OTC-26153-MS

The Development of the ULFPSO Concept Design

Allan Carre de Oliveira, Petrobras R&D Center; Eduardo Marçal Vilamea, Petrobras E&P Department

Copyright 2015, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference Brasil held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 27–29 October 2015.

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Abstract
Oil production in Brazilian pre-salt fields has already become reality and its production has been reaching
successive records in recent years. The development of these areas has required a major technological
development effort and the application of several innovative technologies successfully.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Brazilian pre-salt fields is the high flow rate obtained
from the producing wells. For the development of production in the most recent giant fields of the pre-salt,
the high flow rate wells encourages the use of larger diameter production lines, saving costs in subsea
engineering. However, the increasing of the oil production and the presence of contaminants and high gas
concentrations in the oil reservoirs are technological challenges that increase the complexity of the oil
processing, allied to more strict environmental rules. The use of larger diameter lines also requires the use
of SCRs (Steel Catenary Risers), economically more advantageous in relation to flexible lines in this
scenario. However, the use of rigid lines requires a Floating Production Unit with low level of motions,
which implies in a large unit, more expensive. The use of larger diameter lines also increases the oil
production platform requirements, increasing the need for additional production plant area as well as the
ability to withstand heavier process plants.
These features encourage the search for innovative solutions that maximize production by FPU and still
offer economic advantages through economies of scale. Based on this scenario, it was developed a concept
of Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit called ULFPSO (Ultra Large FPSO), which is capable
of supporting plants more complex than the current ones, with a larger weight and a larger footprint,
coupled with the receipt of the production lines in a region less affected by the environmental loads,
enabling also the use of SCRs for larger diameter lines. This paper presents the characteristics of this new
concept and present preliminary analysis of its feasibility.

Introduction
The pre-salt reservoirs located in Santos Basin, in deep water productions fields, have some relevant
characteristics that present challenges in the oil production and opportunities for new ideas and concepts.
Some of those reservoirs presents characteristcs like high Gas Oil Ratio, contaminants and high pressures
with high production by well. Some fields also presents small footprint, with arrangement constraints. The
Santos Basin area is already known by high waterdephts and harsh environment. Finally, Brazilian
government policy (Production Sharing Agreement, Local Content Requirements) also increases the field
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development investments. Considering the actual oil price scenario, where the commodity prices are quite
lower than the last year, saving costs in the oil production is a major concern nowadays.
In the last years, due to internal and external factors that increase the pressure on schedule (Andrade
et al, 2015), Petrobras has been adopting a development strategy focused in anticipate the pre-salt
production, observed in the huge numbers obtained by the oil production in the pre-salt fields in the last
years. To carry on this philosophy, the company put lots of effort in the platfor leasing, equipment
standardization, flexible lines standardization, dedicated support vessel fleet and other actions and had
been well succeed. However, this kind of strategy seems to be weel tuned for high oil price scenario,
where a fast recover of the investment produces a huge change in the investment return and may
compensate the CAPEX. In a low price oil scenario, the reduction of investment costs (and an eventual
postepone of the investment in the perspective of increasing prices) could produce better results, and
deserves being reassessed.
For some fields in Santos Basin scenario, the subsea systems are using state of the art technologies to
meke feasible the field development, which had bring to Petrobras the OTC award, but had increased the
overall cost (platform ⫹ subsea systems) of the production system. A well known way to reduce costs in
subsea systems in ultradeep water scenarios is the use of rigid risers in free hanging configuration or SCRs
(Steel Catenary Risers) but this kind of configuration usually requires a more complex (and expensive)
naval architecture solution. This paper explores more this scenario, and assesses the economic CAPEX
advantages of a new Platform concept, called ULFPSO, developed to support SCRs and heavy production
plants.

SCR Friendly FPSO

Several studies were done about using SCRs in conventional ship shaped FPSOs and no one were well
succeed considering SCRs placed in a conventional porch at the side of the vessel, due to excessive
vertical motions (displacements and accelerations) at the connection point. A recent study (Moreu et al,
2015) has proposed a moonpool in the production unit and the connection of the riser inside the moonpool,
closer to the rotation center, eliminating rolling and pitching effets in the vertical motion composition.
Petrobras internal verification for Santos Basin scenario, however, have identified problems in extreme
analysis even for risers connected to the platform center of rotation, which means that heave motions of
the platform also needs to be mitigated in order to allow the use of SCRs in FPSOs.
Considering nonconventional hull forms, there are more options to consider in analysis, are shown in
the figure 1, for different aplications and scenarios, including Petrobras MonoBR concept (Masetti et al,
2006), developed with similar objectives. For this specific study however, a new concept called ULFPSO
(Ultra Large FPSO), MonoBR inspired, was proposed and also shown in figure 1.
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Figure 1—Nonconventional hull forms: 1st row: MODEC CP Semi (Loureiro et al, 2009), ULFPSO (Petrobras new concept), MOSS
Maritime Octabuoy (Loureiro et al, 2009), Huisman JBF Arctic Drilling (Huisman, 2015); 2nd row: SBM Tension Leg Deck System (Matos
et al,2008), FloaTEC ESemiII (Loureiro et al, 2009), Technip EDP (Loureiro et al, 2009), MonoBR (Masetti et al, 2006); 3rd row: Horton
Deepwater MCF (Loureiro et al, 2009), Bennett & Associates MinDOC (Loureiro et al, 2009), Technip DPS-2000 (Loureiro et al, 2009) and
FloaTEC / Technip Truss Spar (Matos et al, 2009).

