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Novel Subsea Boosting Solutions to Increase IOR

Salvatore Micali, and Christian Abelsson, Knut Olaf Nyborg / Aker Solutions

Copyright 2016, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2225 March 2016.
This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
During a market condition that is characterized by volatile oil price, there is a strong incentive in the Oil
& Gas Industry on maximizing the hydrocarbons recovery from existing fields, rather than initiating new
field developments.
For offshore deep water field applications, subsea boosting technologies are considered to be a solution
to improve the field recovery, while also acting as enabling technology that allows for development of
deep, harsh and stranded reserves, which otherwise deemed non-accessible.
This paper presents the performances and application area of two novel subsea boosting solutions
developed by Aker Solutions:
1. The boosting of condensate and oil as well as pressure increase by water injection through high
pressure subsea pumps
2. The subsea boosting of gas flow with associated liquid, though high performance subsea
compression.
Special focus is given to the subsea centrifugal pump and compression technologies and how these new
solutions can solve the existing challenges represented by providing high performance pressure boosting
for both oil production with high gas content, as well as gas production with high liquid content.
Highlights on the key features of these novel technologies are provided, with specific focus on the
benefits the technology brings to the market, like the high differential pressure generated together with the
high efficiency and mechanical stability. These are all game changers for deep water IOR developments.

Introduction
The second decade of the year 2000 will be remembered for the high volatility of the oil and gas prices,
in particular for the unexpected and prolonged duration of market condition characterized by oil
oversupply and consequent low oil price, ref [1]. The main reason behind this market condition has been
the technology improvement for the production of unconventional onshore resources, like shale gas and
shale oil that has allowed and accelerated the development of many onshore fields. The direct consequence of this oil oversupply and low oil price has been the reduction on investments, with direct effect
on many new projects that were cancelled or delayed.

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One of the businesses more under pressure has been the offshore exploration and production business,
due to the relatively high costs needed per barrel. The Oil and Gas Companies operating in this industry
segment are challenged to continue a profitable and sustainable business even with the low oil price. In
order to achieve this, going forward they have to turn to new thinking, involving new solutions and
technologies, in order to build robust business cases for new greenfield and brownfield developments.
The main goals for the Oil and Gas Companies developing and operating offshore assets are:
1. Reduce costs (CAPEX and OPEX)
2. Improve the utilization of the infrastructures
3. Increase the recovery.
Challenges for the development of offshore fields
The higher cost for the development of offshore fields is mainly due to the technical challenges introduced
by the offshore environment. The challenges, and associated costs, tend to grow with increased water
depth and stepout distance.
For gas fields, the main technical challenges are related to flow assurance. One such challenge is the
sizing of production pipelines which is a trade-off between minimizing pressure drop at nominal
production rates and acceptable liquid accumulation in the system when producing at low rates. The
former calls for large pipelines while the latter for small. Another challenge is presented by hydrate
management. This is commonly handled by simply injecting MEG. In application with long step-out, the
challenge is represented by the increased size and complexity of the MEG loop, resulting in high OPEX.
For oil fields, challenges can be of many natures, amongst others represented by heavy oil, high viscous
fluids, multiphase flow, high water cut and many more. An oil field development, green or brown, often
have to deal with many of these challenges as a result of changing reservoir conditions through the field
of life. These changing reservoir conditions often require different techniques to assure stable production
at each point in time, resulting in an increased CAPEX.
New solutions
The subsea boosting solutions, and in particular subsea compression and pumping technologies, represent
good options to solve or mitigate some of the challenges described above and help the Oil and Gas
Companies on achieving the final goals of costs reduction and production increase.
For the gas field applications the subsea compression technology allows the utilization of smaller
pipelines by increasing the available driving pressure. Smaller pipelines not only provide a CAPEX saving
but, more importantly, defer the minimum flow issues, ultimately allowing the reservoir abandonment at
lower pressure with the consequence of increased total production.
For the oil field applications, the subsea pump technology allows the production of reservoirs with the
most complex fluid properties. By applying standardized pump systems, small interventions allow for
easy adaptation to the required pump challenge allowing production of heavy oil, multiphase flow,
reservoirs with high water cuts and more, all while providing sufficient export pressure. Also in this case,
allowing the reservoir abandonment at lower pressure. In some applications, deep waters or long tie-back
distances impose requirements for pressure support, i.e. subsea pumps, to even allow production at the
first place. Increased production rates and increased total recovery can also be accommodated through
subsea water injection, another aspect of subsea boosting.

Compression system description

Compression system overview
Over the years, the subsea compression system has been designed with specific focus on operational
flexibility and system robustness.
The subsea compression system is made up different individual subsea processing equipment such as
cooler, separator, etc. The configFiguration, which is flexible, is dependent on the field characteristics and

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process requirements for the project (i.e. gas composition, flow rate, GVF, slug volume, inlet temperature,
inlet pressure, compression ratio, etc.).
Figure 1 illustrates a typical Process Flow Diagram (PFD) of a subsea compression system applied to
a gas/condensate field with high fluid temperature and high liquid content. This PFD is in line with the
subsea compression system delivered for the sgard field ref [3], [6] (related to one compression train)
as well as the subsea compression system pilot qualified for the Ormen Lange field ref [2] (with the
difference that in the system pilot qualified for the Ormen Lange field did not include a discharge cooler
because not needed).

