ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs

1 MSc Subsea Engineering

This topic is a pictorial review of FPSOs and their advantages and
disadvantages for production in an offshore environment. Floating
production, storage and offloading vessels are particularly effective in
remote or deepwater locations where seabed pipelines are not cost
effective. FPSOs eliminate the need to lay expensive long-distance
pipelines from the oil well to an onshore terminal. They can also be used
economically in smaller oil fields which can be exhausted in a few years
and do not justify the expense of installing a fixed oil platform. Once the
field is depleted, the FPSO can be moved to a new location. In areas of
the world subject to cyclones (northwestern Australia) or icebergs
(Canada), some FPSOs are able to release their mooring/riser turret and
steam away to safety in an emergency. The turret sinks beneath the
waves and can be reconnected later.






Once you have completed this topic and carried out the associated
activities you should be able to explain:







Your tutor will direct you to be involved in an online dialogue about the
following critical thinking exercise:


Research, describe. compare and contrast FPSOs with FSUs and
FSRUs? Produce sketches to illustrate your answer. Produce a
table / database showing global locations of the above vessels?






Preview
Learning Outcomes
Topic 1d-Examples of FPSOs
Student Activities: Critical Thinking Exercise
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


2 MSc Subsea Engineering

Your Tutor will request that you submit this sample exam question for
feedback. As you read these notes please compile your answer to the
question.

Question 4a.
Describe the concept of a FPSO? Illustrate your answer with the following;
(12 marks)

A sketch showing the main components of a FPSO
How a FPSO might interface with a two template system containing
10 subsea wells per template.


Question 4b.
Which types of offshore environments would possibly require a
disconnectable riser turret mooring system? (3 marks)

Question 4c.
Describe and illustrate the SWOPs? Why was the SWOPs design not
economic? (6 marks)

Question 4d.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a disconnectable buoy? (4
marks)














As you read these notes please consider your answer to the above
questions.


Student Activities: Sample Exam Questions
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


3 MSc Subsea Engineering




1d.1 Introduction
1d.2 External Turret
1d.3 Permanent Turret Mooring System
1d.4 External Turret
1d.5 Disconnectable Riser Turret Mooring System
1d.6 Turret System
1d.7 Vessel Example Petrojarl 1
1d.8 Vessel Example Anasuria


1d.1 Introduction
A floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating
vessel used by the offshore industry for the processing and storage of oil
and gas. A FPSO vessel is designed to receive oil or gas produced from
nearby platforms or subsea template, process it, and store it until oil or
gas can be offloaded onto a tanker or transported through a pipeline.
FPSOs are preferred in frontier offshore regions as they are easy to install,
and do not require a local pipeline infrastructure to export oil and gas.
FPSOs can be a conversion of an oil tanker or can be a vessel built
specially for the application. A vessel used to store oil only is referred to
as a floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO).
http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/bonga/

Figure 1. The FPSO Concept.

Content
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


4 MSc Subsea Engineering
1d.2 External Turret
The FPSO concept started with the use of a storage tanker attached to an
external turret. The vessel is able to rotate around the turret. This concept
is utilised worldwide, but not in the UK North Sea because of the
prevailing weather conditions. It is designed to enable tankers to take
processed fluid onboard.



Figure 2. FPSO with an External Turret.

ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


5 MSc Subsea Engineering
1d.3 Permanent Turret Mooring System

Figures 3 and 4 show schematics of a permanent turret mooring
system/vessel. This concept is utilised in many parts of the world. Here
the turret is located at the end of the Yolk or in the bow of the vessel.


Figure 3. Permanent Turret Mooring System.


Figure 3. Permanent Turret Mooring System.

ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


6 MSc Subsea Engineering

1d.4 External Turret
This vessel below is located off the Northern Territories of Australia. An
external turret is attached to the vessel. The process area can be seen on
the top of the vessel, along with the flare and helideck. This clearly
demonstrates the advantage of using a vessel as opposed to a converted
semi-submersible with its limited deck capacity.



Figure 5. External Turret System.



1d.5 Disconnectable Riser Turret Mooring System

The next figures show schematics of a disconnectable riser turret mooring
system. This is quite a common concept in the North Sea. If the vessel
has to move off location (due to weather or reservoir problems) it is
normally quite difficult to reconnect, as the vessel is rarely designed to
move off location regularly. By contrast this system is designed to be
reconnectable.


ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


7 MSc Subsea Engineering

Figure 6. Disconnectable Riser Turret Mooring System.




Figure 7. Disconnectable Riser Turret Mooring System.


ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


8 MSc Subsea Engineering

1d.6 Turret System

The following cut-away diagram shows a FPSO which utilises a turret type
system, almost mid-ships. This system is not easily disconnectable;


Figure 8. Turret System Schematic.
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


9 MSc Subsea Engineering


Figure 9. Turret System under Construction.

