Title: On the safety of offloading operation in the oil industry

Authors: Sergio Hamilton Sphaier; Joaquim Domingues do Amaral Netto; Luiz Fernando Oliveira; Joel Salles Sena Jr; Sylvio Henrique Sá Correa da Silva; Maiza Pimenta Goulart Henaut

Addresses: LabOceano/Department of Ocean Engineering/COPPE/UFRJ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Parque Tecnológico, Rua Paulo Emídio Barbosa, 485 – Quadra 07-A, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21.941-907, Brazil. ' DNV – Det Norske Veritas, Rua 7 de Setembro, 111 – 12th Floor, Center, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20050-010, Brazil. ' DNV – Det Norske Veritas, Rua 7 de Setembro, 111 – 12th Floor, Center, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20050-010, Brazil. ' LabOceano, COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ' Petrobras/E&P – Production Engineering, Av. República do Chile 330, 7th Floor, Ventura Corporate Business Towers, Center, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20.031-170, Brazil. ' Petrobras/E&P – Espirito Santo Operational Unit, Av. N. Sra. da Penha, 1688, Bloco 04, 4th Floor, Barro Vermelho, Vitória, ES 29057-550, Brazil

Abstract: A crucial operation for the offshore oil industry is the offloading from a F(P)SO to a shuttle tanker. PETROBRAS, the Brazilian oil company, has developed a technological research programme along the past 10 years to define the shuttle tankers basic requirements for Brazilian waters and the related operation procedures. This programme consists of a wide research work with research centres, universities, etc. This paper presents part of the development programme carried out by PETROBRAS with COPPE/UFRJ and Principia DNV-Brazil. It involves the development of mathematical models and experimental work in ship hydrodynamics to create a database of the F(P)SOs and the shuttle tanker to be implemented in a full mission simulator, a fully dedicated simulator specialised on the offloading operation to work as a preview tool, an adaptable simulation code to be used in new scenarios and a risk analysis to study the use of dynamically positioned shuttle tankers.

Keywords: dynamic positioning; model testing; offloading; risk analysis; simulation; offshore oil industry; FPSO vessels; shuttle tankers; Brazil; mathematical modelling; ship hydrodynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2012.046307

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2012 Vol.43 No.3, pp.207 - 216

Published online: 03 Apr 2012 *

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