OTC 18969 Ormen Lange subsea compression pilot

Bernt Bjerkreim, Hydro Co-authors: Karl Olav Haram, Hydro, Edwin Poorte, Shell, Hkon Skofteland, Aker Kvaerner, yvind Rokne, Aker Kvaerner, Serigne Diop, Converteam, Alberto Tesei, GE Oil & Gas, and Svend Rocke, Vetco.

Copyright 2007, Offshore Technology Conference This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2007 Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 30 April3 May 2007. This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its officers, or members. Papers presented at OTC are subject to publication review by Sponsor Society Committees of the Offshore Technology Conference. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, OTC, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract Ormen Lange is a long tieback gas field developed with gas processing facilities onshore 120 km from the production wells. The development strategy is to deplete the reservoir. In order to maintain the production plateau for as long as possible and recover the anticipated gas and condensate resources, offshore compression is required at a later stage. This paper describes subsea compression as a cost effective alternative to the platform compression solution and the strategy for qualifying subsea compression system at the time of offshore compression concept selection. This paper further describes the subsea compression technical solution. Introduction Ormen Lange is a gas field located 100 km off the northwest coast of Norway on the Norwegian continental shelf, in water depths varying between 850 and 1,100 meters. The reservoir covers an area 40 km long, 8 to 10 km wide and 3,000 meters below the surface. Recoverable reserves are estimated to approximately 397 billion Sm3 dry gas and 28.5 million m3 condensate. Ormen Lange is under development and production will start on October 1, 2007.

Fig. 1. Ormen Lange initial development without offshore compression

Summary The main drive mechanism for the Ormen Lange reservoir is pressure depletion. The estimated recoverable reserves are based on the use of offshore compression facilities for pressure boosting upstream from the onshore plant, as the reservoir pressure declines. The Ormen Lange subsea production system is designed to accommodate the flexibility to decide the type of offshore compression concept at a later stage. The options considered are: Subsea compression Platform compression The date for the final decision on the offshore compression concept is planned to be in 2011, four years after subsea production start-up. An evaluation of the technical maturity and cost for the two alternatives will be the basis for the concept selection. The current plan is to start offshore compression in 2015. Onshore pre-compression might be utilized to postpone the investment in offshore compression by 1-2 years. Design premise. The design basis describes the purpose of the offshore compression facility as follows: The main drive mechanism is pressure depletion. The estimated recoverable reserves are based on use of offshore compression facilities for pressure boosting upstream of the onshore plant, as the reservoir pressure declines.

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The production can be described in terms of the following production phases: Early production, production prior to installation of offshore compression o Flowing wellhead pressure of typically 155 bara which is required to meet the onshore arrival pressure of 90 bara and the corresponding sales gas export rate of ~70 MSm3/sd o A flowing wellhead pressure of typically 140 bara required to meet the onshore arrival pressure of 75 bara and the corresponding sales gas export rate of ~60 MSm3/sd will determine the point at which installation of offshore compression is needed Production after installation of offshore compression: o Onshore plant arrival pressure is to be maintained at 75 bara Tail end production: o The offshore compression can no longer provide pressure boosting to meet an onshore arrival pressure of 75 bara. The production flow gradually decreases o Flowing pressure continues to decrease to a pressure typically of 110 bara downstream from the offshore compression facility. At this point gas re-circulation of the 30 pipelines will have to start in combination with the production from the reservoir in order to ensure minimum flow in the pipelines o Flowing wellhead pressure and production continue to decrease to a gas production rate at economical cut-off Subsea compression. Introduction. Subsea compression is estimated to have a significantly lower investment and operational cost than the platform compression alternative, with the same core functionality of compressing gas for transportation purposes to shore for further processing and export. The subsea compression has the potential to increase the ultimate gas recovery. In order to ensure fully qualified subsea compression equipment and create general confidence in such equipment by the decision makers, two years of subsea compression pilot testing has been allowed for. The subsea compression system will be designed to: Deliver approximately 58 MW of electrical power and signals from shore to the subsea compression station placed at Ormen Lange with a 120 km long power and control umbilical Transform the power from the transmission voltage of 120 kV and down to a distribution voltage level of 22 kV Distribute the electrical power to all consumers and individually regulate the torque and speed of all electrical motors according to process requirements Control and regulate the subsea compression station with an all electric control system, including an uninterruptible power supply system for critical loads Receive wellstream from each of the two already installed templates (A and B), and to receive wellstream from the two future templates (C and D)

