Proceedings of the Nineteenth (2009) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference Osaka, Japan, June 21-26, 2009

Copyright 2009 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE) ISBN 978-1-880653-53-1 (Set); ISSN 1098-618

Establishment of Offshore Process FEED (Front End Engineering Design) Method for Oil FPSO Topsides Systems
Jihyun Hwang1), Kyuyeul Lee1), Myungil Roh2), Juhwan Cha1), Seungho Ham1), Boram Kim1)
1) Seoul National University, 2) University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we describe an offshore process FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) method for oil FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading) topsides systems based on the concepts and procedures for FEED of general offshore plants. First, various activities of the general process FEED phase are defined and analyzed, and then the offshore process FEED method, which is suitable for application to all offshore oil and gas plants, is established. Finally, the established FEED method is applied to oil FPSO topsides systems in order to test its validity. This established process FEED method would contribute to performing successful offshore projects in the future.

KEYWORDS: FEED; Topsides systems; FPSO; Offshore oil and gas plants; Offshore projects INTRODUCTION
As the demand of oil and gas, which are representative offshore resources, is increasing relative to other energy resources, potential new offshore fields are being explored. The installation area of offshore production plants is gradually moving toward the deep sea, and the need for multi-functional offshore plants is increasing. (Jung et al., 2006). Accordingly, the demand for Oil FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading), which can produce, storage, and offload crude oil in the deep sea, is also increasing. Particularly, the demand of LNG FPSO projects will grow with the greater demand for natural gas. Therefore, the prospects for offshore production plants are bright in the medium and long term. (International Maritime Associates Inc., 2005) Oil and LNG FPSO are production plants for transferring offshore oil and gas to onshore plants. The job of production plants is to separate the well stream into three components, typically called phases (oil, gas, and water), and process these phases into some marketable products or dispose of them in an environmentally acceptable manner. In mechanical devices called separators gas is flashed from the liquids, and free water is separated from the oil. These steps remove enough light hydrocarbons to produce a stable crude oil with the volatility (vapor pressure) to meet sales criteria. The gas that is separated must be compressed and treated for sales. Usually, the separated gas is saturated with water vapor and must be dehydrated to an acceptable level. In some locations it may be necessary to remove the heavier hydrocarbons to lower the hydrocarbon dew point.

Contaminants such as H2S and CO2 may be present at levels higher than those acceptable to the gas purchaser. Overall engineering phases of such offshore production plants consist of two engineering phases. One is the FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) phase. The other is the detailed engineering phase. Of the two engineering phases, the FEED phase is the more critical phase for determining the feasibility of the development of specific well areas. Economic analysis on the development of specific well area is performed based on the outputs of the FEED phase. Based on the results of economic analysis, the detailed engineering phase is executed if the value of the development is big enough to perform considering many aspects of economic analysis. In other words, the FEED phase, which is the basis of the detailed engineering and the feasibility of development on the specific well areas, is the most important part of overall phases of offshore plants projects in determining the success of the projects. The final outputs of the FEED phase are the total costs, the weight, and the layout of offshore plants. The feasibility of offshore plants projects is determined by these final outputs. First, each system capacity and size of topsides systems are determined to get the final outputs such as the total costs, weight, and layout. Offshore process engineering, one of the highest priority areas in engineering, is the most important component in calculating the system capacities and sizes of topsides systems. The overall engineering for offshore topside systems includes offshore process, piping, mechanical, instrumentation, electrical and outfitting engineering. The major engineering data are derived from the activities of offshore process engineering in order to obtain the final FEED outputs. So, an effective method of performing offshore process engineering activities is needed to increase engineering efficiency. Therefore, our study establishes an optimized offshore process FEED method at the stage of FEED and presents the results of its application to oil FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading) in order to obtain successful FEED outputs of offshore plants in the future.

