Optimizing subsea multiphase boosting station and controls

Presented in this article is the design of a subsea multiphase boosting system with integrated controls, covering key milestones toward system-level integration of all major processing equipment. To capture accurately the interactions between the subsea multiphase boosting station and the connected flowlines, a process simulator (K-Spice) is linked to a multiphase pipe flow simulation tool (LedaFlow), Fig. 1. This integrated solution is then linked to Matlab/Simulink software for development of control strategies. Traditionally, process simulation modeling of rotating machinery has been limited to either compressors or pumps. For this project, Kongsberg has developed a multi-phase rotating machinery module in K-Spice, which allows for accurate performance predictions at varying gas volume fractions. The three inter-connected engineering tools allow for a realistic simulation environment, capturing complex interactions between the different processing components, the connected flowlines and controls. This foundation optimized reliability, cost and performance of the complete production system.