Separate the wellstream phases, compress the gas, boost the liquid and re-commingle the phases Distribute the compressed wellstream to both of the two 30 pipelines
D
2x12"

16"

16"

2x12"

2x12"

2x12"

30"

30"
2x16"

4x16" 2x16"

3" MEG

Long stepout power supply

A
24" 24"

B B

Subsea compression station

Fig. 2. Ormen Lange development, including subsea compression

Strategy. Subsea compression consists of the following two main systems: Subsea compression station Long step-out power supply
Ormen Lange Subsea compression Overall schedule

Contract award Pilot

Maturing technology FEED/ Tendering

Concept selection Offshore compression Early Late

Pilot EPC Test site preparation

Pilot testing FEED

Potential extension of pilot testing Permanent equip.EPC Field test and verification Commercial use

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Subsea Compression 2006 Page: 22 Oil & Energy

Fig. 3. Ormen Lange subsea compression overall schedule

Both systems need to adhere to the overall schedule and make the equipment ready for the final testing at Nyhamna where the Pilot will be operationally tested for 2 years. Subsea compression station set-up. A generic set-up was developed and critical components for this set-up have been identified for the subsea compression station. Component suppliers conducted maturing activities for the following equipment: Compressor variable speed drive Compressor control Compressor high speed motor Compressor magnetic bearings and associated control system

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High voltage electrical connections Anti surge valve actuator Assessment of the system design was done based on the results from the component suppliers maturing activities. Mid 2005, the Ormen Lange project concluded that the subsea compression station system was sufficiently mature to start preparations for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of a full size 12.5 MW pilot to qualify the subsea compression system consisting of 4x12.5 MW compressor trains. The Ormen Lange licensee owns all intellectual property rights related to the system set-up, while the contractor and their sub-contractors own intellectual property rights related to pre-defined modules and components.
Connectors and penetrators CB and VSD Compressor(s)

Main transformer compensation Penetrator

Combined power&control cable

Termination

Anti surge valve

Fig. 5. Generic set-up for long step-out power supply

Separator* Control system

Subsea compression testing at Nyhamna. A pilot test facility at Nyhamna will be built. Both pilots will be placed in a water basin 20 meters wide, 30 meters long and 12 meters deep. The test facilities will be able to conduct representative wet gas testing, representing Ormen Lange wellstream conditions. In addition, the test facilities will be constructed such that the subsea compression system pilot can be utilized as an additional first stage gas export compressor.

*Slug handling, liquid separation, fines handling and gas scrubbing

CB and VSD Pump

Fig. 4. Subsea compression generic pilot set-up

Long step-out power supply set-up. A generic set-up was developed for the subsea compression station and the most critical components for this set-up were identified for the long step-out power supply. Two system contractors conducted maturing activities for the following equipment: 145 kV penetrator Power and control umbilical Step-down transformer Assessment of the system design was done based on the results from the component maturing activities. In mid 2005, the Ormen Lange project concluded that the long step-out power supply system was sufficiently mature to start preparing for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of a 20 MVA pilot representing the 70 MVA full size system. The Ormen Lange licensee owns all intellectual property rights relating to the system set-up, while the contractor owns the intellectual property rights related to components.
Fig. 6. Nyhamna test facility set-up

Subsea compression station. The configuration of the subsea compression station is based on four identical and segregated compressor trains. The main benefits with this configuration are: It allows shutdown and maintenance of one train without impacting the production through the other trains Each compression train can be tested individually and installed sequentially if required The complexity is greatly reduced by not providing any cross-connection of process lines or electrical jumpers between the trains. Simplicity and robustness are seen as key design objectives given the novelty of this type of equipment The process and power modules are identical and interchangeable. Common spare modules can be utilized

