【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】968–2023: China’s first integrated land-sea intelligent \"offshore oil and gas processing plant\" was successfully delivered

The project adopts an internal turret single-point mooring system. It has a total length of 241.69 meters, a beam of 25.4 meters, a draft of 16.7 meters, and a load capacity of 110,000 tons. It can operate at depths of 240 meters, does not require docking for 15 years, and is capable of functioning in the harsh environmental conditions of the South China Sea. Designed and built independently by our country, this project is China’s first entirely new \"offshore oil and gas processing plant\" that utilizes digital technologies such as cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and edge computing. It has enabled the regular coordinated operation of FPSOs both at sea and on land for the first time in China. The delivery of this project is of great significance for achieving a deep integration of China’s energy industry with digital technologies, as well as for accelerating the digital transformation and intelligent development of China’s energy sector.

Construction of this project began in November 2021. CCS made full use of its expertise in offshore engineering by assigning its most skilled personnel to handle the ship’s design review and on-site construction inspections. The project team worked closely with all relevant parties, kept up with the production schedule, and overcame the challenges posed by the pandemic to complete the onshore construction inspections for this project in a high-quality and efficient manner. CCS will continue to provide owners with offshore installation and operational inspection services, contributing to the acceleration of the development of a strong manufacturing nation as well as a strong maritime nation.

01. What are the “cutting-edge technologies” of Offshore Oil 123? Image NO.1: Having all seven intelligent symbols – An FPSO with three intelligent symbols can be certified by classification societies； “Offshore Oil 123 boasts all seven intelligent systems, making it the first FPSO to receive certification for such intelligent systems from the China Classification Society – ■ Whole-ship monitoring system ■ Intelligent lighting system ■ Intelligent loading system ■ Epidemic prevention system for living quarters ■ Digital twin system for process flows ■ Intelligent chemical dosing system ■ Edge data center

For example, \"Ocean Oil 123\" connects the lighting systems of FPSOs into an intelligent control network; this network not only meets the illumination requirements of various locations under different working hours and modes but also enables automatic control and adjustment of the brightness of the intelligent lights. 30% less electricity will be used for lighting each year, and the amount of electricity saved annually is equivalent to 2,575.44 barrels of crude oil (or 46.2471 tons of standard coal). How to do it? “The Ocean Oil 123 is equipped with nearly a hundred smart cameras, and it features over 8,000 automatic data collection points related to aspects such as the ship’s structure, loading, mooring, slip rings, and stress; the data is collected at a rate of once per second, generating 60GB of data each year. The data provides a basis for intelligent applications such as vessel system berthing, production processes, inspection robots, and structural monitoring. The data transmitted back from these data collection points is the basis for why this FPSO is so “intelligent”. All intelligent symbols are also supported by these data.

NO.2 The Sea Elf Data Intelligence Brain “Ocean Oil 123” has an intelligent brain – it handles large amounts of data, processes them quickly, and is capable of performing analysis. Among the seven intelligent symbols, the \"edge data center\" represents this intelligent brain – a fascinating \"square box\" installed on the \"Ocean Oil 123\" FPSO. It is a smart computing station for processing data related to offshore oil and gas production operations, based on edge computing technology. All the data collected by the first six intelligent symbols is ultimately transmitted to it. It has a very descriptive name: “Sea Elf – Data Intelligence Brain”. “The “Sea Elf” enables the establishment of modular, lightweight data processing stations closer to the production sites, providing 24/7 monitoring and early warning, decision-support, and intelligent control for offshore operations, while also improving the efficiency of data transmission. The data transmitted by the nearly 100 smart cameras mentioned earlier, as well as the more than 8,000 data collection points, are all fed into the intelligent system named “Sea Elf”. Through the collection, analysis, and value extraction of this data, efficient scientific decision-making is achieved to guide on-site operations, thereby ensuring the production efficiency and operational safety of FPSOs. “The successful development of the Sea Elf – Data Intelligence Brain has enabled unified management of on-site data, and it provides edge computing power and analysis services, making the establishment of on-site edge data centers a reality. If compared to a combat system, the terrestrial production and operation center is the headquarters, while the edge data centers are the frontline combat units. “The “Sea Elf” grants frontline combat units greater autonomy in decision-making and execution, enhancing the mobility and efficiency of operations and making oil and gas field production more intelligent.

NO3. China’s first onshore intelligent control center for FPSOs – Digital twin technology is used for the first time in the development of domestic FPSOs, enabling integrated coordination between land and sea operations. If the “Sea Elf” edge data center serves as a hub for aggregating on-site data, then digital twin technology acts as a bridge for sharing data between land and sea; it enables the creation of a digital version of the FPSO – a ‘clone’ in the form of a land-based command center. At the FPSO remote control center located in Shenzhen, it was possible to diagnose faults in the power generation unit of the \"Ocean Oil 123\" unit, which was located 1,000 kilometers away. (Note: This distance refers to the distance between the land-based control center in Shenzhen and the construction site of the project in Nantong; once the unit reaches the Lufeng 12-3 oil field, the distance between land and sea will be 300 kilometers.) Electrical experts at the control center were able to come up with a collective set of recommendations in less than an hour. This was absolutely unimaginable before the advent of digital twin technology. In the past, if on-site equipment failed, experts from various specialties had to travel by vehicle from land-based bases to the site to resolve the issue. With the application of digital twin technology, experts can now carry out remote collaborative diagnostics from land, enabling timely resolution of issues on site. This also helps to identify and address potential problems in offshore operations earlier, thereby improving operational efficiency by 20% and reducing production costs by over 10%. The R&D team applied digital twin technology for the first time to the optimization of the production process flow of the \"Ocean Oil 123\", as well as to the health management of its hull and individual systems. This is equivalent to creating a digital \"clone\" of the FPSO; technicians at the FPSO’s onshore control center can use this \"clone\" to monitor offshore production activities in detail, thereby significantly improving the ability to handle emergencies related to oil and gas production and enhancing decision-making efficiency.