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Doc. id: POS-AA04-IO31-R01

Title

Subsea Processing Terminology

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Client

Jan Olav Hallset, Poseidon Group AS

ge Jevnaker, Poseidon Group AS

Note: This document is the property of Poseidon Group AS and shall not be reproduced to a third party without
prior written approval.

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16.06.2007

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Document id: POS-AA04-IO31-R01

Date: 16.06.2007 Rev.: 01

Subsea Processing Terminology

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1

INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................3
1.1
1.2

Document scope ............................................................................................................................3

References .....................................................................................................................................3

THE INTEGRATED INFORMATION PLATFORM (IIP) PROJECT........................................4

SUBSEA PRODUCTION SYSTEMS................................................................................................5

SUBSEA PROCESSING.....................................................................................................................6
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6

Subsea separation ..........................................................................................................................7

Subsea pumping ............................................................................................................................7
Subsea power supply .....................................................................................................................7
Subsea injection of water ..............................................................................................................8
Subsea compression ......................................................................................................................8
Subsea injection of gas ..................................................................................................................8

TERMINOLOGY................................................................................................................................9
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7

Boosting system definitions ........................................................................................................10

Injection system definitions.........................................................................................................10
Separation system definitions......................................................................................................11
Electrical system definitions........................................................................................................11
Control system definitions...........................................................................................................12
Well system definitions ...............................................................................................................12
Template definitions....................................................................................................................12

ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................................................................13

ATTACHMENT: SUBSEA PROCESSING TERMS ....................................................................14

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1 Introduction
1.1 Document scope
This document is a deliverable from the Integrated Information Platform for reservoir and subsea
production systems (IIP) project. It is an addition to DNVs report /1/; providing information regarding
Subsea Processing Equipment.
The overall objective of the IIP project is to increase production from subsea systems by providing high
quality data to decision support systems in operation centres off- and onshore. The objective of the
project can be divided into two:

Support exchange of data between computer systems without loss or confusion of meaning of data.
To provide a platform for integration of life cycle data across multiple applications and disciplines.

Data integration is combining information derived from several independent sources into one coherent
data set. Because independent sources often have overlapping scopes, combining the data requires
overlaps to be recognized, duplications to be removed, and possibly new data to be represented.
To enable high quality data integration we must name and define things in reservoirs, wells and subsea
production facilities; resulting in a standardised terminology (name) for the things (equipment):

Poseidons task in the IIP project has been to contribute to an equipment terminology for subsea
processing systems that can become part of a ISO standard (ISO 15926).

Towards, this end this document reports the result of Poseidons work as follows:

A quick introduction to the IIP project

A quick introduction to subsea production systems
An introduction to subsea processing
A definition of high level terms for subsea processing equipment

Further work has to be done to break the equipment terms down in more detail and then to define the so
called product models (PM) for the developed terms. A PM defines the relation between equipment parts
(how they are connected). This is left to future (IIP) projects.

1.2 References
1. Subsea Production Equipment Terminology, DNV doc. 2005-1522
2. Ormen Lange Subsea System Report, Hydro doc., 37-00-NH-X15-00071
3. Design and Operation of Subsea Production Systems, ISO-13628-1
4. Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) interfaces on subsea production systems, ISO-13628-9
5. Remotely Operated Tools (ROT) intervention systems, ISO-13628-8
6. Technology strategy for Subsea Processing and Transport, OG21, October 2006

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2 The Integrated Information Platform (IIP) project

The IIP project is a three year project which commenced in June 2004. It is funded by the Norwegian
Research Council and the project participants. The main partners in the 4 year project (2005-2007) are:
DNV (Project leader)
Statoil, Hydro, Petromaks (sponsors)
FMC
National OilWell
NTNU
OLF
The IIP project has the objective of identifying an optimal set of real time data from reservoirs, wells and
subsea production facilities, partially improving and integrating this information to provide an open and
standardised information platform using ISO 15926-2.
The project have been enabled by integrating the ontologies from several industrial data and technical
standards and adding these ontologies to ISO 15926-4 (Reference Data Library). The number of
information types and the broad scope of this integration in an open solution make this project unique. In
addition, safety requirements according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) will be met.
The IIP project focus is to support integration of applications related to subsea oil&gas exploration and
production. In order to support this, the project is developing PMs for reservoir and subsea production
systems by using information from the following areas:
- Geometry and topology
- Seismic
- Drilling (WITSML)
- Reservoir characterization
- Production
- Safety and automation system
- Subsea equipment
- Reliability and maintenance (ISO 14224)
- Reservoir uncertainty.
The intention is to cover data required for any application, but at this stage only alpha-numeric data is
covered. 3D geometry may be added at later stage.
The terminology included in this document is a part of the model or Reference Data Library - developed
in the project. The library is the IPR of the POSC Caesar Association and is intended for future
standardization at ISO. The standardization process in ISO has not yet been completed; hence some
changes might occur due to comments from other ISO members. These changes will be handled and
documented by the IIP project.
The Tyrihans field, where Statoil is the operator is used as a case in the project. The specifications from
Tyrihans have been used for selecting an initial set of terms for subsea equipment. This set has been
further generalized; mainly by including additional terms defined in ISO 13628 Petroleum and natural
gas industries Design and operation of subsea production systems.

