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Abstract The domestic demand of gas is increasing in Brazil. Petrobras is responding to this challenge by bringing several gas fields on stream offshore Brazil. Among them is the Canapu field, located east of the State of Espirito Santo, about 75 km off the coast, in a water depth of 1608 m. The produced gas is transported using a 20 km long pipe-in-pipe (PIP) system to the Cidade de Vitoria floating, production, storage and offloading system (FPSO) located in the Golfinho field to be processed and then exported onshore through an existing gas pipeline. Technip was awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract and was responsible for the detailed design and installation of the first ever reeled PIP system offshore Brazil. The project was awarded on a fasttrack basis, which required design, qualification, fabrication and installation of the PIP system in less than 18 months. The scope also included two pipeline end terminations (PLET) with seven gate valves, free span rectification, the crossing of three flexible flowlines, and, pre-commissioning activities (flooding, cleaning, gauging and hydrotesting). The PIP system was also prone to lateral buckling, which required definition of a robust mitigation strategy. The design requirements for the Canapu PIP system involved the design and qualification of several technically advanced components and novelties in PIP design including the application of the first ever reelable mechanically clamped waterstop system and the use of buoyancy modules for lateral buckling management on a PIP system. This paper presents the overview of the design, fabrication and installation of Canapu PIP system as well as a summary of the qualification test program performed for the different PIP system components. Introduction The offshore activities of Petrobras in Espirito Santo state, located in the southeast of Brazil, take place in the Espirito Santo basin and the north portion of the Campos basin. These dates back to 1968 when the first Brazilian offshore well (shallow water) was brought onstream. In deepwater, the Golfinho prospect was discovered in 2003, which contained two oil and one non-associated gas reservoirs. Two FPSOs (Capixaba and Cidade de Vitoria) were employed to exploit the reservoir. The produced gas is transported through a 66 km pipeline to the Cacimbas gas treatment facility [1, 2]. The Canapu field, located approximately 20 km east of Golfinho, is designed to produce gas using a PIP system, which is linked to the wellhead through flexible jumper and to the Cidade de Vitoria FPSO using flexible riser system. The flexible riser system is anchored at the catenary touch down point (TDP) using a torpedo pile in order to avoid any riser residual bottom tension to be transferred to the PLET, which could damage the goose-neck or cause pipeline walking. The produced gas is then transported to the Cacimbas gas treatment facility via an existing pipeline (see Figure 1). The PIP system was required due to the properties of the production fluid, the necessity to avoid hydrate formation and restrictions on injection and storage of hydrate inhibitors in the FPSO. This was the first use of a PIP system in waters offshore Brazil. The detailed design, fabrication and installation contract was awarded at the beginning of 2007, requiring the flow of gas before December 2008. This challenging schedule was met by utilization of Technip's assets worldwide resulting in completion of the project safely and ahead of schedule. Project and engineering centers in Brazil, UK and USA were involved.
- South America > Brazil > Espírito Santo > South Atlantic Ocean (0.74)
- North America > United States > Texas > Harris County > Houston (0.15)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (0.46)
- Government > Regional Government > South America Government > Brazil Government (0.45)
- South America > Brazil > Espírito Santo > South Atlantic Ocean > Espirito Santo Basin > Canapu Field (0.99)
- South America > Brazil > Espírito Santo > South Atlantic Ocean > Espirito Santo Basin > Block BES-100 > Golfinho Field (0.99)
- South America > Brazil > Espírito Santo > Espirito Santo Basin (0.89)
- South America > Brazil > Campos Basin (0.89)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Risers (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Piping design and simulation (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems > Floating production systems (1.00)
Abstract Flow assurance is among the main design issues for the development of deepwater fields. The hydrocarbon product must be transported from a remote well up to the topsides, without experiencing significant heat losses to the environment. In addition to high 'steady state' insulating performance, the system muat also provide good transient cool down behaviour to prevent the formation of wax or hydrate during shut down and to minimise the time required to resume production. A number of solutions have emerged to address these challenges. These are high performance passive insulation, dual insulated lines allowing a pigging loop, extended cool down pipeline concepts based on phase change materials and active pipeline heating. This paper compares the practicality, performance and cost of these generic concepts on the basis of some typical field development scenarios. It also presents a range of pipeline products developed and qualified by Technip on the basis of these concepts. Introduction Flow assurance has grown up as an engineering discipline with the emergence of deepwater field developments. It can be summarised as "the ability to produce fluids economically from the reservoir to a production facilities, over the life of field in any environment" (Deepstar). The severity of the consequences of many flow assurance issues have increased with the water depth and traditional shallow water operating procedures cannot always be applied. The