Figure 1PFD for a typical single train subsea compression system

The subsea compression system setup shown is highly robust and flexible, and can thus be applied
across a wide range of fields with different characteristics.
First and foremost, the system can handle a wide range of inlet well stream temperatures, including
production from high temperature wells. This is due to the inclusion of an inlet cooler in the system, as
through proper sizing of the inlet cooler, the system can maintain an optimum operating temperature range
for the downstream equipment, ensuring the system performance on compression and separation.
Secondly, the system is flexible in regards to the liquid content of the production well stream.
Considering that the well stream of gas fields typically consists of a gas flow with associated liquid
(condensate and/or water), and the liquid production may vary across the production lifetime, a technically
robust solutions will need to be able to handle that. With the utilization of the separator, the system is able
to be applied to a large variety of gas fields with different liquid contents, ensuring consistency in terms
of the gas quality and conditions feeding to the compressor, for efficient compression operation while
prolonging the lifetime of the equipment. The separator is also providing a slug buffer volume for slug
handling, typically required during start-up and offset conditions.
Lastly the compression system is also flexible in regards to the fluid exporting option. After the
boosting step, the liquid and the gas can be recombined and exported through the same pipeline to a single
host, or they can be routed through separate pipelines to different hosts. This flexibility presents simple
alternatives to tackle potential flow assurances issues related to multiphase fluid transportation.
The discharge cooler can be required in case the subsea compression discharge temperature is too high
for the export pipeline specification.
After the definition of the process system, it is important to define the right modularization for the
subsea compression system. The subsea industry has developed a typical modularization approach
characterized by independently retrievable modules for each of the main process units. In addition to the
process system, the modularization applies also the power and control systems.
In Figure 2 are illustrated the process modules of one subsea compression train delivered for the
sgard field ref [3], [6].

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Figure 2Subsea compression process modules

Connections between modules are made by mechanical, electrical and control subsea connectors. The
most common arrangement is with tie-in spools for the process connections and electrical flying leads for
the power and control connections.
A selected set of spare modules, stored onshore, is usually included in the scope of supply, and utilized
only when a major fault occur subsea. In that case the subsea module is disconnected and swapped with
the spare module.
This modularization approach guarantees flexibility, robustness and high availability.
A subsea compression system requiring multiple compression trains can be designed with independent
process systems (e.g. as for the sgard subsea compression system) or can be configured with modules
in common. For instance to reduce the footprint, the weight and the cost, without compromising the
compression capacity, a common separator and pump can be integrated with two compression systems.
An important feature of a subsea compression system is the flexibility of the system operating mode,
when multiple compression trains are specified. For example at the early life of a field, a compression
system can operate with two compression trains in parallel, when the inlet pressure and the flow rate are
higher and the compression ratio required for the compressor unit is lower. At the end of the field life,
instead, when the inlet pressure and the flow rate are lower and the compression ratio required for the
compressor unit is higher, the same compression system can operate with the two compression trains in
series. This represents a CAPEX savings, as the same equipment could be utilized throughout the
production field life of a reservoir.

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Process system
Compressor module The heart of the subsea compression system is represented by the compressor unit
and the compressor module.
The development of the subsea compression technology started in the mid of the 1980s, and to date
both compressor modules with compressor units of different arrangement (horizontal or vertical) have
been delivered.
The common design philosophy has been focused on including on the compressor module not only the
compressor unit, but also all the most important compressor sub-systems and auxiliaries, i.e.:

Compressor motor cooling loop

Compressor Active Magnetic Bearings (AMB) control module
Compressor anti-surge valve and actuator
Compressor instruments
HV penetrators, connectors and jumpers.

In Figure 3 is illustrated the subsea compressor module delivered for the sgard field, ref [3], [6].

Figure 3Picture of the sgard subsea compressor module

In Figure 4 is illustrated the 11.5 MW Man Diesel and Turbo single HOFIM subsea compressor unit
installed inside the compressor module delivered for the sgard field.

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Figure 4 Picture of the sgard subsea compressor unit, courtesy of Man Diesel and Turbo