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The current plan is to have all four compressor trains installed from day one of subsea compression. The reservoir pressure and the compression station inlet pressure will fall gradually over time and only three trains will be in operation during the initial years of operation. This gives an overcapacity and increased availability, and the compression system can produce up to ~70 Msm3/sd which is the maximum capacity of the onshore plant. All four trains (4 x 25%) are required for the design production case with an inlet pressure of 80 bara, a discharge pressure of 140 bara and a production capacity of ~60 MSm3/sd.

The only process utility required for the operation of the subsea compression station is mono-ethylene-glycol, which is provided from the subsea production facilities. The power supply system includes two circuit breaker modules to supply power to each pair of compressor trains. The 22kV power output from the main inlet transformer is split and fed to identical design circuit breakers, which in turn distribute 22kV to the compressor and pump VSDs and also 3 phase 400Vac to its associated UPS. Each of the four compressor trains comprises the following main retrievable process and power modules: Separator module including Aker Kvrner subsea separator and subsea gas cooler units Compressor module; Aker Kvrner GasBoosterTM, including motor-compressor from GE Oil&Gas Pump module. Aker Kvrner LiquidBooster Variable speed drive modules for the compressor and the pump with the ConverTeam variable speed drive unit Circuit breaker modules from ConverTeam for power supply to each pair of compressor trains Uninterruptible Power Supply Modules from ConverTeam The main items of the subsea separator module are the subsea separator, anti-surge cooler, mechanical connectors, electrical actuated isolation valves and process instrumentation including level control instrumentation. The vertical separator is designed to separate out liquid, water and solids and for demisting of gas. The liquid level is detected by instrumentation, and is controlled by variable speed operation of the liquid pump in the compression train. The separator vessel is ~3m ID and ~7 m T/T. The anti-surge coolers are used during recycle operation of the compressor and are designed for ~11 MW heat dissipation to the surrounding seawater.

Fig. 7. Subsea compression system

The flowline tie-ins and the process modules are located on one side of the subsea compression station and the power umbilical termination and the power modules are on the other side. The inlet wellstream from the production templates to the subsea compression station is distributed equally to each compressor train due to symmetrical piping in the tie-in and inlet manifolds. The wellstream is separated in the separator where the hydrocarbon liquid, water and solids are routed to the subsea pump module. The gas is routed to the subsea compressor and the separator is designed to provide a clean gas with limited amount of liquid and solids. The pressurized liquid and gas is mixed at the discharge and routed to the export pipelines for transport to the onshore facility.

Fig. 8. Subsea Separator module

The main items of the subsea compressor module are the 12.5 MW motor-compressor, HV electrical connections, mechanical connectors, electrical and mechanical mating

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mechanisms, electrical actuated isolation valves and anti-surge valve, check valves, process instrumentation and control system. In cooperation with GE Oil & Gas, Aker Kvrner has developed a subsea motor-compressor that is fitted for subsea installation with long tiebacks and high reliability. The subsea design development has resulted in a vertical unit and a common hermetically sealed enclosure for the motor and compressor. The enclosure is pressurized and a barrier system separates the compressor and motor volumes ensuring a clean operating atmosphere for the electrical motor and magnetic bearings. An important aspect of the subsea design development has been to remove wearing parts and avoid need for process utilities. The main items of the LiquidBooster pump module are the 400 kW subsea pump unit with barrier fluid system, electrically actuated minimum flow recycle valve, check valve, mechanical connectors and HV electrical connections with mating mechanism. The subsea pump has been extensively tested with both sand and high gas rates to prove its efficiency during subsea operation. The multistage centrifugal pump is directly driven by a variable speed 2-pole glycol/water filled electrical motor. The complete unit is enclosed in a pressure-retaining casing. The glycol/water is supplied from the existing production facilities at Ormen Lange and no dedicated utility supply from shore is required. The liquid pump is equipped with a barrier fluid pressure control system capable of following rapid process pressure variation, to avoid contamination of the motor by leakage of process fluid from the pump into the motor. The system will maintain an overpressure compared to the process pressure during all conceivable process system transient operations. The Subsea Compression Station arrangement comprises the following main components: Foundation system (suction anchors and bottom frame) with integrated Trawl Protection Structure Flow line tie-in and manifold system Four complete individual compression trains with process and electrical power modules One main inlet transformer part of the Long Step-out Power Supply System Two circuit breaker modules for power supply to each pair of compressor trains Control system including subsea control modules

