Tordis Subsea separation Boosting and injection station (TIORa) is now on stream
Subsea separation - a new era for FMC Technologies.
The Tordis Increased Oil Recovery (IOR) project successfully utilizes FMC's latest technology for subsea separation, opening a new era in the history of subsea exploration.
Investors have described the success on the Tordis IOR project as very important for FMC Technologies' shareholder value - since this demonstrates FMC's ability to address the subsea exploration needs that operators will require as they venture into deeper waters.
The world's first full field subsea separation system, with boosting and injection.
The idea of separating oil from water on the ocean floor has been an engineer's dream for years. Today, with the Tordis IOR project in the North Sea, StatoilHydro, FMC Technologies and their partners have made this dream a reality.
The Tordis IOR project realizes the first commercial full scale subsea separation installation in the world. By separating out water and sand at the sea floor and injecting this waste into a dump reservoir in a closed loop system - this represents an environmental technology for the future.
StatoilHydro expects to improve the Tordis field's recovery factor from 49 to 55 percent and to extract 35 million barrels of additional oil from the field.
Pipeline inline manifold (PLIM) - first to go
To make the most of the maintenance stop at Gullfaks C a PLIM ("T-section") was installed in the existing flowlines in the summer of 2006. This enabled later rerouting of the well stream to the separation station without stopping production at Gullfaks C. The PLIM and corresponding flowline terminations were delivered on time to StatoilHydro, thus achieving FMC's first two contractual milestones.
Water injection tree with protection structure - simply important!
Simply stated: the more water injected - the more oil recovered. The "simple water injection system" was, however, modified to offer additional functionality than first intended. Specifically, the engineering and fabrication of a more advanced protection structure and qualification of the new water injection tree with the wellhead system.
The separated water and sand are pumped down into the Utsira formation directly from the subsea installation and stored there. This solution means that large amounts of water from the reservoir avoid the 10-kilometer journey to Gullfaks C at sea level. This saves energy while also reducing the discharge of produced water to the sea.
Control and monitoring from the Gullfaks C platform
The system control unit is located topside at the Gullfaks C (GFC) platform, along with two hydraulic power units - one for barrier fluid to the pumps, the other for the control system. Power to the pumps is controlled by the two variable speed drives.
Extended process control and condition monitoring is included, as Tordis IOR set a new standard for control philosophy of a subsea process system.
Umbilicals - for control and power to pumps
The subsea separation boosting and injection (SSBI) station receives power, electrical signals and hydraulic oil through a pair of 12 kilometer umbilicals from GFC. Both umbilicals were manufactured in Tønsberg by Scanrope Subsea Cables, under engineering supervision by Framo Engineering (high voltage umbilical) and FMC Technologies (control umbilical).
On time delivery
FMC has executed the project with the following priorities in mind:
1. HSE focus in all we do
2. Secure technical integrity through quality in each step of the value chain
3. On time delivery
With these priorities in mind and a very tight project schedule, it is admirable that ALL deliveries to Statoil were on time. Bottom line: promises were kept.
TIORa naming ceremony and sail away
Separating oil from water is normally performed topside or onshore. Locating the system subsea therefore brought topside and subsea expertise together, meaning that two different approaches needed to merge. As a symbol of bringing the two cultures together the topside tradition of naming a "platform" was brought subsea.
TIORa was given her name by Margareth Øvrum, VP Statoil.
TIORa was made in a modular design
For robustness and increased availability, the subsea separation boosting and injection station was made with a modular design, with individual retrieval opportunities.
This means that tolerance requirements were very tight, challenging the engineering and fabrication groups to mutually stretch to new targets. And they did.
Installation and commissioning
Installation of the SSBI station was performed using SAIPEM 7000. The operation was successful and well within required tolerances.
Acergy's Falcon was used for umbilicals installation, and Mermaid performed the tie-in and connection.
All operations have been successfully completed.
FMC personnel were integrated into StatoilHydro's commissioning team, and the joint effort allowed for a smooth start up in late 2007.
TIORa in operation
Start up was performed in late December 2007. Today, following a period of tuning, calibration and minor changes, the system is now operational.
TIORa - a celebrity in the offshore industry
The interest in our project has been tremendous as all major oil companies have taken the opportunity to visit Norway to review the project. Without question, Tordis has opened the market for subsea processing opportunities.
Why are companies so interested in Tordis?
• It is the world's first system for full field subsea separation and integrated sand management
• It represents a significant technology step for the industry, including but not limited to the ability to significantly increase oil recovery rates
• In-field disposal of produced water and sand makes this development environmentally sound.
The successful project execution and future operation of the Tordis SSBI increase the competitiveness of subsea processing systems in the future, opening new horizons in offshore field development.