Being designed for subsea operation, the subsea compressor unit has the characteristic to be very
reliable, simple and compact. Indeed, the traditional auxiliary systems of a compression train installed
onshore or offshore are not present here (e.g. gear box, lube oil system, dry gas seals, etc.).
The compressor unit consists of a motor and a centrifugal compressor installed within the same
hermetically sealed enclosure and running at the same speed. The coupling between the motor and the
compressor is rigid, with speed and torque of the compressor unit controlled by a Variable Speed Drive
(VSD) system.
The lubrication system is not needed because of the presence of the active magnetic bearings system.
The motor and the magnetic bearings are cooled by the process gas in an open loop configuration.
In reference to the Man Diesel and Turbo single HOFIM qualified subsea compressor unit, it has
mechanical power of 11.5 MW, capacity up to 14,000 Am /h, a compression ratio up to 3, operating speed
up to 7200 rpm and a good capability of boosting the liquids associated with the gas.
The same unit is available in tandem configuration where a single motor is installed with 2 compressors. In this configuration the unit has a capacity up to 28,000 Am3/h (parallel duty) or compression ratio
up to 5.5 (series duty).
Cooler module In the subsea compression system the cooler module can be applied to perform different
processing functions.
The most important application is in the anti-surge loop. During anti-surge operation, in fact there is
need to cool down the warmer gas recirculated from the compressor discharge.
If the inlet temperature is too high for the subsea compression system, an inlet cooler is required to cool
down the temperature to the best operating level for the separator and the compressor performances.
The discharge cooler can be required if the gas temperature at the compressor discharge is too high for
the export pipeline specification.
In order to reduce foot print and weight, depending on the thermal duty and consequently on the size
of each cooler, different modularization combination can be applied.
In Figure 5 is illustrated the combined inlet-anti surge cooler module of the sgard subsea compression
system, ref [3], [6].

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Figure 5Picture of the subsea inlet and anti-surge cooler module for the sgard project

The cooler module consists mainly of the cooler pipe bundle, sensors, valves, tie-in connections and
the subsea module structure.
The subsea cooling technology developed for the Ormen Lange and sgard subsea compression
projects it is independent from the application. The main characteristics of this technology consist of a
horizontal pipe bundle installed in a subsea structure, operating in a passive way. The physical principle
behind the cooling effect is the convective heat transfer between the warm pipes and the surrounding
seawater. This technology can be adopted both for pure gas and multiphase applications.
The largest subsea cooler delivered to date is the inlet-anti surge cooler module for the sgard subsea
compression system, designed for 11 MW thermal powers and with the pipe bundle volume of 174 m3.
Separator module The separator module consists mainly of the separator vessel, piping, valves, tie-in
connections and the subsea module structure. The vessel is usually equipped with separation internals and
level control sensors.
The separator vessel is designed to ensure high efficiency gas/liquid separation and to optimize the
compressor operating conditions by removing liquid and sand from the gas. The vertical design has been
chosen as the most efficient for gas/liquid (2 phases) separation. The subsea separator modules qualified
and delivered for the subsea compression systems have 3 combined functionalities (gas/liquid separation,
scrubbing, and slug catching) and are based on high reliable and robust gravity separation technology.
The separator internals adopted are: inlet device, axial demisting cyclones, vortex breaker and sand
flushing system.
The solids present in the wellstream are separated out together with the liquid phase, and the separator
is qualified to avoid any solid accumulation at the bottom of the vessel.
The liquid level is detected by the level sensors and controlled by liquid pump.
In Figure 6 is illustrated the subsea separation module and the vessel of the sgard subsea compression
system.

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Figure 6 3D drawing of the subsea separator module (left) and picture of the separator vessel (right) of the sgard project

Power and control system

The electrical power supply required by a subsea compression system has introduced the need of specific
power transmission and distribution technologies.
In particular the Ormen Lange subsea compression pilot project has required the qualification, design,
manufacturing and testing of a wide range of HV power technologies like, subsea transformer, subsea
circuit breaker, subsea VSD and LV subsea UPS, all of them modularized in independently retrievable
modules, ref [2]. In addition different subsea HV connection system technologies were qualified through
this project.
The sgard subsea compression system project has required instead a higher focus on the long distance
HV power transmission. It is to date the power system with a HV motor operated by a VSD from the
longest distance, approximately 41 km (cable length). The HV power is transmitted at variable frequency,
with a limit of 120 Hz.
In general the main power consumer of the subsea compression system is the subsea compressor. The
driver of the subsea compressor is a VSD system consisting of transformers and frequency converter, in
an arrangement similar to other onshore and offshore motor compressor applications, ref [6].
The different is given by the subsea environment, in case of subsea VSD applications, or by the
capability required by the VSD to control the motor speed and torque over several kilometers in a stable
way, in case of long distance power transmission system applications.
There are new technologies currently under development with the goal to simplify the subsea
frequency conversion, increasing the reliability and reducing the footprint, ref [4], [5], [6]. At the same
time, in recent years, it has been demonstrated that longer step-outs, up to 150 km, are possible to achieve
without subsea VSDs.
A single power system provider approach has been adopted for the sgard subsea compression project,
including topside modifications work, topside power supply building, subsea power system and umbilical
design.
Figure 7 shows pictures from the installation of the power supply building and the subsea transformer
for the compressor in the sgard system while Figure 8 shows the HV power system for the compressor
motors.

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Figure 7Installation of topside power supply building and subsea compressor transformer, sgard project

Figure 8 sgard HV supply system for subsea compressors

The subsea compression system operation is managed by the control system.

The control system consists of:

Subsea sensors
Subsea control modules (SCMs)
Subsea actuators
Control networks
Topside/onshore control panels.