ULFPSO Concept
As previously mentioned, SCRs save costs in subsea systems but increase floating platform costs. In
general, for deep and ultradeep waterdephts, the subsea costs are greater than the FPU costs, so the cost
balance could be positive for big savings in subsea system. Besides that, the high production by well found
in Santos Basin pre-salt fields also allows an incrasing of production with the same number of risers,
which requires a greater production plant capacity, with heavier plants. In other words, it means that it
would be possible to obtain scale savings increasing the process plant capacity of the platform and the ship
dimensions.
The concept was designed to have a large and long moonpool, which is large enough to connect the
SCRs by the internal side. It also allows a big breadth unit, with a large footprint for the process plant,
(which is supposed to be placed in a continuos deck above the ship deck). The hull geometry is shown
in figure 2.
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Figure 2—ULPSO Concept: (a) Hull; (b) Hull and process plant.

Concerning the internal tanks subdivision, the ship was divided in two tank rings, an internal ring for
oil tanks and an external ring for ballast, with transversal subdivisions to achieve stability and oil spill
regulations. The tanks subdivision is shown in figure 3.

Figure 3—ULPSO Internal tanks: Yellow - Oil; Blue - Ballast.

A concept design was built for a scenario of 300kbpd scenario, the double of production compared to
a conventional FPSO used in pre-salt Santos Basin fields. The design has followed the premises shown
below:
● Process plant weight of 60,000 tons;
● Process plant footprint of 30,000 m2;
● Oil storage capacity above 2,000,000 barrels.
For this scenario, the hull has the dimensions shown in table 1.
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Table 1—Hull dimensions (300 kbpd scenario).

Main Dimensions

Length Over All 340 meters

Breadth 100 meters
Depht 40 meters
Draft 25 meters (constant)

The table 2 compares the new concept hull with the box shaped FPSO hull designed for pre-salt
scenario (replicant family). As can be observed in this table, this new concept is capable to replace 2
conventional box shaped units with less steel weight, saving scale costs for scenarios with several Floating
Production Units.

Table 2—Hull dimensions (300 kbpd scenario).

New Concept Box Shaped

Displacement 570,000 tons 350,000 tons

Process Plant Weight 60,000 tons 30,000 tons
Process Plant Footprint 30,000 m2 14,000 m2
Oil Tanks 20 tanks 12 tanks
Ballast Tanks 20 tanks 20 tanks
Steel Weight 75,000 tons (estimated) 46000 tons
Storage Capacity 2,200,000 bbl 1,700,000 bbl
Riser Type Rigid Flexible
Riser Configuration Free Hanging Lazy-Wave

Preliminary Analysis
In order to verify its feasibility, the FPSO intact stability was assessed using the software SSTAB (Coelho
et al, 2003). The intact stability shows a small level of initial stability and a high level of stanility at large
angles, similar to a semi-submersible behavior. The initial GM (metacentric height) of the most critical
condition (fully loaded of oil) corrected by free surface effects found was equal to 2. The GZ curve for
the FPSO at fully loaded condition is shown in the figure 4.
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Figure 4 —ULPSO intact stability result, fully loaded condition.

The software has also assessed the shear forces and bending moments of the FPSO. Since the FPSO
is designed to operate in a constant draft, there were not significant changes in shear force and bending
moment curves related to different lading conditions. The shear forces and bending moment levels were
also similar to VLCCs usual levels, and slower than usual box shaped FPSOs designs, as shown in figure
5 and 6.

Figure 5—ULPSO Shear force results, fully loaded condition.

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Figure 6 —ULPSO Bending moment results, fully loaded condition.

A motion analysis was also performed using WAMIT® (MIT, 2001) for RAO computations. The
figure 7 shows the mesh used in analysis, which contains 3392 panels whithout symmetries. The Heave,
Roll and Pitch RAOs are shown in figures 8, 9 and 10.

Figure 7—ULPSO mesh used in motion analysis.

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Figure 8 —ULPSO Heave RAOs (displacements).

Figure 9 —ULPSO Roll RAOs (displacements).

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Figure 10 —ULPSO Pitch RAOs (displacements).

Besides the numerical analyses, a model test was realized in order to verify the platform hydrodynamic
behavior. The tests were performed at the São Paulo University (UP) Numerical Offshore Tank (TPN)
wave basin, with a 1/100 scale model, as shown in figure 11.
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Figure 11—ULFPSO Model Test at TPN facilities.