The layout is made to satisfy the process conditions and to minimize and simplify the interfaces between modules, especially for the power modules to reduce both cable lengths and high voltage electrical wet mate connections where possible. There are no crossovers between the different compressor trains and each of the compressor trains modules and components are identical and interchangeable. The process modules are designed to avoid pockets/dead legs in the piping system and prevent build-up and clogging of solids in the liquid piping and ensure that any liquid condensation in the gas lines is sloped back to the separator vessel. The pump module is elevated below the separator module to satisfy the net positive suction head (NPSH) requirement. Critical control and instrument equipment is placed in retrievable process modules or onto separate removable control modules. In general, ROV access to all subsea valve operation is possible without the need for opening protection hatches. The subsea compression station is ~60 m long, ~38 m wide and ~12 m high (excluding suction anchors) and the total dry weight is 3300 tonnes. The dry weight of each of the separately retrievable process and power modules has a target limitation of 150 tonnes. Subsea Compression Station Pilot. The subsea compression station pilot comprises one compression train equal to and with the same capacity and duty as one of the four compression trains for the future Ormen Lange subsea compression station. The pilot station will be installed and tested in a test pit at Nyhmana, the Ormen Lange onshore facilities. A cooling water system provides continuous flow of seawater into and out of the test pit for cooling of the equipment during operation. The pilot will be operated with the real wellstream composition received from the Ormen Lange onshore facilities, and the test facilities are equipped to emulate slug production, sand production and other operating conditions for the future Ormen Lange subsea compression station. The electrical power from the test facilities is provided in a power cable to the pilot main transformer unit located in the test pit. The main transformer is connected to the 22 kV circuit breaker module, which includes circuit breakers for the compressor, and pump variable speed drives.

Fig. 9. Subsea Compression Station Arrangement

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Fig. 11. Subsea Compression Pilot Arrangement

Fig. 10. Subsea Compression Station Pilot System

The pilot arrangement comprises the following main components: Compression train with process and electrical power modules Circuit breaker module Control system including subsea control modules Main inlet transformer part of the Long Step-out Power Supply System The pilot is arranged in the test pit at Nyhamna with interfaces for process fluid inlet/discharge, electrical power supply and communication. The process and power module arrangements are identical to the future Ormen Lange subsea compression station to ensure that all aspects of the process equipment, electrical power equipment and overall system operation are qualified.

Control system. To operate the subsea compressor system, including manifold valves, an all-electric control system is implemented. The onshore equipment will connect to the subsea equipment via a high voltage electrical cable also containing fiber optic cables for communication to shore. The design of the subsea compressor control system will be established to fulfill the requirements and need for: Normal operation monitoring and control, inclusive of facilities for maintenance control Emergency monitoring and control, including procedures for emergency alarming and locally implemented shutdowns Communication between the interface parties Interface towards potential future expansions The compressor operating modes that have been implemented into the control system design are: Slug production and other process upsets Liquid level control of the scrubber Anti-Surge/Recycle Operation Load Sharing between two and up to four compressors Start-up and Shut-down Emergency Shut down Normal Operation Control Overview. Up driven compressors: Each Compressor: Anti-Surge Control: Overload Protection: Load Sharing: Capacity Control: Decoupling: Sequencing/Logic: to four compressors variable speedRecycle control valve Algorithm with fallback protection Motor MW Equal distance load distribution Speed control Anti-surge and process Start-up and Shut-down

