Problems in implementing underwater production systems

Problems in implementing underwater production systems

Blog Article

Offshore oil and gas development is moving towards globalization and deeper waters. With the mature development of technology, the requirements for underwater production systems are also increasing. The subsea production system has the characteristics of high risk and large investment capital, making safe and reliable technology and equipment with superior performance particularly important. Although the technology of subsea production systems in the world is relatively mature, there are still many challenges to be faced.

(1) Processing technology for produced fluids from subsea oil wells

With the widespread application of underwater production systems in offshore oil and gas field development, conventional oil and gas processing facilities installed on the water surface or land will gradually enter the underwater environment, truly realizing the underwater treatment of oil and gas, greatly improving the recovery rate of oil and gas fields, and extending the life of oil and gas fields.

(2) Selection of underwater equipment

The oil and gas production characteristics of subsea production systems in offshore oil and gas fields have raised higher requirements for the reliability and safety of underwater equipment. The harsh environment of high pressure and low temperature in the deep sea also requires equipment to have good pressure resistance and corrosion resistance. With the development of offshore oil and gas towards deeper waters, underwater control systems have evolved from the simplest direct hydraulic control to the current electro-hydraulic composite control. How to ensure the reliability of pipelines and equipment; How to design a safe, reliable, and sensitive control and monitoring system has always been a hot topic in the industry.

(3) Flow safety assurance of submarine pipelines

The flow guarantee of submarine pipelines is the core issue facing offshore oil and gas development. The transportation of multiphase flow in oil and gas fields under different operating conditions corresponding to different development stages, such as how to reduce or suppress wax deposition, sand accumulation, hydrate formation, and severe slug flow generation; How to develop a reasonable shutdown and restart plan and reduce the impact of shutdown and restart on the integrity of the production system; How to deal with the uncertainty of the underwater environment; How to reduce or avoid corrosion of submarine pipelines is a problem that requires attention and research.

The Development of Underwater Production Systems

At present, the cutting-edge technologies of subsea systems include long-distance flow guarantee technology, underwater power transmission and full electric control technology, underwater installation technology, reliability and integrity management technology of underwater production systems, polar underwater production technology, etc. The underwater production system is a comprehensive application of multidisciplinary high-tech, which poses greater challenges to the research and development capabilities of various universities and enterprises.

China has always attached great importance to the development of offshore oil and gas. As the development goals gradually shift from shallow waters such as the Bohai Sea to the mid to deep waters of the East China Sea, especially the South China Sea, the importance of underwater production system applications is becoming increasingly prominent. On the road of deep-sea oil and gas development, most of the core technologies are in the hands of foreign companies, while China lacks engineering practice experience and has a strong dependence on foreign countries for related technologies. There is still a long way to go in independently designing offshore oil and gas field development plans, achieving localization of underwater production systems, improving technology and equipment levels, and breaking away from dependence on foreign technology. The following tasks should be done well at present:

Conduct in-depth research on advanced underwater production systems abroad, comprehensively grasp cutting-edge technologies, and combine them with China's actual situation for oil and gas development to ensure the safety and reliability of the system;