Methodologies for automated design of subsea layout alternatives for oil production systems

Abstract

This work presents methodologies to automate the synthesis of subsea layouts for oil production systems. The objective is to achieve a higher number of design alternatives, in less time, with increased efficiency and significant reduction in associated costs. The result is a computational tool that automatically explores different platform locations; for each location, considering several engineering criteria, it generates and evaluates alternatives for the spatial arrangement not only of the multiple flowline routes, but also of the riser connection order on the riser porch at the platform balcony. The quality of each solution is evaluated through metrics that include total flowline length. Several methods associated to the modeling and solution of the problem are presented, including: the algorithm that selects the order in which the risers will be connected; the routing algorithm that defines the trajectory of the flowlines; and the global search method for positioning the platform. Case studies are presented to demonstrate their performance, applied to representative offshore scenarios. The results indicate substantial improvement in response time, generating several efficient solutions in few minutes, as opposed to weeks that are usually required in the traditional design procedure. This way, the tool can reduce the design time to evaluate a higher number of alternative layouts, providing accurate results, and minimizing costs.