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The power distribution system for the station is based on: 2 circuit breaker modules for the 4 compression trains, supplied by 2 different feeders 4 compressor VSD units including the input transformers, supplying a gearless motor compressor of 12.5 MW at 10162 rpm 4 pump VSD units 4 independent UPS and auxiliary distribution systems The design of the pilot station is based on the same criteria as the final station in terms of performance and layout, with basically the same equipment. The following description is based on the pilot station, and the differences with the final station are highlighted. The power distribution system for the pilot is based on the same design criteria. It consists of: 1 circuit breaker module supplying one compression train 1 compressor VSD system including the input transformer for each, supplying a direct coupling high speed electrical motor of 12.5 MW at 10162 rpm 1 pump VSD 2 independent UPS and auxiliary distribution systems ensuring total redundancy Compressor Variable Speed Drive Converter. The Compressor Variable Speed Drive Converter delivers 14 MW at 170 Hz and 6.6 kV. The converter is based on the Converteam MV7000 family, which is a 3-level press-pack IGBT medium voltage inverter with an output filter whose purpose is to smooth the motor current, thus improving input current waveform quality and motor efficiency. The VSD input from 50 Hz fixed frequency supply is a 12 pulse diode rectifier offering both high input quality factor (PF# 0, 95) with low harmonic current rejection and a reliable power system using the simplest semi-conductor components. To improve the availability of the system, which is five years of operation without maintenance, the following actions have been considered: Minimizing the number of components by using high power and reliable power device Taking significant margins in the design Using N+1 IGBT redundancy by adding a power component in series to each set of IGBT / diodes Using passive cooling based on a thermosyphon system, thus avoiding the use of rotating equipment such as pumps or fans and eliminating the resin de-ionizer used in standard de-ionized water cooling systems Making a special selection of electronic components and boards without cooling fans, with high de-rating factor and extensive burn-in Choosing a fully redundant control system. The VSD converter including the output sinus filter is housed inside a pressurized enclosure designed for 900 m water depths, allowing the equipment inside to be at atmospheric pressure. Two main compartments are foreseen within this pressurized enclosure: an oil filled compartment housing the sinus filter reactors and a nitrogen filled compartment for the power electronic and control equipment.

Fig. 12. Subsea control system block diagram

The Aker Kvrner all electric control system consists of: A topside Subsea Control Unit with an OPC interface to other topside equipment (SAS) and incorporating optical modems for subsea communications (TCP/IP) A fully redundant subsea uninterruptible power supply with a low power sleep mode, with minimal battery drain One SCM for each compressor train, each housing dual SEMs. This is a hub for communications between the surface and the subsea units It also controls the subsea units, operates local valves and takes input from local sensors. Electrical actuators for all remotely operated valves A subsea Ethernet LAN and Industrial Communication Bus system interfacing the SCM to the following equipment o UPS System o Compressor controller o Magnetic bearing controller o Compressor VSD o Compressor circuit breaker o Pump VSD o Pump circuit breaker o Subsea Electrical Actuators Power distribution and VSD. The power distribution and VSD system shall run the high speed compressor motor and the pump motor at required speed and torque, with a high level of reliability and availability: five years operation without maintenance with minimization of weight and volume. This leads to: A reliable and redundant power distribution system A reliable auxiliary supply by redundant UPS and auxiliary distribution system A reliable drive system with high margin design and redundant power and control system During the overall design, several solutions have been considered and as a result a base case has been selected considering a global optimization. This section describes the base case design for the power distribution and VSD system.

