Lean offshore platform design

Abstract

Current industry practices of prescriptive design and duplication of previous work on offshore oil and gas facilities have often caused relatively simple design requirements to be executed as large, maintenance-heavy, expensive platforms. The question of whether equipment is technically justified is rarely asked, and the potential benefits of minimised systems are rarely realised. By adopting lean design thinking, where all equipment must be technically justified as essential to operation before being included on the platform, the benefits are twofold. First, personal safety is improved because less equipment is required to be maintained offshore, meaning fewer offshore man-hours. Second, significant cost savings can be achieved because less offshore equipment means smaller platforms. This paper outlines the design, operating, manning and maintenance philosophies that form the basis for lean design thinking, and the effect this thinking has on both offshore man-hours and facility costs. Two case studies have been undertaken to evaluate the quantifiable differences between conventional platform design and lean platform design. Aker Solutions’ Lean Semi has been compared with a conventional semisubmersible platform to show that substructure weight savings of up to 30% are achievable; in addition, Aker Solutions’ Hybrid Compression Facility has been compared with a conventional compression platform to show that topsides weight savings of more than 50% are achievable.