The figures 12, 13 and 14 shows the comparisons among experimental and numerical results,
considering the most critical motions observed. As can be noted in these figures, a good agreement
between experimental and numerical analyses was achieved. The experimental RAOs were obtained using
regular and irregular waves.

Figure 12—Heave RAO comparisons – heading 90 degrees.

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Figure 13—Roll RAO comparisons – heading 90 degrees.

Figure 14 —Pitch RAO comparisons – heading 180 degrees.

The pitch motions shown in figure 14 seems to be more damped than the results evaluated, and its
behavior should have relation with the hull geometry (large beaches and large volume above water) which
introduces non linearities not considered in numerical analyses. Anyway, a more damped motion is
positive for the riser dynamics.
In order to check if these motions are good enough to operate with rigid risers, some motion
comparisons were performed between the ULFPSO concept and the plataform PETROBRAS 55 (figure
15), a deep draft semi submersible designed to operate with rigid risers in Campos Basin scenario.
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Figure 15—Petrobras conceptual art of PETROBRAS 55 platform (Blog MARANAUTA, 2015).

The comparison between the ULFPSO concept and the semi submersible platform were performed in
terms of displacement response to unitary height of irregular seas, also kwonwn as Short Term Response
(STR). Those comparisons were also performed for heave, roll and pitch displacements, and are shown
in figures 16, 17 and 18. The semi displacement curves are the red ones, and, since the dependence of the
displacement cuves to the heading of the semi is very small, only heading 0 degrees (and 90 degrees for
roll motions) of the semi was plotted in the graphs. It can be noted that the displacements of the ULFPSO
and the semi are in the same levels, which indicates that the concept behaves like a semi submersible SCR
friendly in terms of motions. Experimental values were also normalized and included in figures (blue
markers).
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Figure 16 —ULPSO Heave STRs (displacements).

Figure 17—ULPSO Roll STRs (displacements).

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Figure 18 —ULPSO Pitch RAOs (displacements).

Further Studies
To guarantee the liability of the concept’s operation with Steel Catenary Risers, besides the refinement of
the naval architecture analysis, further studies and developments have to be performed. One point of
attention is the pull in system design, since the concept came up with the idea of place the riser
connections inside the moonpool area, as shown in figure 19, protecting the riser connection from
colisions, increasing the riser connection positions (since both internal sides can be used fo riser
connection) and reducing the distance to the rotation center of the ship, reducing also the riser dynamics
positions at these connections. Another poit of attention is the process plant arrarengement, which will
problably changes due to the riser connections change. The possibility of riser connection at both internal
sides also allows changes in the subsea arrangement with possibility of flow line length reduction and cost
savings in flowline costs.
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Figure 19 —Riser connection at both internal sides scheme.

Another point of attention of this new concept for Scenarios in Brazilian oil fields is its constructaility
in Brazil, in compliance with the local content requirements. The FPSO dimensions shown in Table 1
were limited by the Rio Grande Shipyard (Estaleiro Rio Grande) drydock dimensions (350 ⫻ 130 ⫻ 13.8
meters) (Jornal Agora, 2010). The figure 20 shows a scheme of how the FPSO fits in the drydock of the
shipyard.

Figure 20 —Sketch of the ULFPSO into the Rio Grande Shipyard drydock.
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Futher constructability studies shall be performed in order to split the ULFPSO hull into small blocks
to be integrated in the drydock. Anyway, the simple geometry of the ship hull, as shown in figures 3 and
15, should simplify the serial production of the hull blocks, even considering different shipyards to speed
up the construction schedule.

Conclusions
In order to develop a more cost effective solution for pre-salt fields’ oil production, a new concept called
ULFPSO (Ultra Large FPSO) was developed. It is expected the following potential benefit of this new
concept:
● Feasibility of support huge process plants, with larger weights and footprints (up to 300 kbpd of
il production and associated gas compression);
● Scale savings replacing 2 units of 150 kbpd production by one of 300 kbpd production;
● Feasibility to support Steel Catenary Risers of large diameters, saving costs in riser systems and
in subse arrangements;
● Feasibility of support risers in both internal sides, simplifying the subsea arrangement;
● Construction standardization, considering the simple geometry of the hull, which allow split the
block construction in several yards, speeding up the construction progress;
● Extra environmental protection, since any oil leak tend to be trapped inside the moonpool, being
more easily recovered.
The concept is in a very initial development phase and more refinement is required to verify the liability
and the applicability of this concept. Anyway, the preliminary results obtained shows that the concept can
be a good alternative for future pre-salt field developments.

Acknowledgements
The Authors would like to thanks the PETROBRAS R&D Center and PETROBRAS E&P Department for
the support, as well as Mr. Luis Augusto Petrus Levy, Mr. Fabio Menezes Passarelli and Mrs. Stael
Ferreira Senra, who made possible the development of these analyses. The authors also like to thanks the
Numerical Offshore Tank (TPN) and the University of São Paulo (USP) staff for the experimental test
support.

References
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