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The present design corresponds to a VSD enclosure of 3 m diameter, 10 m height and 100 metric tonnes total weight. Compressor VSD input transformer: The transformer will be a 16 MVA, 22 kVac primary supplied, dual star/delta secondaries, oil immersed and pressure compensated unit. An additional LV winding will allow to ensure premagnetization and VSD capacitor bank pre-charge from a back to back thyristor set located into the CB module. The same technology is used as for the LSTP transformer. Circuit breaker module: 22 kVac power distribution will be housed in a Circuit Breaker module receiving incoming HV supply from the upstream step-down transformer and delivering separate feeders with associated protections to the electrical units. The final station includes 5 off 22 kV CBs. Another purpose is to supply the pilot UPS system by means of an integrated HV/LV transformer, also having dual star/delta secondaries offering separated LV supplies to the full redundant UPSs. For the pilot station, the same arrangement is considered but only 3 off 22 kV CBs are provided, with provisional space for future extension to five CBs for possible use in the final station. The circuit breaker system is housed inside a pressurized enclosure with two compartments: an oil filled compartment for the transformer supplying the UPSs and a nitrogen compartment for the five circuit breakers and their control and protection systems. UPS and auxiliary distribution system modules: Two fully redundant on-line UPS modules, including battery back up and LV distribution to all items will also be supplied within the scope of the pilot station. Each UPS container can be retrieved while the station is operating; in normal conditions, the total load is naturally balanced, whereas it is automatically transferred to the safe one in case of shutdown of the other. This transfer is bumpless, thanks to the double input connection of all consumers. All outgoing feeders will be isolated by means of transformers. The battery system is based on Lithium-ion technology, which is the most suitable for such type of application (no gas release, maintenance free, good volumetric energy, etc). The UPSAPD is housed within a pressurized enclosure with two main compartments: an oil filled compartment for all magnetic elements, e.g. transformers, filter and chopper reactors and a nitrogen filled compartment for the battery system, power electronic elements and control system. The following choices increase the reliability and availability: Two separate UPS and distribution systems with full redundancy. Moreover, each UPS module is retrievable by ROV in case of maintenance or repair Direct cooling system for power electronic components through the enclosure walls, thus avoiding rotating devices such as fans or pumps. Pump VSD: This relates to a similar power conversion chain to the one described for the main 12.5 MW compressor, including an HV feeder, a dedicated 500 kVA HV/LV transformer and a VSD frequency converter.

Due this lower power level, the pump transformer and VSD are housed in the same pressurized enclosure, with the input transformer in an oil filled compartment and the power electronic and control part in the nitrogen compartment. The same design considerations apply for the VSD and lead to: Redundant and marinised control system. Cooling without rotating device. Design and subsea environment considerations: The system electrical design will be based on Converteam experience and know-how for topside systems with special focus on subsea specific conditions. High attention is placed on total system reliability; most critical points have been identified and relevant solutions are proposed to improve the basic design. The use of a redundancy concept and large safety margins have been considered as general requirements for all power electronics; other topics also contribute to improving the reliability figures: motorless cooling system (i.e. passive cooling); control redundancy; marinisation of existing industrial hardware; increased electrical insulation levels and earth fault tolerant design. For the enclosure design, minimization of the flanges towards sea, minimization of the penetrators, minimization of the cooling loop flanges for the compressor VSD passive cooling system. Except for the compressor VSD input transformer, which is a standalone, oil pressure compensated equipment, all the other modules are in pressurized enclosures, leading to atmospheric pressure internal equipment. This applies to the circuit breaker module, the compressor VSD module, the pump transformer and VSD module and the UPS modules.

Ethernet

CONTROLLER UPS

I/O signals 550A

VSD CONTROL 220Vac 400kW PUMP MOTOR

22kVac

500kVA TRANSFORMER Ethernet

I/O signals

VSD CONTROL I/O signals 220Vac

SINUS FILTER

12.5MW COMPRESSOR MOTOR

CIRCUIT BREAKER

16MVA TRANSFORMER

VSD

Fig. 13. Subsea Compression Station Pilot single line diagram

UPS

200KVA

2x400Vac

CONTROLLER

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Hirth connection between motor and compressor 3 radial + 1 axial bearings Electrical parts cooled by process gas

The motor-compressor rotor will then behave as a single shaft line due to the Hirth serration, which not only provides a rigid coupling but also guarantee high centering precision and assembly repetitivity. Both motor and magnetic bearings will be cooled with process gas in a closed loop with an external heat exchanger.