THE CONCEPT ENGINEERING

OF

OFFSHORE

PROCESS

FEED

Offshore & Onshore Engineering

Figure 1 shows the offshore and onshore engineering scheme for refining petroleum products from oil and gas from the specific well areas. As mentioned above, the main function of offshore engineering is to separate light hydrocarbon components from heavy hydrocarbon components, refine each hydrocarbon components to meet the

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specifications for saleable oil and gas, and transfer the oil and gas products to onshore plants. The main function of onshore engineering is to convert the oil and gas into petroleum products. This onshore engineering consists of two fields. One is for refining oil products, which consist of heavy hydrocarbon components, through distillation and fractionation processes. The other is for gas products, which consist of light hydrocarbon components, through refrigeration processes. In the case of LNG FPSO, a liquefaction process, which is a part of the onshore engineering field, is applied to the offshore engineering field. That means, engineering technologies gradually moved from onshore to offshore. So, a large extension of the offshore engineering field is expected in the future

topsides systems, are determined after fixing the requirements from clients (Figure 2-1). Then, the overall process flow, which corresponds to the production flow of oil and gas, and the utility flow, which is in charge of the support of process flow, are defined and simulated to calculate physical, thermodynamic properties, and utility specifications per each process and utility systems (Figure 2-2). Thereafter, the specifications of equipment, instruments, and pipes are determined based on the results of process simulation and utility consideration (Figure 2-3). And PFD (Process Flow Diagram) and UFD (Utility Flow Diagram), which represent heat/material table and overall safety and control logic, are prepared also based on the results of process simulation and utility consideration. (Figure 2-4). Then, PED(Process Equipment Datasheet), PID(Process Instrument Datasheet), UED(Utility Equipment Datasheet), UID(Utility Instrument Datasheet) are generated in order to get the information of equipment and instruments (Figure 2-5). Finally, P&ID (Piping & Instrumentation Diagram), which shows safety, operation, and maintenance factors of each system and vendor data of equipment and instruments, are preliminarily prepared based on PFD and UFD (Figure 2-6). The aim of performing above mentioned process activities is to obtain overall costs, weights, and layouts of offshore plants in order to determine the feasibility of well developments on specific areas. If economic feasibility is sufficient based on the FEED results, process detailed engineering are performed.

Figure 1. Offshore and Onshore Engineering

Offshore Process FEED Engineering

Offshore plants consist of two main systems. One is the topsides system, and the other is the hull system. Topsides systems, which are on the deck of offshore plants, are used for the production of oil and gas. Hull systems, which are on the lower parts of offshore plants, are used for the storage of oil and gas. Our study performs the application to oil FPSO, which consists of topsides and hull systems, after establishing the offshore process FEED method. The importance of the topsides systems is far greater than that of the hull systems, considering the main function of FPSO. Engineering fields on topsides systems consists of offshore process engineering, piping engineering, mechanical engineering, instrumentation engineering, electrical engineering, and outfitting engineering. Among the mentioned engineering areas, offshore process engineering is the better part of topside systems engineering. (Hwang et al., 2008) Offshore process engineering consists of the FEED and the detailed engineering. The specifications of process systems and utility systems, which are located on the topsides part, are determined according to the requirements from clients specifications, rules and regulations at the stage of FEED. The determined specifications are thoroughly examined and actualized at the stage of detailed engineering. That is, the period of detailed engineering can fluctuate according to the results of FEED. Offshore plants projects can actually be canceled because of the results of FEED. Accordingly, offshore process FEED is an engineering phase of great consequence because it can determine whether an offshore plant can or cannot be constructed. The Definition of Offshore Process FEED Activities Figure 2 shows offshore process FEED activities at the stage of FEED (Lee et al., 2008). FEED results estimate overall costs, weights, and layouts of offshore plants. The followings are the process FEED activities that obtain the FEED results. First, Design criteria, such as the engineering considerations of equipment, instruments, and pipes on

Figure 2. Offshore Process FEED Activities Process FEED Purpose The purpose of performing process FEED is as follows. The first aim is to calculate the sizes of equipment and instruments, which are the main components of topsides systems, by calculating overall capacities of topsides systems and receiving suitable information from specific vendors. The second aim is to calculate the size of pipes, which connect components of topsides systems, by process simulation and utility consideration. By calculating the size of equipment, instruments, and pipes, the layout of overall topsides systems and pipes can be performed efficiently. Various cranes, which are necessary in constructing and installing topsides systems and pipes, can also be selected through the weight information. And most importantly, the total cost of topsides systems and pipes can be estimated. Therefore, process FEED results are the most important factors in performing overall engineering, construction, and installation of offshore plants. The process FEED results can ultimately affect the success or failure of offshore projects.

