Cost efficient development of offshore oil fields calls increasingly for alternative subsea solutions as a means of reducing topside infrastructure. Indeed, for fields in very deep waters, say at 10000 ft, zero surface facilities may be the only viable way to go. Future subsea production and processing facilities will grow to include several electrically driven pumps and even gas compressors to transport oil and gas over very long distances. There is therefore a growing opportunity for robust subsea electrical power distribution systems for variable speed motor drives and other subsea electrical loads supplied from a grid onshore or a far distant platform. Current practice places the variable speed drive topsides, however there are technical reasons limiting maximum cable length. Also, as each motor will require a separate cable, the cable price rapidly becomes a crippling cost element for most subsea processing scenarios. Feasibility studies for high voltage power supply to subsea distribution systems have been performed. This paper investigates one particular case in detail, with supply from shore via a very long sea cable to two typical subsea production fields incorporating subsea processing. Both AC and DC subsea distribution systems have been investigated and compared. Finally, the paper provides a brief description of a suitable subsea DC distribution system based upon the case duty.
Electrical power distribution for subsea application
2000
10 Seiten, 1 Quelle
Conference paper
English
High-power subsea electrical connector technology: meeting the challenge
Tema Archive | 1999
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