Aker Floating Production Overcomes Complexities in Offshore Operations

Aker Floating Production has a reputation for overcoming complexities in offshore operations. Their innovative designs have enabled the development of challenging fields in harsh environments.

One notable example is the use of their proprietary technology, which has allowed for the production of oil in areas with high water depths and strong currents. This has opened up new opportunities for oil and gas production.

Their expertise in designing and building floating production units has also enabled the efficient production of oil and gas in remote areas. This is achieved through the use of advanced systems that minimize the impact on the environment.

Aker Floating Production's ability to overcome complexities has made them a leader in the industry.

Aker Floating Production has a remarkable record of achievement, but let's get down to some key facts and figures.

The company employs approximately 25,000 people in more than 30 countries.

Aker provides oilfield products, systems, and services for customers in the oil and gas industry worldwide.

The FPSO Dhirubhai-1 operates off Kakinada at a water depth of 1200m.

It has an oil production capacity of 60,000 barrels – 80,000 barrels of liquid – per day.

The FPSO is designed and built to operate in the field for at least 20 years.

Aker Floating Production exports close to nine million standard cubic metres of gas to onshore consumers.

The company has a disconnectable turret mooring system on FPSO Dhirubhai-1, allowing it to safely leave the area when a typhoon is approaching.

The unmanned FPSO concept, while promising, still has its fair share of challenges and limitations. Improvements to certain topside equipment are still desired, and awareness of the equipment's condition is crucial for predictive maintenance programs.

The design of the unmanned FPSO will also need more tweaking to accommodate its crew of inspection robots, which will have different mobility requirements than humans. Innovation is also required to advance the capabilities of remote intervention, as drones and crawlers are proving themselves to be reliable inspectors but not yet fixers.

Cargo offloading is another area in need of maturing, with the traditional method involving personnel on both the FPSO and a shuttle tanker. The study considered two options, with the tandem system being favored, but a system designed to be controlled from only the tanker does not yet exist.

The concept of an unmanned FPSO is not without its challenges. Several areas need to be further developed before it can be brought to the shipyard.

One of the main issues is the need for improvements to certain topside equipment. This is still a desired outcome, according to Frostad.

Awareness is another side of the equipment problem that needs to be addressed. To solve this, the unmanned FPSO must be replicated in the form of a digital twin, a software solution that simulates the operating conditions of large offshore assets.

Predictive maintenance programs will be a key feature of the digital twin, helping onshore operators anticipate failures or delay them. This will require all equipment to be sufficiently instrumented and reliable prediction algorithms to be in place.

The design of the unmanned FPSO will also need more tweaking to accommodate its crew of inspection robots, which will have different mobility requirements than humans.

Innovation is needed to advance the capabilities of remote intervention, particularly in terms of fixing issues rather than just inspecting them. Current drones and crawlers are reliable inspectors but not yet fixers.

Cargo offloading is another area that needs maturing. Traditionally, moving crude oil requires personnel on both the FPSO and a shuttle tanker to work together.

The study considered two options for offloading oil without anyone on the FPSO: using an offloading buoy or a tandem system. The latter was favored for cost reasons, but a system controlled from only the tanker does not yet exist.

This presents a two-pronged problem: the need for dynamic positioning to maintain a safe distance from a tanker, and the need for a way to move the product off the FPSO without anyone onboard.

Aker Solutions is working with equipment makers to devise a way to move all aspects of connecting and disconnecting flowlines to just the tanker. This would require retrofitting tankers and field testing the new connection systems.

The regulations concerning an unmanned FPSO are also undefined and may require discussions and clarifications towards authorities for approval. This is a potential sticking point, particularly in terms of safety systems, such as firefighting.

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Operational Issues can be a significant challenge in many systems. In the context of our discussion, operational issues can arise from various factors.

One major operational issue is the lack of scalability, which can be seen in the example of the company that tried to expand its services but couldn't handle the increased traffic. This led to system crashes and downtime.

Another issue is the complexity of the system, which can make it difficult to maintain and update. The article highlighted the example of the software that had a convoluted architecture, making it hard for developers to identify and fix issues.

Operational issues can also be caused by inadequate training data, leading to biased or inaccurate results. This was evident in the example of the AI model that was trained on a dataset with a biased sample.

The lack of transparency in the system's decision-making process can also lead to operational issues. In the example of the autonomous vehicle that made a wrong turn, it was unclear why the system made that decision.

Operational issues can be costly and time-consuming to resolve, and they can also have a negative impact on user experience.

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