Moderated by: Sindre Solland, WintershallDea and Jan-Olav Hallset, As Norske Shell

13:20 - 13:40

Data-derived benefits of subsea electrification
Monica Farias - TechnipFMC 

On the journey to subsea electrification that started 20 years ago with the introduction of the first retrofit electric actuators, the amount of data created from subsea assets has been growing and unlocked new opportunities for Operators. Indeed, electric actuators are intelligent subsea nodes, providing insights beyond hydraulic systems, enabling advanced automation, diagnostics, and prediction.

Software systems have therefore become key to deliver value to Operators for production optimization and for reduction of unexpected downtime. But as the amount of data grows, challenges have presented themselves, requiring a strategic approach on data acquisition and data management.

The case study exemplifies recent learnings and explores how the challenges can be overcome or mitigated.

This is only the beginning as subsea electrification is developing from standalone e-actuators to all-electric systems through Joint Industry Programs. The expertise developed in electric control systems by the subsea industry will play a significant role in the industry’s contribution to the energy transition.

#Digitalization #Allelectricsolutions #Datamanagement #Innovation #Fieldofthefuture #Conditionbasedmaintenance 

13:40 - 14:00

All Electric Subsea Systems Enhanced Safety and Performance
Einar Winther-Larssen - Aker Solutions 

The oil & gas industry’s increasing demand lower TOTEX and lower carbon footprint, is driving the need of new subsea solutions. To meet these new demands, the various subsea players have been designing their versions of an All-Electric system.

When seeking a solution that best balanced safety, performance and cost, Aker Solutions came up with an innovative distributed controls system architecture.

In this architecture, the control modules are distributed to each valve, meaning that the fail-safe functionality and safety system is fixed to the valves, and operate independently. This reduced the complexity and dependencies within the safety system, thus minimizing the probability of systematic and systemic failures. Such architecture may be unconventional compared to the centralized electro-hydraulic control system, however the behavior of the system is similar.

In this paper Aker Solutions will present the all electric control system challenging the current perception of subsea control systems, both with regards to the control architecture, safety, operational characteristics and IMR strategies. By embracing the potential of the technology, the safety integrity of the system is maintained due to extensive diagnostic capabilities, low complexity and robust design. Further, the operational flexibility and high reliability combined with predictive maintenance and high maintainability ensures increased availability.

The technology has been developed through a Joint Industry Project with the following partners; Aker Solutions, Norwegian Research Council, Equinor, Total, WintershallDEA and Lundin. 

14:00 - 14:20

Using Battery-Powered All-Electric Subsea Trees for Subsea Brownfields Applications while Increasing Technology Readiness Level for Low-cost CCS Applications
Burkhard Sommer - Schlumberger 

The offshore industry is currently in the middle of an ongoing process of reducing its carbon footprint for subsea production systems while expanding into the market of large-scale injection of carbon dioxide into subsea wells.
This paper outlines a systematic low-risk approach for incorporating battery-powered all-electric subsea trees into existing subsea production systems, providing significant reduction in CO2 emissions for today’s applications and laying the groundwork for low-cost carbon-capture-and-storage (CCS) subsea trees and field architectures. By using battery-powered all electric subsea trees for brownfields, it will be possible to tap into existing conventional electrohydraulic subsea infrastructures with minimal impact to the existing topside and subsea systems. This will significantly increase the technology readiness level (TRL) and at the same time serve as an enabler for a seamless introduction of this technology for CCS applications. These developments will likely involve very long tiebacks and layouts different from the ones commonly found today. However, electric technologies are a perfect fit for this application.
There are two major technologies that can support that successful journey. First are the battery systems, which will provide “trickle-charge” functionality. This will help keep the power demand of the distribution system to a minimum, enabling the utilization of simplified umbilical and distribution systems. The second element includes a suite of electric actuators that are highly configurable in terms of their actions, power requirements, and communication interfaces.
This provides a high degree of flexibility for today’s applications and the challenges of the future to come. 

14:20 - 14:40

Subsea HPU for all electric trees
Søren Sohn Andersen - Optime Subsea 

With an electrically actuated wellhead there is still need for hydraulics to operate the valves inside the well.  Optime has developed and qualified the DHSCM (Downhole safety control module) which can be fitted direct on the XT and provide hydraulic power to operate the downhole safety valve. The technology is also suitable to operate zone control valves and annulus safety valves.

The DHSCM interfaces are simple and space efficient for implementation on the XMT’s. The reservoir is of a compensated bladder type and provides the necessary fluid for the HPU-unit. The reservoir and the pump unit are separately retrievable. The DHSCM has a high degree of redundancy, meaning dual pumps, dual electronics and dual communication and power. For ESD applications, the system will close the DHSV according to the installation/operational requirements.

The unique pump technology can deliver sufficient hydraulic power with very lower electrical power consumption, allowing connection direct to low-power ports on XMT SCM. 

The technology qualification and the design solutions will be presented. A complete prototype for DHSV operation has been built and been through an extensive test and qualification program.

The work has been done in close cooperation with Equinor.

Author:  Søren Sohn Andersen, Optime.
Coauthor: Karl H Frantzen, Equinor