The new technologies delivered by that work enable the separation of CO2-rich dense gas to take place on the seabed. This move reduces greenhouse gas intensity and boosts production capacity on the topside because processing and storage instead happen subsea immediately after fluids are extracted from the reservoir.
The Mero 3 HISEP contract was awarded to
'While our HISEP technologies will be used on Mero 3 initially, we believe this new product family will enable operators to overcome challenges in similar fields worldwide, which is why we're standardizing the components for an efficient roll-out.
'It's also a great example of our New Energy strategy in action. It is built on partnership - in this case with a client, suppliers, and academia - and on our ability to combine the competencies we have developed in traditional energy with relentless innovation to accelerate opportunities in renewable energies.'
How it works
In partnership with
The separation station receives mixed oil, natural gas, and CO2 from the production well. The mix flows into the inlet device and the gravity separator where oil is split from the CO2-rich dense gas. Oil is exported to the topside, while the dense gas is sent to the subsea boosting station where it is scrubbed, cooled and fed to the high-pressure dense gas pump before reinjection into the reservoir.
Developing the solution
The qualification program for the technology began in 2019, using a test loop which mimicked the conditions of the pre-salt field to simulate the process. To replicate fluid composition and pressures like those in reality, it had to be a high-flow, high-pressure, CO2-resistant flow loop. Prototypes of the pump, the motor, the cyclonic separator, the coolers, and all of the infrastructure were rigorously tested.
Luana said, 'One of the core HISEP technologies is the pump, which we collaborated on with Sulzer. It comprises the hydraulics and the motor, which we developed many years ago, and uses permanent magnet motor technology to increase speed and efficiency. During the qualification of the pump with dense gas, we confirmed the advantages of a higher rotation speed - our pump was even more efficient than anticipated.
'Another enabling technology is the process control valve, which required electric actuation. We learned we can leverage our current actuator to deploy fully electric subsea control valves.
'We also strategized flow assurance countermeasures to ensure operation continuity, mainly in the cooler.'
The result is a system that can reduce CO2 emissions intensity during production at Mero 3 by up to 30 percent.
Future applications
While
'CO2 and high gas-oil-ratio (GOR) can make a development economically challenging but HISEP technologies can change these dynamics, and future deployments should be possible faster through standardization. We are excited to be part of this development and see a real opportunity set for us beyond Mero 3 HISEP.'
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