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Subsea Processing Terminology

3 Subsea production systems

A subsea oil and gas production system (SPS) includes most of the main elements found in a conventional
platform production system, but is unique when it comes to remoteness in installation, service and
operation. The figure below illustrates the Ormen Lange system /2/; where the subsea infrastructure is
connected to a shore facility in Nyhamna near Molde in Norway.

Figure 3-1 Ormen Lange layout

Subsea production systems represent a cost effective solution where the expected production rate doesnt
justify a costly platform. This is often the case for marginal fields and small oil/gas pockets, which are out
of range of existing platforms. Subsea production units offer also the advantage of being less sensitive to
the sea surface conditions and to the water depths, which have made them very popular when deepwater field are designed. Subsea production systems are used as applications in:

Marginal fields, are typically small reservoirs with complex geology and limited production
potential, which makes conventional platforms economic unfeasible.

Tie-ins to existing infrastructure. The geometry and depth of a reservoir may be such that some
parts cannot be reached from a platform using conventional drilling techniques or horizontal wells.

Deep water and artic developments. Subsea production units offer the advantage of being less
sensitive to the water depths and harsh surface conditions.

More details on requirements for subsea production systems can be found in the operator companies
technical standards, as well as in relevant international standards, for example /3,4,5/.

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4 Subsea Processing
Subsea processing is not an established technology, and not a lot of subsea processing equipment has
been installed yet. Thus, a terminology has to be based on the current developments as described below.
/6/ reports that the present status regarding technology for subsea processing on the NCS is represented
by the developments of Tordis and Tyrihans for oil fields, and Snhvit and Ormen Lange for gascondensate fields. Even though these developments are technological state-of-the-art projects, subsea
technology building-blocks such as subsea compression and power- and signal transmission over even
longer distances are still unrealized. For multiphase transport the gaps are essentially related to the
production and transport of complex fluids when the transport distance exceeds what is feasible for
pipeline insulation and heating. For the lighter gas-condensate systems, there are also gaps to be closed
regarding flow modelling for very long transport lines.
In addition, recovery rates from subsea completed wells will have to increase and reach almost the same
level as platform completed wells.

Figure 4-1 The Tordis SSBI module with a subsea sepearator followed by a multiphase booster pump and a
water injection pump.

More cost-efficient solutions will be required to enable smaller discoveries to be developed. This will
require improved understanding and tools to predict the relevant transportation phenomena. This also
includes new areas such as subsea separation, subsea compression, and lightweight intervention.
Current subsea processing implementation is limited to multiphase pumping and bulk water separation.
In the future, an increase in capability and functionality is foreseen. This includes necessary equipment to
facilitate multiphase transport over long distances such as small and large scale gas compression and high
capacity multiphase pumps with corresponding high voltage power supply, efficient three-phase
separation, and subsea injection of gas and water.
More sophisticated equipment and application will impose stricter requirements on instrumentation and
control and further development is foreseen in particular for monitoring system performance.

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4.1 Subsea separation

In 2001 subsea water separation and injection were demonstrated on Troll Pilot for the first time. Subsea
separation technology will next be used on the Tordis field that comes on stream in 2007.
Future needs will include lightweight and compact separation equipment for deepwater use. The next
generation of subsea separation equipment is expected to apply other principles of separation than the
traditional gravity separation vessel used on topside installations. Centrifugal-force based compact
equipment and other sophisticated separation methods are expected to be applied.
Although a solution for sand removal has been developed for Tordis, further development is likely to be
required with respect to performance, reliability and robustness. The Tordis solution is based on injection
of sand with the separated water. This will not be acceptable for all applications.
Oil in water measurement from subsea separators is an area with significant technology gaps as none of
the instruments used topside can be easily adapted. This technology is a key to subsea separation.

4.2 Subsea pumping

Subsea multiphase pumping is a relatively well proven technology but further improvements will be
needed with increased transport distances and water depths. This involves increased pressure boosting
and capacity as well as the ability to handle more complex fluids (viscous crude).
Restrictions in the gas tolerance and suction pressure of centrifugal liquid pumps may reduce the benefits
of a subsea two-phase separation system. Further improvements in current pump technology are required.