Fig. 14. Subsea Compressor VSD module

Motor-compressor unit. For the compressor-motor unit, several different functional needs were taken into consideration at the design stage: maximizing robustness to achieve very high reliability, minimizing bundle change out required to cover the various specified operating conditions, reducing to a minimum the external connections and achieving a compact solution still facilitating maintenance. On the basis of these aspects, several mechanical configurations were compared and ranked in order to have a rational basis for the final selection. At the end the vertical arrangement with 3 journal bearings was rated highest. The main advantages for this solution can be summarized as follows: A vertical solution was preferred for installation and handling purposes since it minimizes the module footprint. This will allow the operator to use smaller boats and enable the module to be lifted from the inside A direct connection between motor and compressor enables the overall height to be reduced because there is no need for a flexible coupling, while the overall number of bearings can be minimized (one less radial and one axial). In addition the external connections can be minimized. The reduced number of bearings allowed for an AMB system with 7 controlled axes (3 radial + 1 axial bearings) instead of 10 axes (4 radial + 2 axial bearings) consistently increasing the systems Mean Time Between Failure The two radial bearing solution (which would be even more compact) was rejected due to rotordynamic considerations (too flexible) Based on the above considerations the mechanical arrangement showed in Fig.15 was achieved. The following points are noteworthy: Vertical arrangement Single casing for motor and compressor Single shaft line

Fig. 15. Motor-compressor Cross section

A ventilation fan located at the motor shaft end will allow flow circulation. To minimize the contamination with solid or liquid particles, this flow is extracted from the compressors first impeller diffuser (to exploit the impeller centrifugal separation effect).

Fig. 16. Motor-compressor unit general overview

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Material selection for the compressor parts is focused on achieving maximum resistance to corrosion and erosion. For instance, impellers will be made of special stainless steel to ensure the maximum resistance to stress corrosion cracking (in case of H2S presence and potential liquid formation) and at the same time they will have special coatings to minimize wear due to erosion (in case of the presence of solid particle). The design (Fig. 16) gives a very compact solution (excluding motor cooler): 30.5 t motor-compressor weight 2mx2mx5m motor-compressor size Long Step-out Power Supply (LSPS). The LSPS system will provide power from shore to the Ormen Lange subsea compression station. The power will be supplied from a high voltage utility grid via an onshore transformer and switching system. The Subsea Power Supply system consists of a power cable/umbilical, umbilical termination head, subsea high voltage (HV) termination and a subsea transformer. The permanent LSPS System has been carefully designed to meet the requirements for the high power and long offset transmission. The LSPS pilot system has been designed and optimized to represent the permanent system during Pilot testing. Permanent LSPS system Base case. Transmitting approximately 68 MW over a distance of 120 km is challenging not only in relation to the voltage and power loss at full load, but also to the stability at all loads, including short circuit situations. The effect seen on long transmission cables where higher voltages are experienced at the subsea end than supplied topside is one example of the kind of issue that has to be considered to avoid excess voltages damaging the subsea electrical equipment. Theoretical calculation models based on multiple Piequivalents have proven to be reliable methods for calculating relevant transmission parameters on shorter distances up to a few tenths of a kilometre, but calculation of power transmission over 120 km entails a certain uncertainty. Utilizing different calculation models and methods has reduced this uncertainty; hence the design of the long step-out power supply is now regarded as feasible. In addition to the basic transmission parameters, the transmission system must meet the requirement from the subsea power consumers with regard to ground fault/short circuit currents, network protection and system robustness to harmonic distortion. The topside power grid has additional requirements to the subsea systems that also have been incorporated into the calculations. The challenge with the electrical system is related to the design and qualification of the main components of the system. These are Umbilical/Power Cable, High Voltage Penetrator system and the Subsea Transformer. Power cables and transformers for use onshore, even at these high voltages, are regarded to be mature technology. However, there are additional requirements to be considered related to the design and long-term reliability of these components subsea. The length and weight of the Umbilical/Power Cable is such that it has to be manufactured and installed in at least two

