IBP1350_12 FUEL FLEXIBILITY IN POWER GENERATION ONBOARD OFFSHORE FLOATING UNITS Jeroen van Keep1

Copyright 2012, Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute - IBP This Technical Paper was prepared for presentation at the Rio Oi & Gas Expo and Conference 2012, held between September, 17-20, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro. This Technical Paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Committee of the event according to the information contained in the final paper submitted by the author(s). The organizers are not supposed to translate or correct the submitted papers. The material as it is presented, does not necessarily represent Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute opinion, or that of its Members or Representatives. Authors consent to the publication of this Technical Paper in the Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 Proceedings.

Abstract
Power Plants for offshore oil & gas installations utilizing dual fuel (DF) reciprocating engines are by many owners seen as an interesting alternative to conventional solutions due to the apparent advantages in fuel flexibility, fuel efficiency and lower emission. The paper summarizes the dual fuel technology, typical solutions for FPSOs and operational. Items that are discussed: DF operation and how it works Fuel flexibility, including transfer between fuel modes Fuel efficiency, also in Production an important cost saver! Emissions of the different fuel modes Size and weights, constraints Experiences of the P-63 project With the above it is safe to conclude that the DF-technology is mature with important benefits for the Offshore Production market in certain specific applications, most notably the FPSOs for fields in low Gas to Oil ratios, bringing important fuel cost savings and also for new-built F-LNG/FSO/FPSOs where the power plant can be accommodated below decks, freeing up valuable deck space for the process plant.

1. Introduction
Floating Production is a growing activity, which is still maturing. With DF-engines benefits can be achieved that are not available in any other method of power production. Not only cost higher efficiency in fuel economy and maintenance but also higher redundancy provided by fuel flexibility without loss of power. When considering some aspects need to be taken into account. In this paper a brief summary of the benefits and the concerns.

______________________________ 1 Business Sales Manager - Wrtsil

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2. Dual fuel operation and how it works
2.1 Wrtsil gas engine development

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Ever since 1987 Wrtsil has pioneered the development of engines for land and marine applications. First were Wrtsil GD engines where any mixture of natural gas and liquid fuel is injected in the engine under high pressure. Applications are mainly found in land and offshore installations where the flexibility to use crude oil and gas of any quality were key requirements. In 1993, spark ignited low pressure engines were added to the portfolio. These are mainly found in land based power generation systems and in gas pipeline booster stations. Soon followed the development of low pressure Dual Fuel engines, its first marine applications were found in Norwegian OSVs in 2003. The carriage of LNG was revolutionized in 2006 with the introduction of the Dual Fuel diesel electric systems, improving the total propulsion efficiency with more than 10 percentage points. With P-63 Wartsila is supporting yet a new revolution: power on board FPSOs

Figure 01, Overview of Wartsila Gas Engine Development

2.1 DF = Fuel flexibility = Two principles of operation, three or more fuels Wrtsil medium speed 4-stroke engines, in all sizes, have always been developed for Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) operation. Being the toughest marine fuel, it requires a tough engine to be able to run on this. This experience has enabled us to develop engines for FPSO and FSO application that can run on Crude Oil (CRO). So when talking about the Wrtsil Dual Fuel (DF) engines, running on gas and MDO, it is only a small step to see the possibilities in HFO and CRO operation, especially in FPSO and FSO applications. So now these engines can run on gas, MDO, HFO and CRO. In gas mode, the engine is working according to the Otto principle (ref. fig 02). Fuel gas is fed to the engine at a pressure of only 5 bar. A gas valve is controlling the gas supply to the individual cylinders. Air and gas are mixed and compressed in the cylinders, and then a small amount of pilot diesel fuel, ignites the mixture. The suitability of the gas to be used as fuel depends of a number of criteria; the most important is the Methane Number (MN). The MN is calculated with a formula which takes the Methane-vol% and then reduces it with some fraction of the heavier Hydro-Carbons. For unrestricted operation this MN must be above 70. Other criteria that are taken care of, are water content, gas temperature and gas pressure. In diesel mode (liquid fuel mode) the engine is working as a normal diesel engine. Gas supply is shut off, and the full amount of fuel is supplied by the injection nozzle. In this mode the fuel can be MDO, HFO or treated CRO. When running on these very heavy fuel types, the fuel is treated to assure the correct conditions for the engine, water and salt are taken from the fuel and also the fuel is heated to reduce the viscosity and enable transfer of the fuel.

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Figure 02, Comparison of the 2 running conditions of a DF-engine

Figure 03, Optimized gas combustion process The optimum running condition in gas mode is taken care of by the engine automation system. The amount of gas supplied to the cylinders is controlled by gas valves allocated individually for each cylinder. The air/gas ratio is kept in the range of 2,2 (ref. fig. 03) ensuring optimum performance with regard to high thermal efficiency and low NOx formation, and at the same time avoiding operation in the cylinder knocking or misfiring areas.

2.2. Transfer between modes Power availability is an important concern onboard offshore units and for production units this is no different. With the Multi-Fuel characteristics and the seamless transfer between fuel types, the DF engine improves the power availability. Even when gas supply to the engine is suddenly obstructed or malfunctioning, the engine will continue to provide power, without interruption, by means of the automatic and instantaneous transition to MDO, which is always available because of the pilot fuel necessity. As you can see in figure 04 and figure 05 fuel transfer is without loss of power and takes less than 5 seconds from gas to diesel and takes about 2 minutes in the other direction.