Figure 4-2 Aker Kvrner Subsea injection pump for Tyrihans

4.3 Subsea power supply

The subsea electrical equipment seen so far is mainly control systems, but some pumps with voltages up
to 6.6 kV are in operation. Upcoming field developments will demand steadily higher power at longer
distance from existing infrastructure or shore. This will lead to a demand for reliable subsea high voltage
equipment and frequency converters.
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4.4 Subsea injection of water

The Troll Pilot and the Tordis subsea process solutions represent the state of the art in subsea injection of
water. Both applications utilize a single phase pump to inject the produced water in disposal wells. On
Tordis the produced sand will also be injected together with the water.
Future applications will include subsea injection of water for pressure support. Tyrihans will apply subsea
injection of raw seawater in 2009.

Figure 4-3 The Troll pilot station, for subsea bulk separation, boosting, and water injection

4.5 Subsea compression

There are an increasing number of gas fields where unprocessed wellstream will be transported over long
distances to a suitable infrastructure (onshore, shallow water existing platforms etc.). These fields will
benefit from a late life pressure boost. For many of them, subsea compression is believed to be a costefficient solution.
No subsea gas compression technology has been qualified for field application. Several field development
projects are aiming at utilizing this technology, and several Norwegian vendors have demonstrated their
prototypes. Ormen Lange is in the process of qualifying technology in full scale.

4.6 Subsea injection of gas

Subsea injection of gas is a future possibility that can be used both for pressure support and for gas lift.
Pressure support is much more demanding than gas lift due to higher flow rates. Compared to subsea gas
compression in wellstream transport the injection compressors are more challenging due to the high
pressure demand. It is therefore foreseen that gas compression for transport will be implemented first.

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Subsea Processing Terminology

5 Terminology
The breakdown of subsea processing is based on the Tordis subsea SSBI (Subsea Separation Boosting
and Injection) module, but has been generalised as shown in the figure below.
Subsea Processing

Boosting Systems
- El. Submersible
Pump (ESP)
- Helicoaxial
Multiphase Pump
- Twin Screw Pump
- Multiphase Flow
Meter
- Gas Compressor
- Riser Gas Lift

Separation Systems
- Gravity-Based
Separation
- Centrifugal
Separation
- Cyclone Separation

Injection Systems
- Injection of
Produced Water
- Injection of
Seawater
- Injection of Gas
- Injection of
Produced Sand

Electrical Systems
- Transformer Unit
- Electric Power
Distribution

Template Systems
- Subsea manifold

Well System
- Production Well,
Gas/oil
- Injection Well,
Gas, Water/Sand

Control System
- Subsea Control
Module
- Subsea Power and
Communication Unit

Figure 5-1 Equipment for a general subsea processing system

The figure above shows that there are seven main equipment groups in a subsea processing module:
1. Boosting system, mainly consisting of various pumps fitted for the fluid to be transported.
2. Separation system, mainly consisting of a bulk separator tailored for subsea use.
3. Injection system, mainly being a high pressure pump adapted for the fluid to be injected.
4. Electrical system, is a high voltage system being able to supply the needed power to the subsea
pumps and other equipment. Processing systems have a far higher power demand than traditional
subsea systems.
5. Template system, which are the structure that the processing system is built on.
6. Well system, which is the well completion as in existing subsea systems
7. Control system, which will provide more sophisticated control and instrumentation functions that
than today. This follows from the higher complexity of processing systems.
The three last groups should have terms defined in /1/, and are not elaborated here. However, it might turn
out in a future detailed breakdown of the groups that the terms in /1/ has to be extended with new ones
that are particular to subsea processing.
In the following you will find more detailed definitions of the terms for the seven groups, please also
refer to the enclosed Excel spreadsheet: IIP-Subsea processing terms.xls.

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5.1 Boosting system definitions

5.2 Injection system definitions

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5.3 Separation system definitions

5.4 Electrical system definitions

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5.5 Control system definitions

5.6 Well system definitions

5.7 Template definitions

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6 Abbreviations
DNV
FMC
IIP
IPR
ISO
MEG
NCS
NPD
NTNU
OG21
OL
OLF
PLET
PM
POSC
RDL
ROT
ROV
SPS
SSBI
WITSML

Det Norske Veritas

Food Machinery Corporation
Integrated Information Platform
Intelectual Property Right
International Standardisation Organisation
Mono Ethylene Glycol
Norwegian Continental Shelf
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
Norges Tekniske Naturvitenskalige Universitet
Oil and Gas 21 (see www.og21.org )
Ormen Lange
Oljeindustriens Landsforening
PipeLine End Termination
Product Model
Petrotechnical Open Standards Consortium
Reference Data Liberary
Remotely Operated Tool
Remotely Operated Vehicle
Subsea Production System
Subsea Separation Boosting and Injection
Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language

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7 Attachment: Subsea processing terms

Please find enclosed:

IIP - Subsea processing terms.xls, Poseidon doc. POS-AA04-IO31-R02

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