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THE OFFSHORE PROCESS FEED METHOD

Figure 3 shows the overall schematic of offshore process FEED method proposed by this study. Through the proposed FEED method, the capacities and sizes of topsides systems and pipes can be efficiently determined without useless time-consuming engineering work. Engineering data from vendors can be received based on the capacity and size of overall topsides systems and pipes. In the long run, the potential feasibility of specific well development can be rapidly determined because the total costs, weights, and the effective layout of offshore plants topsides systems from size information can be achieved by the proposed offshore process FEED method. Detailed descriptions of offshore process FEED method are as follows.

the topsides process systems are determined based on the heat and material balance.

BFD (Block Flow Diagram)

BFD is the drawing that shows the overall flow on topsides systems. Organic relations among oil processing systems, gas processing systems, and water processing systems, can be understood by BFD.

PFD (Process Flow Diagram)

PFD is the drawing that shows the safety and control logic of overall topsides process systems and heat and material tables, which present engineering data (temperature, pressure, flow rate, and mole fraction) of each topsides process system per specific design case. Engineering information of all process equipments from specific vendor can be obtained based on PFD. And, PFD is expanded to P&ID with incorporating safety, operation, maintenance factors of all topsides process systems.

Utility Balance
Utility systems play an important role in supporting process systems. Engineering data of each topsides utility system are determined after fixing engineering conditions of each process system. Utility balance is the process activity of calculating physical properties and electric loads of each topsides utility system through utility consideration. This utility balance is the most important factor in performing topsides utility system engineering. The specifications of equipment, instruments, and pipes of the topsides utility systems are determined based on utility balance.

UFD (Utility Flow Diagram)

Figure 3. Offshore Process FEED Engineering Method Schematic UFD is the drawing that shows the safety and control logic of overall topsides utility systems and utility balance tables, which present engineering data (temperature, pressure, flow rate, and mole fraction) of each topsides utility system after diagramming all utility systems such as instrument air, utility air, seawater, freshwater, cooling water, diesel oil, lube oil, etc. Engineering information of all utility equipment from a specific vendor can be obtained based on the UFD. And, the UFD is expanded to P&ID with safety, operation, maintenance factors of all topsides utility systems.

Thermodynamic Methods Study

In physics and thermodynamics, an equation of state is a relation between state variables. (A to Z of Thermodynamics, 1998) More specifically, an equation of state is a thermodynamic equation describing the state of matter under a given set of physical conditions. It is a constitutive equation, which provides a mathematical relationship between two or more state functions associated with the matter, such as its temperature, pressure, volume, or internal energy. Equations of state are useful in describing the properties of fluids, mixtures of fluids, solids, and even the interior of stars. Presently, the Peng-Robinson equation is widely used as a mathematical model to calculate fluid phase equilibrium.

Process Calculations
Process Calculations are the process activity of performing the optimized engineering of equipment and instruments of topsides systems based on the results of process configuration/simulation.

Equipment Datasheets Process Configuration / Simulation Study

The purpose of performing process configuration and simulation using thermodynamic methods is to calculate physical properties per each stream based on unit operation at the operating condition. Case studies are performed according to major considerations such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, and mole fraction from well reservoirs, and efficient configuration of main topsides systems. Then, the case that satisfies the most severe condition per each system is considered as the design case. Datasheets on equipment in topsides systems are prepared on the basis of process configuration/simulation and process calculations. All data necessary for the procurement, installation, and operation of equipment are contained in equipment datasheets.

Safety / Operability / Maintenance Study

Safety and operability studies of topsides systems such as hazard operability study are performed in order to incorporate all potential hazardous factors in topsides process engineering on the basis of the engineering data of PFD and UFD. Then, a maintenance study on equipment and instruments of topsides systems is performed to meet the lifetime requirements of topsides systems.

