Reliability evaluation for a subsea to shore production system

Abstract

In the offshore industry, the reliability of installed equipment is of paramount concern due to operational safety, environmental impact, and economic consequences. The costs of unplanned shutdowns and maintenance have also high economic implications. This thesis focuses on system reliability evaluation of a new offshore production concept, the Subsea to Shore system, and the relationship between reliability and flow assurance. The offshore production system is assumed as a multi-state system and treated with the universal generating function approach. Based on probability analysis the system reliability for all probable production scenarios has been addressed. Production reliability is highly related to the financial return on the investment while the system reliability relates to operational expenditure during the field life cycle. The thesis considers a Subsea to Shore production system to perform both reliability and flow assurance analyses. Production reliability depends on flow assurance performance. The system weakness point is determined using components importance ranks as proposed by Birnbaum. The relationship between system reliability and flow assurance is discussed in the context of the amount of produced oil and gas.