Advanced Applications of Subsea Control Systems

Technology transfer is one of the main arguments Norwegian companies have for getting involved in difficult markets like Angola. There is great need for sub sea technology in Angola, and Kvaerner Oilfield Products is one of the companies that have successfully fought for contracts in this lucrative market. Field operator TotalFinaElf Exploration and Production Angola has awarded Kvaerner Oilfield Products a USD 3.1 million contract for pre-engineering and qualification testing of the sub sea production systems for the Dalia field offshore Angola. Kvaerner Oilfield Products has already started pre-engineering and testing activity. The sub sea production system includes 42 Xmas trees for controlling the well stream, nine manifolds as well as related control equipment. As sub sea technology improves and advances, equipment that is more complex is being placed on the seabed and downhole environments. Factors such as the cost of the umbilical, increased noise immunity and speed requirements will almost certainly result in optical communications being widely adopted for future system designs. However; in the immediate future operators are likely to insist on backup electrical communications due to the immaturity of certain aspects such as Wetmate optical connectors, fibre handling and fibre degradation. Perhaps the single greatest advantage of open standard sub sea networking is derived from the exploitation of the growing range of third party intelligent instrumentation available on the market. This instrumentation when properly integrated into a sensor to boardroom data management system allows unparalleled control to be delivered to the user at a total cost of installation which can be radically less than conventional technology. It can provide a compelling case for adoption of true open standards. In order to deliver power over any significant distance it is necessary to consider the losses in the transmission medium. The major constraint in the sub sea industry is the umbilical cable with its conductors running in close proximity to each other, meaning operating with very high reactive losses. In Kvaerner Oilfield Products (KOP) the associated technology is being developed as a holistic programme, the Icon (intelligent control) Initiative. KOP's latest generation of sub sea control systems, iCon, encompasses the entire control system and not just the sub sea control module (SCM). iCon provides significantly enhanced functionality over previous modules including 'Open' data-communications with enhanced performance and flexibility and increased control/monitoring functionality within the SCM. The iCon based Kvaerner Slip-on DUET Multiphase Flow Meter non-intrusively measures the individual flow rates of water, oil and gas in a multiphase environment. The use of a sub sea multiphase flow meter not only eliminates the need for a test line and an extra inlet separator, but can also accelerate oil recovery adding considerable value to the field development economics. The DUET 'Slip-On' meter replaces the entire steel spool with a composite material producing the meter body in the same composite. The non-intrusive nature of the meter applied to the slip-on deployment method means that recovery and deployment is safer, well shut-in during retrieval is avoided and the meter can be retrofitted at any time. Kvaerner Oilfield Products has produced the iCon system to meet the above challenges and be the enabling technology for the sub-sea production and process systems which will be required to satisfy our client's future needs