed in order to assess their variability during the life of the platform. The variation of mode shapes and main periods can be related to the damage of structural elements (columns and bracings) or to mass variations. The position of accelerometers can be optimized to detect, if any, different structural elements failures. The research includes the analysis of the accelerometer signals in order to improve the identification of damage correlated to significant events and for the selection of proper warning thresholds and alarms. INTRODUCTION The control plan for offshore structures, or the verification of such structures for use beyond their initial life, requires a design of an inspection plan aimed to constantly check-up the structural elements (joints members). The inspections, their frequency, and their typology (i.e. the proper selection of the elements and/or joints to check-up) is a critical issue (since, for instance, it may not be feasible to inspect all critical components), and inspection planning was for the last decade, and still is, based mainly on probabilistic analysis (Risk Based Inspection, RBI). In addition, the visual inspection of structural damage is in most cases hard to perform (taking into account both the water depth and the marine growth plants that hide the structural member) and evermore economically demanding. To overcome these problems, since the early seventies, monitoring techniques for damage identification through the analysis of the changes in the modal properties of offshore structures have been developed and the results of previous researches showed that the MAC (Modal Assurance Criterion), the COMAC (Coordinate Modal Assurance Criterion) and the MSF (Modal Scale Factor) are indexes capable to detect both offshore damages and mass changes (provided that a proper and reliable monitoring system has been designed and installed; Facchini et al. 2014). It is expected, however, that the more the offshore platform is robust (i.e. damage tolerant), the less a structural damage can be detected through the changes in its first modal properties. To deepen these aspects the paper investigates the ability of monitoring systems and damage measures to assess possible structural damage in conjunction with the robustness and damage tolerance of such structures.

OnePetro

ISOPE

ISOPE-I-17-481

The 27th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference

Country:

North America > United States (0.68)
North America > Canada (0.68)
Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.24)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (0.69)

Oilfield Places: North America > United States > Colorado > Vega Field (0.99)

SPE Disciplines:

Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems (1.00)
Data Science & Engineering Analytics > Information Management and Systems (1.00)
Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment (0.94)
Well Completion > Completion Monitoring Systems/Intelligent Wells > Remote monitoring (0.60)

Technology:

Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning (1.00)
Information Technology > Sensing and Signal Processing (0.96)

Add feedback

Offshore Meteo-Marine Monitoring Systems

Launaro, F. (Seatech srl, RINA Group) | Gallerini, A. (Seatech srl, RINA Group)

OnePetroMarch, 2017

Abstract Oil and gas offshore facilities are subject to time varying loads, which are mainly due to environmental conditions and secondly to operational conditions. The measurement of winds, waves, currents and the facility dynamic response to the time varying loads allow to estimate the fatigue damage that the facility has undergone since the beginning of its operational life. Monitoring of all these parameters allow to endorse the facility design inputs as well as to confirm or, better, extend the facility design life. If a monitoring system is not installed this activity is much more complex and can only rely on assumptions. In fact, the implementation of the environmental loads in the facility Finite Element model allows to identify the more stressed location of the facility. To this extent, the continuous monitoring of the meteo-marine parameters and the best estimate of the induced loads represents a remarkable tool that allows the asset Owner to plan the necessary maintenance activities, inspections and, ultimately, to predict the residual asset life. Meteo-marine monitoring systems can also be integrated with large scale model to provide local short term weather forecasts allowing a best estimate approach for the assessment of day-by-day operating windows. For unmanned installations, meteo-marine monitoring systems provide remote access to the local environmental condition and generate alarms when critical conditions occur. This paper presents the technology and the features of two meteo-marine monitoring systems designed and installed on the jetty and the offshore installations of a refinery (API Falconara) and on an offshore platform (Vega "A" – Sicily). Introduction In offshore engineering, the need to provide real-time monitoring for static/dynamic response of fixed & floating structures is nowadays becoming more and more important. Its benefits are:early detection of structural degradation and critical failures; calibration of meteo-marine and structural models to improve prediction performances and update design inputs; guarantee adequate operational HSE standards; optimization of inspection maintenance and repair plans based on asset real performance; assessment of life extension beyond the original design life.

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2017-809

Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition

accelerometer, api refinery, forecast, installation, Italy, mean value, monitoring system, offshore mediterranean conference, offshore meteo-marine monitoring system, platform, processed data, real time system, sensor, Standard Deviation, structural data, subsea system, Upstream Oil & Gas, VEGA, wave data

Country: Europe > Italy > Sicily (0.25)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (0.91)

SPE Disciplines:

Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability (1.00)
Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems (1.00)
Data Science & Engineering Analytics > Information Management and Systems (1.00)

Technology:

Information Technology > Sensing and Signal Processing (1.00)
Information Technology > Architecture > Real Time Systems (0.70)

Add feedback

Numerical Simulation of Sediment Dispersion During Posttrenching of Sealines

OnePetroMarch, 2017

ABSTRACT Dredging operations are an important source of sediment resuspension at sea. The finest fraction of the resuspended sediment is often transported by the local regime of currents, and the extension of the resulting plumes may affect large portions of sensitive marine environment and possibly induce its alteration. In this context, a specific modeling study has been conducted with a particular focus on the environmental impacts due to sediment dispersion during post-trenching operations for a submerged pipeline (sealine) offshore Sicily (Italy). The sealine has a length of about 70 km, and it crosses a very steep bathymetry, varying between 20m and 650m. The study is based on 3D modelling with an unstructured mesh approach. This allows coarse spatial resolution far from the dredging area and very high spatial resolution for the detailed representation of the sediment release, both in terms of magnitude and position, which can vary in time according to the planned schedule of dredging operations. The hydrodynamic component, which is the main forcing for the transport of fine material, has been modelled using realistic marine conditions as a combination of a local high resolution model and a general circulation model at basin scale, during several time windows possibly planned for the operations. As a result, the project showed how relevant suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) are confined to an area few hundred meters wide along the sealine, only involving the deepest layers of the water column. The deposition at seabed is negligible, in the order of millimeters, progressively decreasing with the distance from the sealine. The present study provides an example of realistic and physically based approach for the assessment of the effects of post-trenching operations at sea, thus providing quantitative answers to the requirements of the Environmental Authorities. INTRODUCTION Dredging operations are an important source of sediment in marine water. This happens, for example, during excavation works related to submerged pipeline trenching: the sediment released along the water column during the operations is advected and dispersed by the local regime of currents, and the resulting plume may affect large portions of sensitive marine environment and possibly induce its alteration.

OnePetro

OMC

OMC-2017-803

Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition