an introduction to floating production storage and offloading (fpso) vessels
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General Design Considerations for Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) VesselsTRANSCRIPT
FLOATING PRODUCTION STORAGE AND OFFLOADING (FPSO) VESSELSGENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
George Gougoulidis
Introduction• A Floating Production
Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel is a ship-shaped offshore, self-sustaining, seaworthy platform able to produce oil, continuously over the life of an oil field
Economics
• Very different form trading tankers• Typical charter rates of tankers may be
measured in terms of thousands of dollars per day
• FPSOs operate with a cash flow measured in millions of dollars per day
• A service interruption is more important than tankers
• Dry docking every ~20 years
Hull
• Either new buildings or tanker conversions• Barge-shape or similar to crude tankers• Exempt from MARPOL, thus they can be:▫ Single hull▫ Double hull▫ Double sided
• Built to stay on the field for very long periods
Internal Arrangements• The major part of the hull consists of the oil
storage tanks• Collision bulkhead at the bow: 5% x LBP or 10 m
aft of FP whichever is less• Since tandem off-loading at the stern, also use
aft collision bulkhead• Cargo tanks sizing according to MARPOL
regulation 24• at least 2 slop tanks with 2% of storage capacity,
if segregated ballast
Mooring Systems
• Definition - weathervane means that the ship can rotate in the horizontal plane (yaw) into the direction where environmental loading due to wind, waves and currents is minimal
• Most common▫ Spread mooring▫ Turret mooring
Spread Mooring
• Groups of mooring lines are terminated at the corners of the FPSO, holding a stable heading for the vessel
• Vessel not able to weathervane, thus higher environmental loads
• Limited to areas of mild environment and relatively shallow waters (up to 330 meters)
• Simple system, with low cost and doesn’t require conversions
Turret Mooring
• a number of mooring legs are attached to a turret, which includes bearings to allow the vessel to rotate 360° around the anchor legs
• Minimizes environmental loads on the vessel by heading into the prevailing weather
• It can be:▫ External ▫ Internal
External Turret
• At the bow▫ Single cantilever (deck)▫ Double cantilever (deck and bulbous bow)
• (+) Simplicity, minimal requirement for integration into the hull, low conversion costs
• (-) Shallow waters, mild environments
Internal Turret
• Typically 5%-45% x L aft of FP• Usually 10%-30% x L aft of FP • (+) Suitable for deep waters and severe
environments• (-) Complex integration into the hull, loss of
cargo area
Topside Facilities
• Oil and water separation• Gas compression• Water injection• Cargo handling and offloading• Utility and support• Safeguards
Processing Facilities
• Crude stabilization plant on the main deck• Minimum distance between main deck and
processing units 3 m▫ For safety and accessibility purposes
• Storage capacity usually 10 times the processing capacity
Accommodation
• Fire safe wall facing the process systems• Separation distance between process facilities
and accommodation at least 100 ft• The location of accommodation affects the
location of the turret and machinery space▫ Accommodation at the bow – turret towards
midship – decrease of natural weathervaning▫ Accommodation at the stern – turret closer to the
bow – able to weathervane
Structures
• Topside facilities can weigh 5.000-30.000 tn• Point loads on main deck• Allow 10%-15% additional strength to cover
increase in weight• The supports of the process plant should be
placed over transverse, longitudinal bulkheads, and web frames
• Box-shaped hull means more buoyancy near the ends resulting in high sagging moments
Stability
• Process facilities add weight high• Not a big problem since L/B is low• Critical conditions▫ Wind heel moments of the process plant in light
ship condition▫ Free surface effects in partially filled tanks
Seakeeping
• To avoid any special issues related to the process facilities, motions are commonly limited to:
• pitch within 10 degrees double amplitude (±5 degrees) or similar
• roll within 20 degrees double amplitude (±10 degrees) or similar.
Cylindrical Hull
• Effect of wind direction and current is minimized
• Excellent motion characteristics• No turret or swivel
SEVAN PIRANEMALocation: Brazil
Overall length: 66 m
Diam. in waterline: 60 m
Displacement at 18m draft: 55,000 mT
Deck area capacity: 5,000 mT
Deck area: 2,800 m2
Accommodation: 63 persons
Mooring: 9 lines (anchor-chain-polyester-chain)
Riser slots: 25
Liquid production: 30,000 bbl/day
Crude storage capacity: 250,000 bbls/40,000 m3
Export to shuttle tanker: 1,800 m3/h
SEVAN VOYAGEURLocation: North Sea
Overall length: 66 m
Diam. in waterline: 60 m
Displacement at 18m draft: 55,000 mT
Deck area capacity: 5,000 mT
Deck area: 3,200 m2
Accommodation: 54 persons
Mooring: 12 lines (anchor-chain-polyester-chain)
Riser slots: 10
Liquid production: 30,000 bbl/day
Crude storage capacity: 270,000 bbls/43,000 m3
Export to shuttle tanker: 3,600 m3/h