Designing the world’s largest semi-submersible central processing facility
C. CahuzacINPEX.
The APPEA Journal 52(2) 685-685 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ11099
Published: 2012
Abstract
What are the key design considerations driving the successful delivery of the world’s largest semi-submersible Central Processing Facility (CPF), to be installed at the Ichthys gas field in the Browse Basin, 200 km offshore North West Australia? Extreme cyclonic weather conditions, separating condensate from the gas stream, accommodating 150 personnel, and the sheer size of the gas processing unit at 110,000 tonnes, have created unprecedented challenges for the Ichthys design team.
This extended abstract explores the design and planned construction of this massive piece of equipment. The CPF, measuring 110 m × 110 m, will be anchored to the seabed in about 250 m of water using 28 mooring chains. During the 40-year life of the project, the unit will collect gas from a network of up to 50 subsea production wells drilled into reservoirs 4,000–4,500 m beneath the seabed. From the CPF, condensate will be sent to a Floating Production Storage Offtake (FPSO) vessel moored nearby.
The gas will be compressed and sent by an 885-km subsea pipeline to Darwin for processing into LNG, LPG, and residual condensate. INPEX with its Ichthys joint venturer, Total, will be shipping 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG a year, as well as 100,000 barrels of condensate a day at peak. Successful delivery of the Ichthys Project will ensure INPEX achieves its goal of becoming the operator of a major LNG facility, while helping reach its target of producing 800,000 boe/d by 2020.
Claude Cahuzac has an extensive career specialising in the project management of offshore oil and gas production facilities and deep sea developments, including detailed design, construction and commissioning, and marine logistics. He joined Total E&P in 1981; in March 2010, he was seconded to INPEX to work on the large-scale Ichthys LNG project, a joint venture between INPEX and Total E&P Australia. He initially joined the project as the deputy director of offshore technical division and is now the Ichthys offshore project director. He is undertaking the critical role of delivering the central processing facility (CPF), set to be the largest of its type ever built and the first time such a floating facility would be used in Australian waters. He is also responsible for the floating production and storage offloading facility (FPSO), all the subsea infrastructure including subsea production systems (SPS) and umbilical, riser and flow lines (URF), as well as the gas export pipeline (GEP) from the Browse Basin to the onshore LNG plant in Darwin. He previously worked on a number of major projects in Cameroun, China, Congo, Europe, Thailand, Indonesia, and North Sea in logistics, senior project management, and offshore technical roles. Claude graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure de Nantes in France with a master’s degree in hydrodynamics and naval architecture. |
