Platforms, cost

Sponsor/Developing Organization Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, Custodian Marcel Ballinger, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352. Phone (509) 373-6715 Computer The original code was written in FORTRAN, to run on a VAX minicomputer, but can be rewritten to run on most any platform. Cost None. 

This objective is not synergistic with other objectives, since a simple process is usually less selective and less efficient. However, reducing platform size and weight requirements in the North Sea can result in significant cost savings, and a simpler process will result in much greater reduction In oost than onshore because of the associated platform costs. As always, the increased costs of more complex processes must be evaluated against the economic benefits associated with improvements in other objectives. 

Name Vendor Platform Cost Features Limitations... 

Plate efficiencies for tray columns, 661-667 Plate stabilities for tray columns, 686 Platforms, cost of, 711 Plug-flow reactor design, 727-728 Point efficiencies for tray columns, 661 Poiseuille s law, 481n. 

The total exhaust stack length for the design in question is 24.4 m. The weight of platform steelwork required to fuUy support such a system would consequently be 45 tons. Recent North Sea developments have tended to be on more marginal fields, and therefore consideration of capital costs versus revenue has become crucial. With a typical installed platform cost of 3500 per ton of steelwork weight saving now takes a high profile. 

Having defined and gathered data adequate for an initial reserves estimation, the next step is to look at the various options to develop the field. The objective of the feasibility study is to document various technical options, of which at least one should be economically viable. The study will contain the subsurface development options, the process design, equipment sizes, the proposed locations (e.g. offshore platforms), and the crude evacuation and export system. The cases considered will be accompanied by a cost estimate and planning schedule. Such a document gives a complete overview of all the requirements, opportunities, risks and constraints. 

Drilling Jackets are small steel platform structures which are used in areas of shallow and calm water. A number of wells may be drilled from one jacket. If a jacket is too small to accommodate a drilling operation, a jack-up rig (see below) is usually cantilevered over the jacket and the operation carried out from there. Once a viable development has been proven It is extremely cost effective to build and operate jackets in a shallow... 

Subsea production systems are an alternative development option for an offshore field. They are often a very cost effective means of exploiting small fields which are situated close to existing infrastructure, such as production platforms and pipelines. They may also be used in combination with floating production systems. 

Crude oil and gas from offshore platforms are evacuated by pipeline or alternatively, in the case of oil, by tanker. Pipeline transport is the most common means of evacuating hydrocarbons, particularly where large volumes are concerned. Although a pipeline may seem a fairly basic piece of equipment, failure to design a line for the appropriate capacity, or to withstand operating conditions over the field life time, can prove very costly in terms of deferred oil production. 

Standardisation of equipment items is an area for potential cost savings, both in terms of capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure (opex), and is a decision which should be taken In consultation with the production operations department at the FDP stage. Standardisation can be applied to equipment items ranging from drilling platforms to valves. The benefits of standardisation are ... 

Drilling Engineering Drilling and completion costs Capital costs -platforms -pipelines -compression/pumps... 

The treatment of expenditures will be specified by the fiscal system set by the host government. A typical case would be to define expenditure on items whose useful life exceeds one year as capital expenditure (capex), such as costs of platforms, pipelines, wells. Items whose useful life is less than one year (e.g. chemicals, services, maintenance, overheads, insurance costs) would then be classed as operating expenditure (opex). 

Each of the main facility types, e.g. steel jacket, gravity structure, tension leg and floating platform, have different options for decommissioning. The main factors which need to be considered and which will impact on costs are type of construction, size, distance from shore, weather conditions and the complexity of the removal, including all safety aspects. The following options are available ... 

Natural gas upgra ding economics may be affected by additional factors. The increasing use of compressed natural gas (CNG) directiy as fuel in vehicles provides an alternative market which affects both gas price and value (see Gasoline and other motor fuels Gas, natural). The hostility of the remote site environment where the natural gas is located may contribute to additional costs, eg, offshore sites require platforms and submarine pipelines. 

Vents and flares are intended to take contaminants released from safety valves away from work areas. However, if an elevated vent is at the level of an occupiable platform on the same or an adjacent unit, a worker may, under certain wind conditions, be subject to the nearly undiluted effluent of a vent. Whereas such elevated platforms may rarely be occupied, a heavy exposure from a vent could incapacitate a worker or cause a fall. Tanks that vent only when being filled are common causes of this concern. The usual solution is to raise the vent above any occupiable platform or, at greater cost, to scmb the vent effluent. 

Personal Computer Controller Because of its high performance at low cost and its unexcelled ease of use, apphcation of the personal computer (PC) as a platform for process controllers is growing. When configured to perform scan, control, alarm, and data acquisition (SCADA) functions and combined with a spreadsheet or database management apphcation, the PC controller can be a low-cost, basic alternative to the DCS or PLC. 

Fiber drums are also made with a removable fiber top and a fiber bottom that is either removable or permanently fastened to the body. This drrtm has limited reuse, brrt it costs less than the lever-locked metal-top type. Filling equipment consists most commonly of an operator-controlled spout connected to a supply bin resting on a platform scale. Table 21-26 shows the labor productivity of several systems. 

At the central platform, water and hydrocarbon liquids are first removed in knockout drums. Then saturated natural gas, free of any liquid droplets, enters the twin expanders. The gas is cooled below its dewpoint, allowing heavy hydrocarbon components and water vapor to condense in the discharge stream. Turboexpanders were chosen for two main reasons They are more compact than competing methods of controlling the dewpoint and their operating costs are typically lower than those of many alternatives. 

Pressure storage tanks should be coirelated using /lb vs. w eight, much the same as other pressure vessels. Materials of construction, of course, would be another variable. Special internals, insulation, and internal heat exchangers should again be separated from the base cost of the tank. The w eight of supports, ladders, and platforms should be estimated and added to the weight of the... 

An initial explosion occurred on the production deck of the Piper Alpha Offshore Platform in the North Sea at about 1 00 PM on July 6,1988. The incident escalated into a tragedy that cost the lives of 165 of the 225 persons on the platform. Two additional fatalities occurred on a rescue boat. The Piper Alpha Platform was totally devastated. 

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