Normally Unattended FPSO Design

Abstract

Abstract Considering the last 50 years of offshore activity experience and the evolution of the technology, unattended installation designs started to be proposed for application. The focus is to reduce the O&M cost keeping operational reliability and safety. Although some of the low-complex process platforms have been unattended and operated on for many years, especially for small or marginal fields with OPEX/CAPEX restraints, nowadays, unattended platforms for new oil discoveries requiring more complex installations are being considered. A new approach to design, O&M, and logistics is being adopted to enable more complex processing platforms to operate as unattended installations. The unattended platform will be operated remotely by the operational team onshore, and the maintenance team will be aboard only when required for corrective maintenance or during planned preventive maintenance. Unattended platform design philosophy should prioritize the simplicity and the reduction of systems and equipment on board, focusing on maintainability and keeping high operational efficiency. This paper presents a functional analysis of the usual systems that compound a manned FPSO design aiming at its suitability for an unattended FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading) design with remote operation. This system functional analysis defines each system as not required, required with optimization, required with a new concept, and required with no significant changes. As a result, new system concepts are proposed focusing on moving away maintenance and operational personnel.