Heat and Material Balance

Heat and material balance is the process activity of calculating physical properties and electric loads of each topsides process system through process configuration and simulation. The heat and material balance is the most important data in performing topsides process system engineering. The specifications of equipment, instruments, and pipes of

Preliminary P&ID (Piping & Instrumentation Diagram)

PFD and UFD can be expanded to P&IDs on each topsides system after incorporating the results of safety, operability & maintenance studies

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and the receipt of vendor data. P&ID is the diagram showing all data, such as operating conditions, process control & safety logic etc., on equipment, instruments, and pipes.

Instrument Datasheets
Instrument datasheets on all instruments of topsides systems are prepared on the basis of process configuration/simulation and process calculations. All data necessary for the procurement, installation, and operation of instruments are represented in instrument datasheets.

Line Size Calculation

Line size calculations are the process activity of performing the optimized size engineering of pipes of overall topsides systems based on the results of process configuration/simulation after investigating the results of velocity and pressure drop at operating conditions such as types of fluid, flow rate, pressure, temperature.

APPLICATION TO OIL FPSO TOPSIDES

Our study applies the offshore process FEED method to typical oil FPSO topsides systems. The capacities of topsides systems and the overall size of pipes are used to obtain the costs, weights, and layout as final process FEED results. Three stages are divided as follows: The first stage is the process configuration & simulation study. The second stage is expanding simulation to PFD. And the final stage is expanding PFD to P&ID.

called separators gas is flashed from the liquids and free water is separated from the oil. These steps remove enough light hydrocarbons to produce a stable crude oil with the volatility (vapor pressure) to meet sales criteria. The gas that is separated must be compressed and treated for sales. Usually, the separated gas is saturated with water vapor and must be dehydrated to an acceptable level. In some locations it may be necessary to remove the heavier hydrocarbons to lower the hydrocarbon dew point. Contaminants such as H2S and CO2 may be present at levels higher than those acceptable to the gas purchaser. Considering the above mentioned functions of oil FPSO topsides systems, typical oil FPSO consists of three processing facilities, each for gas, oil, and water. In our study, process configurations and simulations of these three facilities are performed in order to meet the specification of oil for sale, gas for sale and injection, and water. Case studies are performed in order to determine the design cases for each system. Then, the capacities of topsides systems and the overall sizes of pipes are determined on the basis of the design case, which satisfies the most severe condition per each system. The factors determining each design case are as follows.

Product Specification
Table 1 shows the requirements on oil for sale, gas for sale or injection, and treated water after treating raw oil and gas from well reservoirs through oil FPSO topsides process systems Table 1. Product Specification for Oil, Gas, and Water
Export Oil Quality Requirements Basic Sediment and Water (BS&W) 0.3 volume % Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) 62.1 kPaa (9 psia) Salt Content (PTB, lb/1000 bbls) 100 PTB Oil Export Temperature (oC) 48.9 oC (120 oF) max. Methanol Content (ppm) 50 ppm Sales or Injection Gas Quality Requirement Water Content, lbs/MMSCF or Dew 3 lbs. water / MMSCF Point, oF Overboard Produced Water Quality Requirement Oil and Grease, ppm 20 ppm Water Injection Quality Requirements Source of Injection Water Seawater and Produced water Filtration 50 micron particles @ 98% efficiency Oxygen Content 10 ppb Seawater Inlet Oxygen Content 8 ppm CO2 Content 25 ppm H2S Content 0 ppm Sulfate Reducing Bacteria(No. / ml) 10 / ml Other Bacterial Total (No. / ml) 100,000 / ml Oil or Grease Content 40 ppm pH 6.8, 7.5

Figure 4. Process Configuration/Simulation of Typical Oil FPSO Topsides Consideration of the Flow Rate Factor As the volumes of oil, gas, and water from an oil well change with time, the maximum production flow rate is used as the design case in oil-, gas-, and water-processing systems. So, case studies on the maximum oil, gas, and water flow rates are performed in order to determine the design case of each system. Consideration of the Well Components Factor Well fluids include heavy and light components, a water component, and contaminants such as H2S and CO2. Among these components in well fluids, H2S and CO2 have a bad influence upon oil FPSO topsides systems and act as obstacles. So, the sweetening system must be installed in order to remove these contaminants. Case studies have been conducted on each contaminant in order to determine the capacity of the sweetening system. Consideration of the Pressure & Temperature Factors Temperature and pressure are changeable in fluids from well reservoirs. Case studies have been conducted on maximum and minimum values of inlet temperatures and pressures of well fluids.