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Transfer between MDO and heavier fuel (CRO or HFO) will not occur very often, only when heavy fuel is not available MDO will be used. The transfer takes longer, up to 1 hour, due to the difference in temperature and viscosity. Before shutdown, while running on heavy fuel, the engine will run on MDO for about 1 hour to flush the fuel system and prevent clogging after cooling down.

Figure 04, On the fly transfer from Gas to Diesel

Figure 05, On the fly transfer from Diesel to Gas

3. Fuel efficiency
When talking about FSPO or FSO applications, it is uncommon that fuel efficiency is taken into consideration, the fuel is for free on the oil/gas production units, but is that really the case? When gas is abundant and there are no opportunities to bring it elsewhere, the gas can only be used to produce power and heat onboard the production unit. In case it is not used the gas needs to be re-injected or flared. In such occasion fuel is indeed for free. But not all fields have unlimited gas availability and on other fields the gas can be exported. So either when the gas can be marketed or the when gas can run out, fuel economy will add to the economy of the production unit. This would be especially the case for low Gas to Oil ratio (GOR) fields, when the field gas has ran out and power is needed from a conventional power source, MDO needs to be shipped in large quantities to the production unit. With the DF-engines running on treated Crude oil, no MDO needs to be shipped in and enormous cost savings are possible. As an example, for a 85MWe power plant running on Crude (at USD 100/BBL) instead of MDO (at USD 430/BBL) in a 30% more efficient machine, the fuel bill is cut by over USD 400 Million annually In figure 06 below an efficiency comparison is made between two 6MW power machines, taking into account the differences in part load operation and in ambient temperature. An improvement of 30% is realistic!

Figure 06, Comparison of Specific Fuel Consumption between DF and Gas Turbine of equal size

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4. Emissions of the DF engines

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Lean burn gas engines have lower peak temperatures resulting in an 85% lower NOx formation from the combustion compared to a conventional diesel engine. In fact the NOx emission requirements of IMO Tier 3, scheduled to come into force in 2016 inside NECAs, can be met without secondary means. Sulfur emissions will totally disappear as a consequence of the clean fuel; when liquefying natural gas any sulfur will be removed eliminating SOx emissions. The cleanliness of the combustion is also shown in the PM values and CO2 emissions: PM is reduced to about 1% of the value of diesel engines and CO2 is reduced by 20% because of the lower carbon content of natural gas compared to heavier hydrocarbons.

Figure 07, Comparison of emissions

5. Size and weights

On first acquaintance the 4-stroke engines are large and heavy when comparing to the alternatives. This is true when looking at the machines only, but when looking at the total power package the footprint is very comparable, only the weight is higher, which can be accommodated quite easily on a vessel like this. Also it is possible to place the DF-engines inside the hull of the vessel, freeing up deck space for the process equipment. This will become an added benefit when new built production units (FPSOs and F-LNG) become more common. The dimensions of the modules with 2x 18V50DF, with a module power of abt 34MW, are given in below figure 08.

Figure 08, Indicative Module Dimensions 5

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6. Benefits for F-LNG applications

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When looking at the new developments of F-LNG units power production with DF 4-stroke engines is less evident, the F-LNG have a power need that is much higher than FPSOs and do have a fuel-gas availability throughout the life of the vessel. Nevertheless using DF will bring operational and cost benefits: - With improved simple cycle efficiency, the fuel cost will be reduced. - With reference to Fig 09, by changing the power arrangement for a 100 MW power plant the stability of the system will be improved. Without changing the installed power, the new split between Gas Turbines (GT) and DF Gensets (DF) will much improve the ability of the DF to take the load increase in case of a GT trip. - In case DF gensets are installed, Class allows these to be used as both Main Generator and Essential Generator, reducing the equipment CAPEX and OPEX. - DF-gensets installed in the hull free-up the topside space, which comes at a premium in this vessel type. - DF-gensets installed in the hull reduce installation cost, since no module is required.

Figure 09. Alternative power generation arrangement for F-LNG

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7. Experiences of the P-63 project

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The project is a true first in the industry. Wrtsil has elaborate experience with the different elements of the project, but the combination of such large gensets, on FPSO topside, running on gas, MDO and treated crude oil, inside a module is new. Each power module includes two 18-cylinder 50DF tri-fuel engines in V-configuration, as well as alternators and all required auxiliary equipment. Contract was placed in May 2010 by QUIP . For logistic reasons it was decided to produce the modules at the FPSO outfitting yard in China. Wartsila supervised the production of the modules with a site team. Steel cutting started at COSCO SY in October 2010. During 2011 the modules were produced and outfitted, so that the modules could be lifted onto the FPSO end 2011. In period of March- May this year the engines made their successful test runs. Oil production is scheduled to begin in 2013. The vessel will operate on Brazils new Papa Terra oilfield, located some 110 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in the southern Campos Basin.

Figure 10. Power Modules on board of FPSO P-63 with insert showing first smoke

8. Acknowledgements
Terje Nordtun, Wartsila Norway, for valuable input on the total text. Svein-Johan Abacka and Juha Nurmi, Wartsila Finland for their help on the P-63 experience.