separate lengths; hence a subsea splice is required. As the insulation class of the cable is 145 kV, no existing subsea splice is qualified for this water depth. Thus the splice has to be developed and qualified as part of the Pilot project. The rating and size of the transformer (68 MW/110 ton) is conventional technology; however the amount of insulation oil inside the transformer requires large volume compensators to handle the large volume variations at various operational/thermal conditions. Hence large volume metal bellow compensators have to be designed and qualified as part of the Pilot project. A Subsea Termination and Penetration system for 145 kV was not available in the market and thus has been developed based on Vetco Gray qualified 36 kV Cable termination, Penetrator system and design philosophy. A prototype has been built and successfully tested for all major electrical tests. The 145 kV Termination and Penetrator system will be further qualified as part of the Pilot Project. Power Cable /Umbilical and Splice. The power cable is a standard three-phase design by Nexans (3 x 400mm2) including three fiber cables each with 16 fibers, which totally form the umbilical. The splice is based on Nexans standard splicing system for Subsea Cables/Umbilicals and consists of mechanical termination and bend stiffener attached to each cable, with interconnected steel tubes as mechanical locking between the two terminations. This enables the power cores to be spliced according to established and proven procedures and the fibres to be spliced inside a proven splicing box. The splice is filled with bitumen. Reference is made to Fig. 17.

Figure 17. Power Cable/Umbilical and Splice

Penetrator System. It is required to separate and isolate the transformer internals from the power cable to avoid liquid communication between the transformer and the cable. This to secure that a potential fault in one of the systems does not influence the other. The high voltage electric core has to be terminated both mechanically and electrically, and at least two barriers towards seawater have to be established. The Penetrator System provides the penetration barrier using an epoxy-molded plug with a single connection pin entering into the subsea transformer. The electric core, conductor, insulation and outer screen are terminated using proven technology from the onshore industry and power utilities. Reference is made to Fig. 18.

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Figure 18. Penetrator system

Transformer with Compensators. The transformer internals are designed by ABB based on their standard transformer technology and experience. The transformer has one primary winding and two secondary windings each providing 22 kV/35 MVA. The transformer is oil filled and fully enclosed in metal except for the primary and secondary penetration systems. There are no seals, as the transformer top flange is welded to the transformer main case. The oil filled volume compensators are of steel bellow type, with additional rubber barrier/protection, thus the requirement for metallic enclosure of the transformer internals is maintained. Pilot Installation and testing. The Pilot system and components are designed to represent the permanent System with regard to operational parameters towards the power supply grid and the power consumers at the seabed. The Pilot System consists of an Umbilical/power cable hang-off located close to the test pit, with the Umbilical and Splice free hanging down to the Pit-floor with Umbilical Termination head, High Voltage Penetrator and Transformer with Compensators. Reference is made to Fig. 19.

According to the main specification, the Umbilical/Power Cable, Splice and Penetrators will be identical to the components to be used in the permanent system. The short length of the umbilical for the pilot system does not represent the umbilical length for the permanent system. Thus qualification of the long length of umbilical/power cable with respect to electrical phenomena is taken care of by electrical system computer calculations of the permanent LSPS system. The transformer will be of a reduced size, as the Pilot testing will only utilize one compressor train. After careful considerations, it was decided that the Pilot transformer should be rated for 20 MVA, with 132 kV primary winding and 22 kV secondary winding. Electrically the Pilot transformer is designed so that the subsea load at the 22 kV side will see the same electrical system as in the permanent installation with respect to VSD performance (same system impedance towards the feeding system). The barrier philosophy will be equivalent to the Main transformer including welding of the top flange. The volume compensators will be identical for both Pilot and Main transformer; the difference will be the number of compensators. The Pilot transformer will have three compensators, while the Main transformer will have six. Prior to, and in parallel to the Pilot installation and operation, additional testing will be performed on components and parts.

Figure 19. LSPS pilot installed in test pit