Process Configuration & Simulation Study

Figure 4 shows the results of process configuration & simulation on typical oil FPSO topsides systems performed by our study. The function of oil FPSO topsides systems is to separate the well stream into three components, typically called phases (oil, gas, and water), and process these phases into some marketable products or dispose of them in an environmentally acceptable manner. In mechanical devices

Expanding the Simulation to PFD

Figure 5 shows the PFD of a typical separator system after finishing the above mentioned process configuration and simulation study. The PFD generated by our study is one of the important results at the FEED stage and presents an overall oil FPSO topsides system configuration with safety and control logic and heat and material tables.

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The following are the most important factors and activities in developing a PFD from the results of process configuration and simulation and receiving vendor data of equipment.

Preparation of Equipment Datasheets Figure 7 shows the equipment datasheet for the HP separator. Equipment datasheets, which include physical properties and requirements of oil FPSO topsides equipment, are issued to each equipment vendor. Engineering data on oil FPSO topsides equipments can be obtained from each equipment vendor based on these equipment datasheets. The final FEED results such as costs, weights, size of topside equipments can be achieved using these engineering data from equipment vendor.

Figure 5. A Process Flow Diagram of a Typical Separator System Incorporation of heat & material balance The incorporation of the heat and material balance table, which shows physical properties such as temperature, pressure, flow rate and mole fraction, is the most essential factor in developing a PFD from process configuration & simulation. The capacities and sizes of oil FPSO topsides systems, which consist of equipment and instruments, and pipes, are determined based on the heat & material balance in our study. Incorporation of Safety and Control Logic As the most important factor in oil FPSO topsides systems is safety, incorporating safety and control logic into the PFD is essential. The reason for safety and control logic in a PFD is to enhance the understanding of overall oil FPSO topsides systems in the operation of offshore plants. The safety and control logic of oil FPSO topsides systems are incorporated in our study. Performance of Process Calculations Figure 6 shows an in-house program that determines the size of HP (High Pressure) separator shown in the PFD. In-house programs are used for the purpose of rapidly fixing the size of each system when performing oil FPSO topsides layout. The sizes of main oil FPSO topsides systems, such as the high pressure separator, are calculated in our study.

Figure 7. Equipment Datasheets for the HP Separator

Expanding PFD to P&ID

Figure 8 shows the P&ID of the HP separator based on the PFD of the same. As mentioned above, the costs, weights, and layout of oil FPSO topsides equipment can be derived from the PFD. In the P&ID, the costs, weights and layout of oil FPSO topsides instruments and pipes, which are installed and connected to equipment, can be obtained from the P&ID. Therefore, it is important to build the main factors in order to develop the P&ID from the PFD. The main factors in developing the P&ID are operation, safety, and maintenance factors. All equipment, instruments, pipes are installed according to the results of the study on operation, safety, and maintenance factors of each topsides system. In figure 8, the red parts are the pipes and instruments installed according to the results of the safety factors study; the blue parts according to the results of the operation factors study; the green parts according to the results of maintenance factors study; and the yellow parts according to vendor data. In our study, P&IDs on oil FPSO topsides systems are prepared by incorporating these factors into the PFD. As a result of developing P&IDs from PFDs, the costs, weights and layout of oil FPSO topsides instruments and pipes can be obtained. Accordingly, the total costs, weights, and layouts of equipments, instruments, and pipes, which are main components of oil FPSO topsides systems, can be achieved through the development of the P&ID from process configuration/simulation. That is, the final FEED results can be successfully achieved by the application of the offshore process FEED method to the oil FPSO topsides systems. Important factors and main activities in developing P&IDs from PFDs and receiving vendor data of instruments and pipes are as follows.

Figure 6. Process Calculation of HP Separator

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material balance, shown in PFDs. The calculated sizes of pipes are incorporated in P&IDs.

