【Major Industrial Equipment in the Chemical Industry】446 – The first standardized, design-built unmanned platform was installed at sea
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On July 13, 2022, CNOOC announced that the upper module of China’s first standardized design and construction unmanned platform, the Enping 10-2 platform, had been installed in the Enping oil field area in the eastern South China Sea. This marks a further improvement in the standardization and intelligence level of the design and construction of offshore oil and gas equipment in our country. An unmanned platform is an oil and gas production platform that has no crew on board. Since there is no need to build large facilities such as office buildings and residential buildings, unmanned platforms can save significant costs associated with construction and maintenance, which facilitates the exploitation of oil and gas reservoirs that would not be economically viable under traditional development methods. However, automation also imposes higher demands on the intelligence of the platform and the stability of the equipment. As a key project in CNOOC’s efforts to develop intelligent oil fields, the Enping 10-2 platform was designed and constructed from the outset according to unmanned operation standards; it is currently the most advanced unmanned offshore platform in China in terms of intelligence level. Once put into operation, this unmanned platform will have the capability for remote-controlled logging, well killing, and production restoration. It allows for remote monitoring of offshore facilities from land as well as safe shutdown operations through a \"one-click\" function. Its oil and gas processing capacity is several times higher than that of traditional unmanned platforms, enabling it to ensure normal oil and gas production even during typhoons. At the same time, this platform eliminates large-scale equipment such as oil water treatment systems, utility systems, living quarters, and modular drilling rigs; its weight is only 1/3 that of traditional platforms, and its deck area is half that of traditional platforms. The maintenance workload for facilities and equipment is reduced by 30%, resulting in annual savings of over 10 million yuan in operational costs.
An offshore unmanned platform is short for an offshore production platform without human presence; it is a new type of facility that facilitates oil exploration and exploitation at sea. Its purpose is to provide a range of cost-effective and efficient solutions for the development of offshore oil and gas resources. For future offshore oil and gas development, offshore unmanned platforms have clear advantages. In fact, offshore unmanned platforms are no longer something new in China. Since the first unmanned platform in the Bohai Sea oil field, the Bozhong 34-4WP platform, was put into use in 1993, China has gained a great deal of practical experience in developing marginal oil fields using unmanned platforms. Currently, CNOOC operates 23 production unmanned platforms, which are concentrated in the Bohai Sea, East China Sea, and western South China Sea. Most of these are simple wellhead platforms or wellhead platforms connected to central platform piers. Initially, these offshore unmanned platforms that met the criteria for unattended operation did not achieve true unmanned management, and continued to follow a manned operation model. Later, through feasibility analysis and research, functional testing and optimization, a comprehensive unmanned management system was established. By simulating scenarios such as remote control operation, distant management, and no on-site personnel, unmanned management of the wellhead platform was achieved, effectively overcoming the barriers to cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
“An “unmanned platform” refers to a platform that is uninhabited; under normal operating conditions, no one carries out any production activities on such a platform； Under special conditions, such as during maintenance periods, emergency fault resolution, approved access, and regular inspections, the number of people allowed on the platform should be as low as possible ； Those who go on stage are not allowed to stay on the platform overnight. According to this definition, compared with advanced overseas ** and regional marine unmanned platforms, domestic unmanned platforms still have certain gaps in terms of production, standards, management, and production efficiency; issues such as remote monitoring capabilities, equipment reliability, fire safety, and methods of accessing the platforms need to be addressed.
1 Safe and reliable, with cost reduction and efficiency improvement. CNOOC’s “unmanned offshore wellhead platforms” project aims to gradually achieve the elimination of human presence at wellhead platforms by continuously expanding the use of unmanned platforms, as well as to reduce the need for personnel at central platforms/FPSOs/semi-submersible production platforms. This approach seeks to significantly enhance the automation and digitalization levels of offshore platforms, enabling remote centralized monitoring and operation, coordinated work across various specialties, and remote support services. It aims to change the current methods of operating offshore oil and gas fields, thereby reducing the number of personnel required for offshore operations and the amount of work that needs to be done on-site. Thereby achieving the two main goals of offshore platform operations: safety and reliability, as well as cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Original content by Oil Circle; Oil Circle official account: oilsns. 2 Filling the gaps in standards and regulations: At present, there are gaps in the standards and regulations related to unmanned platforms both domestically and internationally. Existing laws and standards are based on traditional manned platforms, with no specific standards or regulations designed for unmanned platforms. The relatively new domestic \"Design Specifications for Unmanned Wellhead Platforms\" are corporate standards issued and implemented by CNOOC in 2013, primarily aimed at the development of offshore marginal oil and gas fields. Several other rules address certain aspects related to the specific requirements for unmanned platforms, but it is difficult to cover them comprehensively. The existing standards cannot meet the requirements of the development of marine unmanned platforms, and therefore these standards need to be revised. Therefore, while conducting research on offshore wellhead platforms, CNOOC will also work on compiling the \"Design Guidelines for Unmanned Offshore Platforms\" and revising the \"Design Regulations for Unmanned Offshore Wellhead Platforms\". Original content from Oil Circle; Oil Circle’s official WeChat account: oilsns. 3 Lays a solid foundation for intelligent oil and gas fields. This project by CNOOC to design unmanned offshore wellhead platforms not only serves to assess the current state of such platforms in China, but also aims at facilitating the development of digital and intelligent oil and gas fields in the future. With the increasing number of smart meters, advancements in device self-diagnosis technology, the maturity of remote expert support systems, and the development of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence technologies, current unmanned platform operations will naturally evolve into the construction of smart oil and gas fields.
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