ConocoPhillips in North Sea pumps deal
13 Feb 2014
Centrifugal pump manufacturer Amarinth has secured a £600,000 order from ConocoPhillips to supply high pressure pumps for the Alder platform in the North Sea.
ConocoPhillips has tasked Amarinth with the design and manufacture of API 610 OH2 A-Series separator recirculation pumps for use on the Alder gas condensate field, located approximately 100 miles from the Scottish coastline in the central North Sea.
The pumps, which are designed to eliminate the need for expensive modifications when replacements are required, are being installed to deal with high-pressure duties on the platform separator recirculation process, where suction pressure can fluctuate between 1 and 60 bar.
Developing brown fields to extract their remaining oil reserves requires an interactive flexible approach to engineering
Amarinth MD Oliver Brigginshaw
To help alleviate the 60 bar pressure, Amarinth has designed a new casing for its API 610 OH2 A-Series pump to withstand a higher pressure tolerance of 75 bar.
Similarly, due to large pressure fluctuations, the more complex API 682 Plan 53C seal support system, designed with inbuilt condition monitoring, will also be installed.
The system uses a take-off from the pump in order to continually balance the seal pressure with the pressure of the pump.
This latest project forms part of the Brown Field Allowance development programme, announced in 2012 by the government to encourage operators to extend the operational lives of existing fields and infrastructure in the UK Continental Shelf.
“Developing brown fields to extract their remaining oil reserves requires an interactive flexible approach to engineering in order to design and package solutions that will meet the complex design challenges of the equipment as well as fit within the restrictive confines of existing infrastructure,” said Amarinth managing director Oliver Brigginshaw.
