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DEMO2000-Prosj.ret tekn.utv. petro.virk

Mechanical driveline for All-electric FSC actuator

Alternative title: Mekanisk drivline for All-electric FSC aktuator

Awarded: NOK 9.0 mill.

Today, valves on subsea wells are controlled by actuators with hydraulics, supplied and controlled from a platform through umbilicals. In case of a shutdown, the hydraulic pressure drops, and the valves are forced to a closed position by mechanical springs installed on the valves. Subsea systems are now being placed deeper and further away from topside-based processing plants. This requires longer umbilicals, larger topsides, larger mechanical springs, and increased hydraulic volumes stored subsea. This means increased investment costs, making some field developments not commercially attractive (marginal fields). Adding new wells to existing infrastructure (tie-ins) also becomes more complex and costly with hydraulics. Moreover, hydraulics will not support digitized monitoring and individual control of valves, which, if implemented, would have improved production-volumes, uptime and safety. Aker Solutions with partners are developing an electrical system with batteries replacing mechanical springs, and with a new control system that will improve monitoring, reliability, response time, flexibility, and cost. This electrical solution will make subsea oil and gas production safer, more energy efficient, more cost efficient, give higher uptime, and produce larger volumes than a comparable hydraulic solution. As part of the actuation mechanism, Aker Solutions started the development of a Mechanical Driveline in 2019 and the product has reached the completion of the qualification tests by the end of 2021. The system consists of energy driving a motor which is connected to a linear mechanism. The linear mechanism will actuate the gate valves, safety barriers in the Christmas Trees, to open and close according to the requirements and specifications. The Linear Driveline mechanism went through a thorough qualification program, meeting all the subsea standard requirements for its application, in addition to the new Job Operators Specification (JOS) which is a dedicated specification for All Electric technology made by several operators as stakeholders. Early integration tests across the different components that in the end will work together have also been performed proving the robustness and the solid design that has been developed during the last 2 years.

The Mechanical Driveline mechanism developed by Aker Solutions with the support from partners is one of the key building blocks to enable the technology transition from Subsea Hydraulics to Subsea All-electric. The qualification achieved throughout the development program and the technology maturity achieved by the end of 2021 will contribute significantly for operators to include the technology All Electric as an alternative case in tenders in the near future. By removing hydraulics, removing equipment from platform topside and eventually removing a few platforms in the field, the All Electric technology will contribute to reduce the environmental impact to our planet. This important step of the industry will enable operators to unblock energy from the sea bed in a more sustainable way.

Funding scheme:

DEMO2000-Prosj.ret tekn.utv. petro.virk