Session: 01-01-01 Offshore Platforms-I

Paper Number: 135750

135750 - Assessment of Power Generation Systems With and Without Carbon Capture on Offshore Hydrocarbon Processing Facilities 

The industry norm of using gas turbines for power generation on offshore hydrocarbon processing facilities results in up to 80% of the total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from offshore activities. The dependance on fossil fuel-based power generation systems is expected to continue for many years to come, and there is no one universal solution to reducing CO₂ emissions from these power systems and offshore facilities in general. Several approaches to reduce emissions of CO₂ from offshore facilities include capturing of carbon emitted from the power generation systems, increasing facility energy efficiency, electrification, and adopting renewable energy to replace fossil fuel power. Each of these initiatives has its advantages and constraints and the level of contribution of each to CO₂ emissions reduction varies from one application to another. This paper presents an overview of current practices in power generation systems design for offshore facilities and recent technological development and engineering design innovation for reducing CO₂ emissions, from the aspects of the power system design and post-combustion carbon capture implementation.

A comparison of gas turbine-driven power generation and steam turbine-driven power generation for offshore hydrocarbon processing facilities, namely FPSO and FLNG facilities, from the aspects of engineering design, costs, and CO₂ emissions, is made through the example of a FPSO platform case study. Waste heat recovery systems that could utilize hot flue gas from gas turbines to produce hot water for the facility heating systems, increasing overall energy efficiency, are highlighted. Further elaboration on the opportunities of utilizing gas turbine’s exhaust gases for running auxiliary steam generators in a combined-cycle power generation system, is provided. The combined-cycle power generation scheme is simulated for the case study to quantify the potential increase in energy efficiency and reductions in fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. In parallel, the recent development of an offshore carbon capture technology for separating the CO₂ from gas turbine flue gases using an onshore-proven proprietary amine absorption technology, is presented and its application to the FPSO platform of the case study is demonstrated. A quantitative assessment of the combined-cycle power generation systems with and without carbon capture is performed, with focus on the CO₂ emissions, the required equipment and resulting weights.

The different scenarios of power generation and carbon capture are successfully integrated into the FPSO platform case study, with a comparison presented for the overall schemes, and equipment dimensions and weights. It is confirmed and quantified that the combined-cycle power generation system improves energy efficiency, reduces fuel gas consumption and in turn reduces CO₂ emissions when applied on the offshore facilities. Responsible use of fossil fuel-based power generation shall further include post-combustion carbon capture, which is efficient in removing up to 90% of CO₂ emitted from the gas turbines. The offshore carbon capture process requires significant power and heat, which may be best integrated with the gas turbine exhaust heat recovery system for optimal energy utilization. Thus, solutions integrating a combined-cycle power generation and carbon capture can lead to very low CO₂ emission levels from the power generation systems on the offshore hydrocarbon processing facilities.

There are very few offshore hydrocarbon processing facilities in operation that have implemented combined-cycle power generation systems, and this power scheme deserves more adoption due to its proven positive effect on carbon reduction. However, more significant carbon reduction can be achieved when this power generation scheme is integrated with post-combustion carbon capture, whereby the technology is now ready for offshore deployment.  This paper presents a holistic view on power generation on offshore facilities considering the recent technological development and engineering design options and recommends integrating different CO₂ reduction initiatives for a more significant cumulative effect towards achieving the net-zero carbon emissions target.

Presenting Author: Jaime HuiChoo Tan Technip Energies

Presenting Author Biography: Joined the offshore energy industry in 2003 as a structural engineer and subsequently became a part of the Research & Development team of Technip working on applications of floating platform technologies in South-East Asia. Participated in Industry Joint Development Projects to produce modelling guidelines for CFD simulation of hydrodynamic performance of offshore floating platforms. Other areas of research include development of floating offshore wind turbines, application of artificial neural networks for hull hydrodynamics modelling, implementation of robotic solutions for smart unmanned offshore installations and development of offshore carbon capture and storage solutions.
Currently leading the Innovation & Technology team in Technip Energies Kuala Lumpur and coordinating Research & Development activities on Offshore and Gas & LNG technologies for various operating centers of Technip Energies globally.

Authors:

Jaime HuiChoo Tan Technip Energies
Chongjin Lee Technip Energies
Ravikumar Mantry Technip Energies