Arctic environments

Arctic environments pose different ambient conditions than normally encountered at most oil and gas facilities. The most obvious is that the ambient temperature level can reach extremely low levels, as much as -45.5 °C (-50 °F) and that snow or ice storms can be expected to occur. 

For means of protection, the use of water based suppression systems may be a hazard due to the disposal of firewater water, which will freeze quite readily in exposed locations. This may also be the case with exposed hydrocarbon fluid lines that, if isolated, say for an ESD activation, may freeze up due to lack of circulation. This will hamper restart operations for the facility. Typical use in the past has been the reliance on gases fire suppression agents for enclosed area, particularly Halon. Other methods include fire water storage tanks that are kept warm, together with fire mains deeply buried and continually circulated. 

Special consideration of thermal relief for piping exposure to sunlight (solar radiation) needs to be under taken. This is usually accomplished by painting with reflective paint or burial. Hydrocarbon containing piping is usually painted in a reflective color (i.e., aluminum) for advantages of reflection of solar radiation (heat input) to avoid thermal expansion of fluids in blocked systems. 

Where facilities are exposed to the constant radiation of the sun, sun shades are provided over exterior exposed equipment that may not function properly at elevated temperatures or would deteriorate rapidly if left continual exposed to the direct sunlight. Most electrical or electronic equipment is rated for a maximum operating temperature of 40 °C (104 °F) unless otherwise specified, e.g., hazardous area lighting temperatures are normally specified for 40 °C (104 °F) limit. Of particular concern for fire protection systems are those containing storage for foam concentrates rubber hoses or other rubber components which may dry and crack. 

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Though the type of processing required is largely dependent upon fluid composition at the wellhead, the equipment employed is significantly influenced by location whether for example the facilities are based on land or offshore, in tropical or arctic environments. Sometimes conditions are such that a process which is difficult or expensive to perform offshore can be exported to the coast and handled much more easily on land. 

High strength, low alloy (HSLA) steels often contain 0.10—0.30% molybdenum. These steels exhibit toughness at low temperatures and good weldabiHty. They are used extensively for undersea pipelines (qv) transporting gas and oil from offshore weUs to pumping stations on shore, and are also used extensively in remote Arctic environments. 

Arctic Drilling. Corrosion problems encountered in arctic area drilling are no different from problems faced in other areas of the world. It is a general misconception that during arctic drilling corrosion-related problems are either not very severe or totally absent due to low temperatures. Cool temperatures may slow down the corrosion process. However, they also increase the solubility of oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Therefore, the net result can be an increase in the rate of corrosion. While cold temperatures may cause problems, the temperature fluctuation common in arctic environments can be a more severe source of corrosion-related problems [215]. 

Special formulations that are suitable for various environments, that is, marine, shoreline, freshwater and saltwater, tropic, and arctic environments, have been developed. 

Arctic Pollution Issues a State of the Arctic Environment Report. Oslo Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, 1997. 188 pp. 

Nakata, H., S. Tanabe, R. Tatsukawa, Y. Koyama, N, Miyazaki, S. Belikov, and A. Boltunov. 1998. Persistent organochlorine contaminants in ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from the Kara Sea, Russian Arctic. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 17 1745-1755. 

Proposals for the EU to press for nine hazardous substances to be banned or severely restricted under two international treaties on persistent organic pollutants were issued by the European Commission in August. The substances include polychlorinated naphthalenes and the flame retardant pentabromodiphenyl ether, concentrations of which were recently found to be rising in the Arctic environment and wildlife. 

Whole effluent toxicity test species are generally not the same as the resident species that the results of WET testing are aimed at protecting, particularly where nontemperate environments (e.g., tropical and Arctic environments) are concerned, or for estuaries [177]. Also, not all resident species have the same sensitivities to individual or combined contaminants in effluents. Further, differences exist between sensitivities and tolerances of WET species. Such differences are not unexpected hence, it is desirable to use more than one toxicity test organism and endpoint to assess effluent toxicity. 

Kashulina, G., Reimann, C. Banks, D. 2003. Sulphur in the arctic environment (3) environmental impact. Environmental Pollution, 124, 151-171. 