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The qualification of the subsea compression system has guaranteed the development of some new
subsea sensors (e.g. the nucleonic profilers for the level control into the separator), the subsea actuators
and the control networks, ref [2].
In particular regarding the subsea actuators, an important development step has been done for the
all-electric technology. Both the Ormen Lange subsea compression pilot project and the sgard subsea
compression system project have utilized electric actuators for all the actuated valves, allowing simplified
umbilical configuration and topside hydraulic utilities. One of the main technology steps has been done
for the qualification of the anti-surge valve actuator, requiring high speed performance.
The utilization of electric actuators is not mandatory, so if required subsea compression systems with
hydraulic actuators can be proposed.
Regarding the control networks, the subsea compression system utilizes 3 independent networks, one
for the process control system, one for the emergency shutdown system and one for the condition
monitoring system.
The process control and emergency shutdown systems are similar to the control systems adopted
topside or onshore, instead the condition monitoring system introduces an important function in the subsea
compression systems and in general in all the subsea system. It introduces the capability to forecast the
equipment and systems performances so to plan correctly the maintenance and intervention activities.
Regarding the SCM and the topside/onshore panels, the technology utilized in the subsea compression
system is very similar to the one adopted in other subsea projects.
The control transmission is done through umbilical that terminate subsea into the UTA. The UTA is
usually integral part of the subsea compression system and in case of need of subsea transformer for the
HV power cables, the UTA can be integrated with the subsea transformer module structure.
Project example - sgard subsea compression system
Introduction The sgard field is located centrally in the Norwegian Sea with a water depth in the range
of 240 300 metres. The field produces oil, gas and condensate through its topside infrastructures (sgard
A FPSO - to produce and store the oil,
sgard B processing platform - to process gas and condensate, sgard C storage vessel - to store the
condensate).
The gas production started in October 2000 and it has been maintained so far by natural pressure
depletion. To guarantee a high production also in the late life of the field and increase the overall recovery,
the operator Statoil and its license partners (Petoro, Eni Norge, Exxon, and Total) decided in 2010 to
install a subsea compression system, ref [3].

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Figure 9 sgard field layout

Key data

Start-up:
Additional recovery:
Design lifetime:
Water depth:
Gas Volume Fraction:
Design gas flowrate:
Inlet pressure:
dP:
Design pressure:
Step-out:
VSD:
Compression power:
N. units:

September 2015
306 Mboe
25 years
260 m
89 vol %
21 MSm3/d
34 to 65 bara
60 bar
220 bar
41 km
Topside
2 11.5 MW
2 compressor trains subsea 1 spare

Project and system description The Midgard and Mikkel gas/condensate reservoirs in the sgard field
have been developed as subsea field infrastructures and their production is sent through the same pipeline
to the sgard B platform. The two reservoirs are located 50 and 70 kilometers away respectively from
sgard B.
Compression is needed by end of 2015 to maintain a high production profile and to extend the life of
the field.
The technical solution adopted is a subsea compression system, consisting of a single template with two
subsea compression trains operating in parallel, protected by overtrawlable structures due to the local
fishing activities around the production area. An additional subsea compression train is stored onshore as
spare.

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The subsea compression system is tied into the existing subsea pipeline infrastructures through a new
subsea manifold located west of the Midgard Y production template.
The electrical power necessary to feed the subsea compression trains is generated on the sgard A
FPSO and then distributed subsea through dedicated power umbilicals.
In each subsea compression train the well stream is first cooled before being separated in gas and
liquid. The gas is boosted by the compressor and the condensates by the pump and finally recombined into
a single pipeline. The gas stream is cooled by a discharge cooler before to be recombined with the liquid
and exported.
Each separator works also as subsea slug catcher, with a slug volume capacity of 12.5 m.
Each of the two compression trains installed subsea has a modular design and comprises 11 retrievable
subsea modules.
The main modules and sub-systems included in each subsea compression train are listed below:

Inlet and anti-surge cooler module

Separator module
Compressor module
Pump module
Discharge cooler module
Subsea control system
Subsea power system
MEG distribution system
Protection structure and tie-ins
Tools

An overview of the process and control modules of a single subsea compression train is shown in
Figure 10, in which they are assembled onshore for the System Integration Test (SIT) activities.

Figure 10 sgard subsea compression train during the System Integration Test

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Compression system - Ongoing development

The performance of the qualified subsea compression system covers the need for a wide range of
compression applications. With a unit compressor in a single configuration that is capable of up to 11.5
MW compression output, generating pressure ratio up to 3, the compression system provides large
potential for the development of many gas fields that are otherwise deemed uneconomical.
In addition, the extraordinary operating performances delivered by the sgard subsea compression
system, generated a positive sentiment that this technology will be soon field proven reaching TRL 7 in
2018 (Ref API RP 17N).
Going forward the focus is on developing new subsea compression system concepts that utilize the
same sgard field proven technology, but with reduced module size, footprint, weight and cost. The
approach aims to avoid new Technology Qualification Programs (TQP) and to reduce the delivery time.
In the Figure 11 is illustrated a compact subsea compressor module utilizing the same Man Diesel and
Turbo single HOFIM compressor qualified for the sgard field.

