Designing offshore platforms that are safer and better for the environment

Petroleum products are everywhere, from cars, smartphones, and computers, to cosmetics and medical equipment. However, obtaining the mineral is a complex process. One petroleum extraction method includes offshore floating platforms. Like miniature cities, these massive structures house dozens of workers, while tapping into oil reservoirs deep in the ocean. Design is paramount, as the platforms face an array of random wind, wave, and current events over the course of their 20 to 30 year lifespan.

Inadequate attention to design can lead to unintended results. Mishaps are often traced to platform malfunction, and can lead to loss of human life and/or environmental damage. To prevent these scenarios, Technip began working with the Texas Advanced Computing Center at The University of Texas at Austin, US, in 2013 through their Science and Technology Affiliates for Research (STAR) program.

"We have had STAR partners from the oil and gas industry since the program began in 2007. They have all had good experiences working with TACC, and Technip reached out to us because of our reputation," says Melyssa Fratkin, director of TACC's Industrial Programs. "We have enjoyed working with Technip, seeing the impact that advanced computing can have on the design of new platforms."

The STAR program connects business with high-performance computing for research and development. In this case, Technip is using TACC's Stampede system to make offshore platforms more efficient, safer, and better for the environment. The Stampede supercomputer is part of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) for interactively sharing computing resources, data, and expertise.

Technip has several platform designs, but recent efforts have focused on their very low motion semi-submersible design. By using a new numerical wave-tank method, they can test the design in an environment that accurately models extreme conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, or any place for which meteorological and oceanographic information is available.

The redesign led to crucial improvements — including reduced vortex-induced motion and improved stability, which will increase safety for workers and decrease the likelihood of oil spills in the future. The numerical wave tank method also costs less and is less time consuming than model basins, so engineers can compress yearlong projects into a few weeks.

Adapted from Makeda Easter’s article: Technip, TACC Design Safer Offshore Oil Platforms