Butt, C.M., Berger, U., Bossi, R. and Tomy, G.T. (2010) Levels and trends of poly- and perfluorinated compounds in the Arctic environment. Sci Total Environ, 408, 2936-2965. 

Kelly, B. C., and F. A. P. C. Gobas, Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in lichens-caribou-wolf food chains of Canada s Central and Western Arctic , Environ. Sci. Technol., 35, 325-334 (2001). 

Since the operation is in an arctic environment, achieving the above objectives presents particular problems and would be difficult and Inefficient using the more conventional approaches. Therefore, as part of the original facilities a "supervisory control and data acquisition" (SCADA) system was Installed in the VfOA. The operational philosophy is one where, by means of the SCADA system, the functions necessary for reservoir management and production control could be monitored and controlled from a central location called the Main Operations Center [Pg.57]

A study of static charge build-up on the human body in an arctic environment and how it might affect initiation of primers was reported recently (Ref 57). For an earlier discussion of charge build-up on humans see Ref 33. Operations are considered hazardous when the electrostatic energy potential during the suspected operation exceeds the threshold initiation level for the hazardous material. The human body can constitute a hazard when the material can be initiated by a discharge of less than 0.015 J, as is the case with primary expls... 

Arctic Environment , Ref 54, No 17 also see Human Static Machine as Related to Explosive Safety , Ref 33, paper No 29 58) H.D. Fair... 

AMAP (1998) Arctic pollution issues a state of the arctic environment report. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Oslo... 

Laakso L, Hussein T, Aamio P, Komppula M, Hiltunen V, Viisanen Y, Kulmala M (2003) Diurnal and annual characteristics of particle mass and number concentrations in urban, rural and Arctic environments in Finland. Atmos Environ 37 2629-2641... 

For methane hydrate, the minimum water depth is 381 m in freshwater and upto 436 m in seawater, respectively, at 277 K. In the world s oceans at water depths greater than 600 m, the temperature is typically uniform at 277 K, due to the density maximum in seawater. Lower bottom water temperature exceptions can be found with strong subbottom currents from Antarctic and Arctic environments such as the north of Norway or Russia. Methane-phase equilibrium data in Chapter 6, indicate that 3.81 MPa are required to stabilize methane hydrates at 277.1 K. Using the rule of thumb 1 MPa = 100 m water, hydrates in pure water would be stable at depths greater than 381 m. 

Sinkkonen S, Rantalainen A-L, Paasivirta J, Lahtipera M (2004) Polybrominated Methoxy Diphenyl Ethers (MeO-PBDEs) in Fish and Guillemot of Baltic, Atlantic and Arctic Environments. Chemosphere 56 767... 

Three principal achievements have stimulated progress in studying the Arctic environment in recent years (Dickson, 1999) ... 

The progress achieved in studying Arctic environment variability is due to the accomplishment of a number of international research programs. Of particular importance is the Arctic Climate System Study (ACSYS) project set up in 1991 by the WCRP as a practicable program for the next decade to assess the role of the Arctic in the global climate. Five areas were emphasized ... 

Apart from these ACSYS projects, a number of new research programs have been developed, such as the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), which is an interdisciplinary, multi-scale program dedicated to understanding the complex of interrelated changes that have been observed in the Arctic environment in the past few decades (Morison, 2001 Morison and Calder, 2001). SEARCH is envisioned as a long-term effort of observations, modeling, process studies, and applications with emphasis on five major thematic areas ... 

Kelley J.J. and Gosink T. (1992). The Arctic Environment Air/Sea/Land Exchange of Trace Gases. Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Report No. CP 92-7, Dec. 1992, 29 pp. 

Kelley J.J. Krapivin V.F. and Popovich P.R. (1999). The problems in Arctic environment monitoring. Problems of the Environment and Natural Resources, 6, 32-40 [in Russian]. 

Evenset, A., G.N. Christensen, J. Carroll, et al. 2007. Historical trends in persistent organic pollutants and metals recorded in sediment from Lake Ellasjpen, Bjpmpya, Norwegian Arctic. Environ. Pollut. 146 196-205. 

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