This Kerr Magee vessel is shown here before the turret is covered up.
These large diameter turrets are normally fitted to new vessels, which are
going to fields which require a large number of risers.












ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


10 MSc Subsea Engineering

1d.7 Vessel Example Petrojarl 1

The Figures below show two views of the vessel that changed FPSO
production vessels in the North Sea! This is the Petrojarl 1, an FPSO with
a turret. The living quarters are located at the front. It was originally built
as a private venture as the owners/builders were confident of the concept
and its applicability to large number of small/medium fields. The first
Figure shows how a tanker can manoeuvre behind the production vessel,
umbilicals can be exchanged, and unloading of the FPSO can commence.



Figure 10. The Petrojarl 1.

http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/glitne/
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


11 MSc Subsea Engineering

1d.8 Vessel Example Anasuria
The Figure below shows the Anasuria, a vessel purpose built for Shell UK.
The swivel is seen here on the top right of the photograph still onshore
prior to installation;


Figure 11. The Anasuria.
http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/anasuria/




ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


12 MSc Subsea Engineering
The model of the Anasuria shows the buoy being pulled into the centre of
the vessel. The production risers can also be seen clearly. The riser enters
the centre of the buoy inside the mooring lines, which are clearly visible.
The mud-water arch supporting the riser prior to entry to the buoy is
necessary to prevent the risers touching the seabed at the Lowest
Astronomical Tide (LAT). The vessel is in less than 100 metres water
depth.

Figure 12. Model of the Anasuria.


Figure 13. View of the Anasuria.

ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


13 MSc Subsea Engineering
Figures 14-15. show the operation of the Anasuria Disconnectable Buoy.


Figure 14.


Figure 15.

ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


14 MSc Subsea Engineering



Floating production, storage and offloading vessels are particularly
effective in remote or deepwater locations where seabed pipelines are not
cost effective. FPSOs eliminate the need to lay expensive long-distance
pipelines from the oil well to an onshore terminal. They can also be used
economically in smaller oil fields which can be exhausted in a few years
and do not justify the expense of installing a fixed oil platform. Once the
field is depleted, the FPSO can be moved to a new location. In areas of
the world subject to cyclones (northwestern Australia) or icebergs
(Canada), some FPSOs are able to release their mooring/riser turret and
steam away to safety in an emergency. The turret sinks beneath the
waves and can be reconnected later.
The FPSO operating in the deepest water depth is the Espirito Santo FPSO
from Shell America operated by Brazilian Deepwater Production Ltd (a
joint venture between MISC Bhd and SBM Offshore). The FPSO is moored
at a depth of 1,800 m in the Campos Basin, Brazil and is rated for
100,000 bpd. The EPCI contract was awarded in November 2006 and first
oil was achieved in July 2009. The FPSO conversions and internal turret
were done at Keppel Shipyard Tuas in Singapore and the topsides were
fabricated in modules at Dynamac and BTE in Singapore.
The world's largest FPSO is the Kizomba A, with a storage capacity of
2.2 million barrels (350,000 m
3
). Built at a cost of over US$800 million by
Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea, it is operated by Esso
Exploration Angola (ExxonMobil). Located in 1200 meters (3,940 ft) of
water at Deepwater block 200 statute miles (320 km) offshore in the
Atlantic Ocean from Angola, Central Africa, it weighs 81,000 tonnes and is
285 meters long, 63 meters wide, and 32 meters high (935 ft by 207 ft
(63 m) by 105 ft).
http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/kizomba/
The world's smallest FPSO is the Crystal Ocean, operating in 137 m of
water in the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania on the Basker
Manta Field. It is leased by Roc Oil (Sydney-based international petroleum
exploration and production company) from Rubicon Offshore and is
operated on their behalf by AGR Asia Pacific; it is currently producing
5,000 bpd.
The FPSO in the shallowest water depth of just 13 m is the Armada
Perkasa in the Okoro field in Nigeria, West Africa, for Afren Energy. This
spread moored (fixed orientation) vessel uses 100 mm, 150 mm and
200 mm bore DeepFlex non-steel flexible risers in a double lazy wave
formation (with weights and distributed buoyancy) to accommodate the
large motion offsets in an environment of extreme waves and currents.
Summary
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


15 MSc Subsea Engineering
The Skarv FPSO, developed and engineered by Aker Solutions for BP
Norge, will be the most advanced and largest FPSO deployed in the
Norwegian Sea, offshore Mid Norway. Skarv is a gas condensate and oil
field development. The development will tie in five sub-sea templates, and
the FPSO has capacity to include several smaller wells nearby in the
future. The process plant on the vessel can handle about 19 MSm3/d (670
MScf/d) of gas and 13,500 Sm3/d of oil (85,000 bbl/d).

Figure 16. Skarv Field Development
ENM 227: Subsea Systems Topic 1d FPSOs


16 MSc Subsea Engineering



Figure 17. Skarv Field Development Subsea Layout



Figure 17. Skarv Field Development FPSO