Figure 11Compact subsea compression module applying the same sgard technology

At the same time, new technologies are under developments (e.g. active cooler and wellstream
centrifugal compressor), but those will require a qualification period before to be introduced into the
market and applied in new projects.

Pump system description

Pump system overview
Common for many subsea pump applications are the drivers for a pump selection that provides a high
differential pressure and production rate in a wide operating envelope and with a high availability.
Furthermore, the pump is often required to handle a large range of operating conditions represented by
changing reservoir conditions through the field of life.
Aker Solutions pump systems relies on high power subsea centrifugal pumps which can be deployed
in a single or dual station arrangement, examples illustrated in Figure 12. A dual station allows for
operation in parallel or series, extending the operating envelope in both head and capacity dimensions.

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Figure 12Illustration of (a) a dual pump station and (b) a single water injection station

The pump module, sitting in the pump station, can house a single phase pump, a multiphase pump or
a hybrid pump, depending on the application need.
Pump module
The three pump types have plenty of commonalities which allows for modification of the complete pump
station throughout the field life with a minimum effort. Interfaces, auxiliary systems as well as the motor
are kept similar between the pump types as far as reasonably possible. Any equipment, unique for a
specific pump type, is ideally placed on the pump module, keeping the pump manifold and the rest of the
station unchanged while allowing for a full flexibility with respect to pump requirements. The main parts
of the pump systems are:

Centrifugal pump with suction and discharge piping

Electrical motor with external cooler
Barrier fluid system with accessories
Foundation and structure with guiding and soft landing system
High voltage connection system (can include subsea step-down transformers)

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All pump types are intended for vertical installation providing a minimum footprint. The pump and
motor shafts are rigidly connected with a stiff coupling connecting the two shaft ends. This design is very
robust with regards to rotordynamic stability as it eliminates coupling critical modes which are a source
of high vibration, commonly experienced with flexible coupling arrangements. The design also allows the
motor and pump to share a common thrust bearing and thus reduce the number of critical components. The
thrust forces are kept to a minimum through a back-to-back mounted impeller arrangement. The
arrangement provides for thrust force balancing, eliminating the need for a vulnerable balancing piston
with associated leak. Special alignment equipment and procedures are developed in order to ensure the
alignment between the motor and pump shaft prior to connecting the coupling.
The pump types are illustrated in the figure below.

Figure 13Pump type description

Motor technology
Statoils operated Tyrihans Subsea Raw Sea Water Injection (SRSWI) represented the largest pumps with
two off 2.7 MW pumps when they were installed in 2009, ref [11]. Since then, the market has seen a
demand for increased power with e.g. 3 MW in the Chevron operated Jack/St. Malo field, ref [7], and even
larger needs for a number of multiphase pump applications, stretching beyond 5 MW for a single pump.
One obvious driver for a higher power per pump is to reduce the amount of pumps needed and the number
of stages required per pump, ultimately reducing the cost. This need is linked to the need for higher
differential pressures (head) resulting from development of longer tie-backs and deeper water applications, ref [8]. Increased head is accommodated by increased speed, which in turn requires higher power.
Increased speed also provides for better performance in multiphase pumps where not only the flow and
pressure capacity is increased, but the tendency for phase separation decrease.

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Aker Solutions, together with its Joint Industry Project (JIP) partners ExxonMobil and Total, is
currently in the final stage of qualification of a new high speed, 6,000 rpm, and high power motor, at 6
MW. The motor operates at 6.6 kV and is suitable to be used with a VSD. It represents a game changer
in the industry with potential to significantly reduce cost of subsea pump projects by answering to the
challenge of increased head. The motor technology, which is common for all three pump types, is based
on a liquid-filled 3-phase induction motor. The induction motor was the preferred technology compared
to the permanent magnet motor based on several factors, amongst others its operational experience in
subsea boosting, its robustness and its fit for high speed operation; where handling of magnets due to high
centrifugal effects is absent as well as its uncomplicated startup; especially related to long step-out
distances where permanent magnet motors present some challenges.
In the time of writing of this paper, the complete motor test results were not available. Overall, the
motor has run successfully and prediction models have been validated to have a very high accuracy:

Speed:
Tested 1,500 6,300 RPM
Shaft torque: Tested 0 8,700 Nm (will extend to 9,550 Nm in pit test)
Shaft power: Tested from 0 4.96 MW (will extend to 6.0 MW in pit test)
Efficiency:
close to 85%, as expected
Power factor: 0.81, as expected
Internal and external cooling of motor working as expected

The figure below shows the motor cartridge and a screenshot from the test software, where it can be
seen running at 6,000 rpm.