main flow assurance challenges associated with deepwater are discussed and innovative pipeline design solutions are presented and compared. Technip have developed and qualified a number of systems, which enable the operator to develop deepwater fields in difficult flow assurance conditions. The technical advantages of these systems are summarized along with an estimate of their relative installed costs. Deepwater Flow Assurance Issues and Solutions What is Different About Deepwater? The most significant characteristics are a low temperature and a dramatic increase of hydrostatic head pressure. Most of the flowlines and riser sections will be exposed to a typical low seawater temperature of 4°C, which enhances heat losses to the environment. Numerous deepwater fields are characterized by a low well outlet temperature, especially offshore west of Africa [1]. The increased water depth and hydrostatic head magnify the energy loss of the production flow in two other main forms, which are:Joule Thomson cooling, which is a decrease of temperature due to the sharp gas pressure decrease at constant enthalpy. Potential energy loss. The significance of these two factors is increased in deepwater. It has indeed been demonstrated that a pipeline with infinite insulating performance will still experience temperature decrease in the in-field flowines, due to elevation changes, but especially in the riser section [1]. For this reason, a number of heated riser and integrated bundle concepts have been developed and are now included as part of field developments. The deepwater conditions are ideal for formation of solid deposits such as hydrate and wax, with the risk to degrade or even kill the flow path. Figure 1 shows a typical hydrate formation curve. Combined pressure and temperature conditions located on the left handside of the curve are prone to high risk of hydrate formation.
- Europe > United Kingdom (0.46)
- North America > United States (0.28)
- Europe > Norway (0.28)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Macae Formation (0.99)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Lago Feia Formation (0.99)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Risers (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Piping design and simulation (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems > Flow assurance in subsea systems (1.00)
- (2 more...)
Abstract Ultra-deepwater field developments require highly insulated flowline and riser systems. Coflexip Stena Offshore are developing a reelable system which combines the advantages of both pipe-in-pipe and heat tracing technology. Heating can be used either continuously or during shut down, to extend the cool down time or to elevate the flowline temperature. Introduction The risk of wax or hydrate formation is of major concern for the development of deepwater and ultra-deepwater fields. The heating of pipelines emerges as an attractive method to prevent deposition by actively maintaining the temperature of the flowline above a critical limit, typically in the range 20 to 40 °C. Coflexip Stena Offshore (CSO) are developing an electrically heated pipe-in-pipe (PiP) which combines high passive and active insulating performance. The results of a successful thermal test programme confirmed the high efficiency and potentials of the system. From the conclusions of these tests, a base design of a heated PiP design is presented. Issues related to the onshore fabrication and offshore installation, using the reeling technique, are also addressed. Principle Of The System Insulation Requirements. Governed by flow assurance concerns, the general trend of deepwater and ultra-deepwater field developments is the requirement for highly insulated flowlines. The insulation efficiency is often defined on the basis of worst case scenario such as the cool down of a flowline. The hydrocarbon products circulating along ultradeepwater risers may experience a significant temperature drop due to the Joule-Thomson phenomenon. In this particular configuration, passive insulation alone, even of infinite efficiency, may not prevent the flow temperature from dropping below the critical level of wax and hydrate formation (Ref. 1). Heating provides a mean of maintaining temperature in the flowline. The duration and intensity of the heat input can be monitored to tailor the insulation requirements of the line throughout the field life. In several design cases, the requirements for passive insulation would be based on the less restrictive operational flowing conditions and heating would be used in the situation of a shut down, to lengthen the cool down time or maintain the flowline temperature. CSO Heated PiP. The heated pipe-in-pipe (HPiP) developed by CSO is a solution to industry requirements. Materials of low thermal conductivity, such as low density polyurethane, mineral wool or microporous panels, located in the annulus of the HPiP provide an efficient passive insulation. The heat tracing system is used when the passive insulation alone cannot prevent the formation of wax or hydrates. Centralisers are clamped on the flowline to transmit loads between the flowline and carrier. Finally, the HPiP is also fitted with optical fibres, which provide data on the temperature profile of the flowline in real time. Figure 1 illustrates a heated PiP prototype. Description Of Heating System And Temperature Monitoring Heat Tracing System. The heating system consists of conventional heat tracing cables, in which alternating electrical currrent circulates. The core of these cables consists of a copper alloy of low electrical resistance. The heat power is proportional to the square of the current circulating in the cable.
- Production and Well Operations > Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring > Production logging (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Risers (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Piping design and simulation (0.74)