【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】1984–2024: The world’s first mobile heat injection platform, \"Heat Production No. 1\", was delivered and put into use

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Safety first. Prevention first: Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment. **********************【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary post is available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Engineering Forum) ***************** On October 31, 2024, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (referred to as “CNOOC”) announced that the world’s first mobile heat injection platform, developed and built in China – “Recovery No. 1” – was delivered in Weihai, Shandong Province. Its successful delivery fills a gap in China’s field of mobile equipment for in-situ heating of heavy oil in offshore areas. It opens up new pathways for the large-scale and efficient exploitation of China’s offshore heavy oil resources, acting as a \"new engine\" for this purpose; it is of great significance for ensuring **energy security and helping to maintain a stable supply of energy. According to reports, the \"Recai-1\" is 82 meters long and 42 meters wide, with a deck area of over 3,000 square meters, which is equivalent to the size of 7 standard basketball courts. It is over twenty stories tall, standing tall like a steel giant. It operates at a water depth of 35 meters, weighs over 10,000 tons in operation, and can withstand typhoons of level 16. Its compact design meets the requirements for mobile heat injection in the exploitation of heavy oil in the Bohai Sea oil fields. Many of the technologies employed, such as the design of mobile heat injection platforms and the compensation systems for high-temperature and high-pressure steam pipelines, are world-first. Compared to fixed oil production platforms for heat injection, \"Heat Recovery No.1\" possesses mobility; it can, similar to a shared bicycle, be transported to different platforms under the traction of tugboats to carry out rapid heat injection. This approach helps to reduce the costs associated with the development of heavy oil, thereby facilitating the large-scale implementation of heat recovery techniques for such oil. China’s heavy oil reserves amount to approximately 19.87 billion tons; in the Bohai Sea alone, heavy oil reserves account for nearly half of the total proven crude oil reserves. The importance of awakening these dormant \"black amber\" reserves for our country’s energy security is self-evident. “\"Recai-1\" is equipped with the three largest steam boiler systems in offshore oil fields, enabling it to inject high-pressure steam at temperatures exceeding 350°C into 6 oil wells simultaneously. This reduces the viscosity of heavy oil, turning it into \"lighter oil\" that is easier to extract, and the overall efficiency of heat injection operations is more than three times higher than before. WeChat Image_20241101133957.jpg \"Recoverie No. 1\" was developed by upgrading China’s first domestically designed and built offshore mobile pilot production platform, \"Offshore Oil 162\". The project was launched in January this year, with the main modifications including the addition of a steam boiler system, a seawater treatment system, a nitrogen system, and others. The demolition of 150 devices, 400 tons of steel structural pipelines, and over 2,400 cables from the old platform was completed, while the welding of 550 tons of steel structures for the new platform, along with the installation of over 5,000 pipelines and over 3,200 cables, was finished. 145 kilometers of new cables were laid, which is equivalent to the distance from Tanggu to Beijing. The original lifting system of the platform, the main generator set, and the emergency generator set were reused; the structure of 46 cabins was modified and strengthened, and the 1,600 square meter second deck as well as the stern deck were redesigned, manufactured, and installed. Through measures such as reducing the height of the second deck and using high-strength steel, the actual empty ship weight of the \"Recovery No. 1\" and the strength of its platform structure exceed expectations, demonstrating China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s capability to independently design, develop, construct, and operate heat injection platforms. In 2007, CNOOC established its first heavy oil thermal recovery team, and after three years of efforts, it carried out the first pilot test of steam injection for heavy oil thermal recovery in an offshore oil field. In 2013, a compact steam generation system designed for easy transportation and lifting was successfully developed and applied in the Lüda 27-2 oil field. The research team worked together across various aspects such as geological reservoirs, chemical enhancement methods, wellbore technologies, and surface equipment to carry out rounds of mobile heat injection operations. In 2022, mobile heat injection treatments were successfully conducted on 4 wells at the Lüda 27-2 oil field and the Jin County 1-1 oil field, which helped to establish a preliminary framework for mobile heat recovery technology in offshore heavy oil fields. This laid the foundation for using technological advancements to promote the efficient development of heavy oil, thereby creating new opportunities for increasing oil and gas reserves and production.