Figure 14 Electrical motor cartridge (left), and motor load test screen shot (right)

The test data presented above is limited due to limitation in the test equipment. Testing at its rating of
6 MW is possible once the motor is integrated with MultiBooster pump in the test pit as a final step of
the pump/motor qualification.
The motor will come in various standardized sizes covering the power and speed range shown in Figure
15. The motor series cover high speed operation up to 6 MW at 6,000 rpm. For each pump application
a selection of a standardized motor is performed to cover the pump power demand.

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Figure 15Motor range

An important part of the development work has been to develop a special fully insulated winding cable,
qualified for temperature class H (180C). This allows a higher power density design which is compact
with respect to the cooler size and most importantly, motor size and weight.
Single phase pump
The single phase pump is designed to handle liquids with a gas content of up to 10% GVF. It is a robust
machine with radial impellers mounted back-to-back and it is highly tolerant to solids production, proven
through extensive testing. The pump hydraulics comes in a large range aimed for different capacities and
heads allowing for a flexible pump hydraulic selection, suitable to most applications with specific speeds
relevant for multistage centrifugal pumps.
The single phase pump, the LiquidBooster, has been delivered for both water injection and subsea
condensate boosting applications. The water injection application is described further down in the project
example whilst the subsea condensate boosting is part of the bigger compression system, used both in the
Ormen Lange pilot and sgard subsea compression.
Water injection See separate section on Tyrihans SRSWI below.
Condensate boosting The LiquidBooster delivered the condensate pump to the Ormen Lange compression pilot project, a fairly small power pump at 400 kW. The same pump type was later selected for
the condensate boosting in the sgard subsea compression project, there with a larger motor, at 800 kW.
One of the main challenges for the condensate pump applications is the risk of cavitation that comes with
the limited available Net Pressure Suction Head (NPSHa). For such applications, the pump suction is
placed at the bottom of the pump, to add to the NPSHa, and, in addition, the cavitation risk is reduced by
utilizing a double suction impeller thus bringing down the flow entrance velocity.
Oil boosting Another application for single phase pumps is boosting of oil. For the Jack & St. Malo
field, the LiquidBooster went through the qualification of a large high pressure subsea pump. The pump
was qualified to 3 MW and for a water depth of 3,000 meters with a pressure rating of 13,500 psi. The
pump was tested to prove its ability to handle 10% GVF. In the conducted tests, it was demonstrated that
the pump could exceed the requirement significantly and test were done with excellent results at GVFs
above 30%.

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Multiphase pumps
A different technology is required when pumping well streams containing free gas and the latest additions
to the pump portfolio are the hybrid and multiphase pumps.
The multiphase pump, developed in a JIP together with ExxonMobil, Total and one other Oil
Company, is designed to handle multiphase flow with a gas content of 0 to 100%. Its desired operating
envelope is within GVF levels between 30% and 80%. The main difference is the pump hydraulics
required as radial impellers come short when the gas content increases.
A new mixed flow impeller and diffuser has therefore been developed and qualified. The impeller/
diffuser has been extensively tested with excellent performance results, shown in Figure 16 to the right.
The new pump hydraulics build on the same basic principle as the single phase pump, i.e. centrifugal

Figure 16 Results from two-stage pump performance test at 4,500 rpm and varying GVFs

multistage pump with opposed impeller arrangement. A heavy duty double acting thrust force bearing is
used to handle residual thrust forces experienced under operating conditions with varying gas to liquid
ratios.
Figure 17 shows the pump rotor arrangement for an 8- stage pump, as an example.