Figure 8. Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams of Typical Separators Consideration of Operation Factors Instruments and pipes, which are necessary for the operation of topsides systems, are first installed based on the characteristics of each topsides system on the basis of PFD. In our study, necessary instruments and pipes are installed according to the result of the operation factor study. Consideration of Safety Factors Safety problems in the deep sea pose serious dangers to oil FPSO topsides systems. Therefore, the most important factor in developing the P&ID is safety. Among international rules and regulations related to safety, the API (American Petroleum Institute) code is widely used as a standard in performing the safety factor study of oil FPSO topsides systems. In our study, necessary instruments and pipes are installed based on the results of the safety factor study. Consideration of Maintenance Factors Instruments and pipes necessary for the maintenance of equipments from the PFD and instruments and pipes already installed according to the results of the operation and safety factor study, are additionally installed. The lifetime of oil FPSO topsides systems is between 20 years and 25 years. Therefore, additional instruments and pipes are installed in order to maintain the oil FPSO topsides systems for the lifetime with minimum costs and human labor. Incorporation of Vendor Data As mentioned above, a PFD is generated by the heat and material balance, which is the result of process configuration and simulation. Then, the P&ID is generated by the incorporation of important factors such as operation, safety, and maintenance factors. Next, vendor data on equipment, instruments, and pipes, which are main components of oil FPSO topsides systems, are also incorporated into the P&ID. Lastly, the sizes of pipes, connecting the components of oil FPSO topsides systems, are calculated by line size calculation as follows and incorporated into the P&ID to finalize the P&ID development in our study. Performance of Line Size Calculations Figure 9 shows the in-house program for calculating the line sizes of the oil FPSO topsides Systems. Topsides systems consist of various equipment suited to the characteristics of each system. So, pipes are important part to connect these equipments and occupy many portions of the overall topsides systems in quantity. In our study, the sizes of pipes, which are shown in P&IDs, are calculated based on the heat and

Figure 9. Line Size Calculations of Overall Topsides Systems Preparation of Instrument Datasheets Figure 10 shows the instrument datasheet for the PSV (Pressure Safety Valve), which is one of instruments in P&IDs. Instrument datasheets, which include physical properties and requirements of the oil FPSO topsides instruments, are issued to each instrument vendor. Engineering data on the topsides instruments can be obtained from each instrument vendor based on these instrument datasheets. The final FEED results such as costs, weights, and sizes of topside instruments can be obtained using these engineering data from instrument vendors.

Figure 10. Instrument Datasheets of PSV

CONCLUSION
The aim of performing the process FEED of offshore plants is to determine the potential feasibility of well development by estimating the final process FEED results such as the total costs, weights, and layout of offshore plants. The specification of all equipment, instruments, and pipes, which are main components of offshore plants, are determined for the purpose of estimating the final process FEED

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results. In our study, an offshore process FEED method is proposed in order to efficiently achieve the final process FEED results. Then, the offshore process FEED method is applied to oil FPSO topsides systems in order to investigate the benefits of our method. As a result of the application to oil FPSO topsides systems, the process FEED can be rapidly performed without time-consuming engineering work. Therefore, the offshore process FEED method proposed by our study would contribute to increasing engineering benefits in new offshore projects such as LNG FPSO, GTL (Gas To Liquid) FPSO, etc. in the future.

REFERENCES
Jung,H.C, Lim,S.W., Kim,Y.H., "An demand outlook of offshore oil production structures", The Society of Naval Architects of Korea, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp.49-57, 2006. International Maritime Associates Inc. (2005), Floating Production Systems., International Maritime Associates Inc. Hwang,J.H., Min,J.H., Ahn,Y.J., Kim,H.C., Roh,M.I., Lee,K.Y. "Optimized Methodology to Build an Integrated Solution to Offshore Topside Process Engineering". Proc of 18th Innternational Ocean and Polar Engineering Conf, Vancouver, ISOPE, Vol.1, pp. 233-240, 2008. Lee,K.Y., Hwang,J.H., Cha,J.H., Ham,S.H, Kim,B.R. Process FEED of offshore structures, Advanced Ship Design Automation Lab, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Seoul National University, Internal Lab Report, 2008. Perrot, Pierre, A to Z of Thermodynamics, Oxford University Press, 1998.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund)(KRF-2008-314-D00494)

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