Figure 17MultiBooster impeller (left) and rotor (right) design

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Power and control system

The pump is driven by a VSD system typically consisting of step-down transformer and frequency
converter. Depending on the step-out distance, the VSD can either be located topsides or subsea. The
longest step-out for a pump project to date is that of the Tyrihans SRSWI system, 31 km, and the longest
step-out for a compression system is found in sgard compression, 41 km. To date, there is only limited
experience on subsea VSDs where the most technically mature solution is the one that was qualified in
the Ormen Lange compression pilot, ref [2]. New technologies are currently being looked at to simplify
the subsea frequency conversion looking at robust solutions with reduced footprint, ref [4], [5]. At the
same time, in recent years, it has been demonstrated that longer step-outs, up to 150 km, are possible to
achieve without subsea VSDs, ref [6].
All deployed subsea boosting systems utilize dry VSDs, i.e. VSDs located on a topside facility. For
these cases, the step-out determines the need for a topside step-up transformer. If the step-out is long
enough, a subsea step- down transformer may also be required to adjust the voltage down to the motor
operating voltage. This has an impact on the subsea pump system design requiring careful evaluation of
the best location for the subsea transformer. The field layout depicts the starting point for this evaluation
where in-field distances between Umbilical Termination Assembly (UTA) and pump stations are a key.
With this in mind, one must typically look at best combination and selection of dry and wet-mates, aiming
to locate the wet-mate male, least reliable, on modules that are easy to retrieve. The subsea transformer
can preferably be integrated into the pump module to achieve dry mated pump connections. However, the
total weight and footprint must be within the capacity of intended installation and IMR vessels. Several
other aspects must also be considered to reach the best total solution with respect to cost, reliability and
maintainability.
The power is transferred through an umbilical to the subsea installation and terminated in a UTA. The
umbilical also carries the controls functions and barrier fluid to the pump. To reduce the hydraulic lines
in the umbilical an all-electric system is preferred. All-electric control systems are something that is
coming strong in the industry with electric actuators readily available for deployment and already in use,
for instance on the sgard subsea compression project.
The pump control systems consist of topsides Master Control Station (MCS), running the main control
logic and protection, connected with the Subsea Control Module (SCM) via the umbilical. The SCM
serves as a hub connecting both subsea sensors and valve actuators with the system. Aker Solution MCS
can, if required, provide integrated control of both the Production System as well as the Pump System,
thus reducing the number of topsides units required. The newly developed modularized subsea control
system, Vectus, allows for full integration with the condition monitoring system enabling monitoring of
both of the system itself as well as the Pump System. As the system allows for high speed streaming of
data from accelerometers and proximity probes, the condition monitoring of the Pump is greatly
improved, allowing better maintenance planning and availability.
Typically, a Pump Control Module (PCM) housing variable speed drives, transformers, switchgear,
control system cabinets - and in some cases also the Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU), are located on the
topsides host. Thus the PCM is the main supply unit and lifeline for the subsea boosting system. Topside
weight, crane lifting and space limitations and requirements often dictates the design of the PCM (for
instance if it needs to be split in multiple submodules), and so does the subsea loads (number of
pumps/machines etc.). In addition, depending on client and where in the world the PCM will be installed,
defines which international standards that will apply. The PCM is therefore often subject to specific
project requirements making it difficult to standardize. Many PCMs have been delivered and this is
considered as a key aspect of the pump system offering as the topside modification can amount to a large
part of the total project cost. The subsea pump system and topside PCM must be designed with a holistic
approach in order to minimize the total CAPEX. Figure 18 shows a block diagram of a typical multiphase
pump system with indication of key elements.

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Figure 18 Typical block diagram for a dual multiphase pump system without subsea transformers

Project example - Tyrihans Raw Sea Water Injection

Introduction The Tyrihans oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea was brought on stream by Statoil in
July 2009. The field development is a complete subsea solution tied back to existing installations and
infrastructure on the Kristin and sgard fields in the Halten Bank area of the Norwegian Sea, ref [9].
The field comprises Tyrihans South, an oil field with a gas cap, and Tyrihans North, a gas and
condensate discovery with a thin oil zone. The recoverable volumes in the reservoirs are 186 million
barrels of oil and condensate, and 41.5 million standard cubic meters of gas.
The well stream from Tyrihans is sent through a 43 km pipeline to Kristin for processing. The gas is
sent ashore through the sgard Transport line while oil and condensate are piped to the sgard C storage
ship for onward transport by tanker. Kristin and Tyrihans share the same operations organization.
To increase the oil production, Statoil and its licensing partners (Total, ExxonMobil and ENI)
developed the field with Subsea Raw Sea Water Injection (SRSWI) as one of the measures to secure a high
recovery factor for the fields resources.

Figure 19 Illustration of the Tyrihans subsea field layout, courtesy of Statoil, ref [10]

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21

Key data SRSWI, ref [11], [12]

Start-up:
Additional recovery:
Design lifetime:
Water depth:
Design injection rate:
Injection pressure:
Step-out:
VSD:
Pump power:
N. units:

March 2013
19 Mboe
25 years
270 m
14,000 m3/d
205 bar
31 km
Topside
2 2.7 MW
2 pump systems subsea 1 spare

Project and system description The SRSWI system for many years was the worlds most powerful
subsea pump system and is, still to this date, the longest pump power step-out distance of 19.3 miles (31
km) in the industry.
Two centrifugal pumps, each of 2.7 MW, operate in parallel to deliver the injection rate to the single
injection tree. The maximum injection capacity of the pumps is 126,000 bpd (20,000 m3/d) of and it is
boosting untreated seawater, i.e. without any filtration or chemical injection.
Each pump is driven by a Variable Speed Drive system including step-down transformer, frequency
converter and step-up transformers located on the Kristin platform. The power is transferred through a 31
km power umbilical to the subsea installation. The umbilical is terminated on two independent subsea
transformer modules where voltage is transformed down to motor operating voltage.
The transformers and pump modules are electrically connected using a high voltage wet mateable
connection system.
The control of the system is done through a standard Subsea Control Module (SCM), dedicated to the
water injection system. The SCM transmits collected measurements to topside and operate the hydraulically actuated valves on the manifold based on control logic implemented in the topside platform Safety
and Automation System (SAS). The SRSWI system is extensively equipped with sensors for improved
condition monitoring and fault diagnostics.
Several of these instruments are collected in a separate and dedicated subsea Condition Monitoring
module which also performs advanced analysis of accelerometer data from each of the pumps and transmit
full spectrum data to topside. Figure 20 shows the installation of the complete pump station.

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Figure 20 Installation of the Tyrihans SRSWI pumps

Operational experience Initially, the start-up suffered from challenges with very low injectivity in the
well. The pumps that were installed in 2009 were therefore sitting on the seabed for over two years until
they were used to finally frack the reservoir in March 2012. After a short while, a topside fault and
injection well break down interrupted the pump operation that once again was put on subsea storage. The
pumps were again started in March 2013 and have been operating successfully since, ref [12].
The expected production profiles, with and without the SRSWI system, is shown in Figure 21. The
increased production amounts to approximately 11% of the total recovery, ref [11].

Figure 21Production profiles and sensitivity of injection rates

Pump system - Ongoing development

The performances of the pumps cover the need for a wide range of applications. With motors between 400
kW (ref [2]) up to 6 MW, the latter currently in the final stage of qualification, the potential for the pumps
to enable development of otherwise non economical fields is there. Together with the newly developed
motor, all-electric control and a strong electrical competence on subsea boosting, Aker Solutions can, as
a complete system integrator and supplier of large complex subsea systems, provide competitive boosting
solutions even at low oil prices. The savings can be realized once a system approach is applied to the
development, something that only few suppliers can offer.

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23

The new motor allows for reduced number of pumps as the pump capacity for a single pump, shown
in Figure 22 for both the single and the multiphase pump, is superior to currently available technologies.
It illustrates the limits that this new motor brings to the market.

Figure 22Performance envelope for single phase (a) and multiphase (b) pumps

The MultiBooster pump with its unique impeller and diffuser technology delivers a high differential
pressure per stage. Also this is evident in the performance map shown in Figure 22 (b).

Conclusions
Through years of product development and qualification activities, subsea boosting technologies including
both compression and pumping systems have become more mature, where there are multiple applications
on both green field and brown field developments across different regions.
Aker Solutions believes with the ever increasing field operating experience as well as further
development activities, subsea boosting technology will prove to be a reliable tool kit for the Oil and Gas
Companies for the coming years: either as a mean to increase the recovery factor and prolonging the field
life production in the case of brownfield application; or as an enabling technology in the case of greenfield
development.
1

The multiphase pump has yet not been tested at 6,000 rpm hence is only shown to currently tested speed, 5,500 rpm.

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As offshore development progressing towards to directions where many of the oil and gas reserves
discovered are in ever more remote, deep, and harsh locations, it is of the view of the subsea industry that
the subsea boosting business case will prove to be more robust as there certainly will be applications
where without this technology, the fields may not be profitably developed.

Nomenclature
AMB
CAPEX
FPSO
GVF
HPU
IMR
IOR
JIP
Mboe
MEG
NPSHa
OPEX
PCM
PFD
SAS
SCM
SIT
SRSWI
TQP
UTA
VSD

Active Magnetic Bearings

Capital Expenditure
Floating Production Operating Offloading
Gas Volume Fraction
Hydraulic Power Unit
Installation Maintenance and Repair
Increased Oil Recovery
Joint Industry Project
Million barrel oil equivalent
Monoethylene Glycol
Net Pressure Suction Head
Operational Expenditure
Pump Control Module
Process Flow Diagram
Safety and Automation System
Subsea Control Module
System Integration Test
Subsea Raw Sea Water Injection
Technology Qualification Program
Umbilical Termination Assembly
Variable Speed Drive

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank:

The Joint Industry Partners ExxonMobil and Total for their valuable contribution during the
qualification of the MultiBooster pump and the 6 MW motor and for their permission to publish
this work
The License Partners of the sgard subsea compression project: Statoil, Total, ExxonMobil, Eni
and Petoro
The License Partners of the Tyrihans Raw Seawater Injection project: Statoil, Total, ExxonMobil
and Eni.

References
1. International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2015, London 10 November 2015, http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/weo2015/
2. Skofteland H et al: Ormen Lange Subsea Compression Pilot - Subsea Compression Station, 20030-MS, OTC
Conference 2009
3. http://www.statoil.com/en/TechnologyInnovation/FieldDevelopment/AboutSubsea/Pages/The%C3%85sgard
Complex.aspx
4. Normann T et al: Rotary Converter for Long Step-out Subsea Power Supply, 25730-MS, OTC Conference 2015
5. Normann T et al: Variable Rotoconverter for Subsea Processing Applications, 26316-MS, OTC Conference 2015
6. Normann T et al: Long Step-out Power Supply System, Underwater Technology Conference, Bergen 2014

OTC-26536-MS

7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

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http://www.chevron.com/news/inthenews/article/08072015tappingtheunreachableatjackstmalo.news
Bibet, P-J: Cost effective Subsea MPP systems - the future potential is significant, MPUR 2015
http://www.statoil.com/en/OurOperations/ExplorationProd/ncs/Tyrihans/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.statoil.com/en/OurOperations/ExplorationProd/ncs/Tyrihans/Downloads/Tyrihansfelt.jpg
Grynning A et al: Tyrihans Raw Seawater Injection, 20078-PP, OTC Conference 2009
Festy B: Raw seawater injection - is it a realistic alternative?, NPF - The 15th Norwegian Process Technology
Conference 2014.