Krüger Johannes PDF

University of
Stavanger
Faculty of Scienceand Technolory
MASTER'S
THESIS
Studyprogram/Specialization:
Springsemester,20l3
Offshore Technolory/ Industrial Asset
Management Open fRes#e+ed-aeeess
Writer: I tf
lntüwhw* @z ,
JohannesKrüger U flilriter's signatw$
Facultysupervisor:
Tore Markeset
Professorof MechanicalEngineering(Operation and Maintenance),Universify of
Stavanger
supervisor(s):
fxternal
Title of thesis:
Operationsand Maintenanceof Oil and Gas platforms under Arctic conditions
Credits(ECTS):30
Key words:
Pages:65
Operations,Maintenance,Arctic, Cold * enclosure:-
Climate, Goliat offshoreplatform
Stavanger,ßü'12013
Date/year
Frontpagefor masterthesis
Facultyof ScienceandTechnology
Decisionmadeby the DeanOctober30th2009
Operations and Maintenance of Oil and
Gas platforms under Arctic conditions
Master thesis
Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and
Material Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiS
Johannes Krüger
Faculty supervisor: Professor Tore Markeset
Processing time: 1st February 2013 until 15th June 2013
Stavanger, June 2013

Abstract 2
Abstract
In the Master thesis presented here, operations and maintenance challenges for offshore
oil & gas (O&G) industry in Arctic regions shall be discussed.
As oil prices remain on a high level Arctic oil and gas becomes more interesting. The
higher price level allows for development of fields in this challenging remote environ-
ment. Understanding the environmental conditions is the key for successful projects. As
there is still a lack of experience with equipment in these regions, maintenance of off-
shore oil and gas platforms will face many challenges. The cold and harsh climate, the
remoteness, the poorly developed infrastructure and many other factors require new
designs with optimal performance for these conditions.
In the first part of this thesis, a general overview of the Arctic development shall be
given. This part is followed by a discussion about challenges that developments will
face in the Arctic will be discussed. Here especially the cold weather influence, remote-
ness and other factors are discussed in depth. In the third main part, maintenance of
equipment shall be discussed under an Arctic perspective. Emphasis will be put on the
selection of an appropriate maintenance strategy, the design for human factors/ ergo-
nomics and the design for performance and availability. In the last part, the Goliat off-
shore platform will be presented as an industry example. Some of the winterization
measures will be discussed.
Keywords: Operations, Maintenance, Arctic, Cold Climate, Goliat offshore plat-
form
Contents 3
Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................ 2
Contents ........................................................................................................................... 3
List of figures ................................................................................................................... 5
List of tables .................................................................................................................... 6
List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 7
Prologue and acknowledgments .................................................................................... 8
1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 9
1.1 Problem statement ................................................................................................. 9
1.2 Goal of the thesis ................................................................................................. 10
1.2.1 Sub goals ............................................................................................................. 10
1.3 Delimitations ....................................................................................................... 10
2 Theoretical background .................................................................................... 11

2.1 Oil and gas development in cold environments .................................................. 11
2.1.1 Current projects ................................................................................................... 11
2.1.2 Expected reserves of the Arctic ........................................................................... 14
2.2 Arctic location and cold climate .......................................................................... 16
2.2.1 Arctic ................................................................................................................... 16
2.2.2 Cold climate......................................................................................................... 18
2.3 Operations and maintenance................................................................................ 18
2.3.1 Operations............................................................................................................ 18
2.3.2 Maintenance ........................................................................................................ 19
3 Critical factors for operation and maintenance in the Barents Sea ............. 20
3.1 Overview ............................................................................................................. 20
3.2 Environmental challenges ................................................................................... 21
3.2.1 Temperature ......................................................................................................... 21
3.2.2 Snow .................................................................................................................... 21
3.2.3 Ice and icing ........................................................................................................ 22
3.2.4 Wind .................................................................................................................... 24
3.2.5 Polar Low ............................................................................................................ 25
3.2.6 Weather forecast .................................................................................................. 25
3.2.7 Visibility .............................................................................................................. 26
3.2.8 Sensitive environment ......................................................................................... 26
Contents 4
3.3 Communicational and navigational challenges ................................................... 28

3.3.1 Communication ................................................................................................... 28
3.3.2 Navigation ........................................................................................................... 29
3.4 Challenges related to materials and lubrication oils ............................................ 29
3.4.1 Materials .............................................................................................................. 29
3.4.2 Lubrication oils .................................................................................................... 30
3.5 Operational challenges ........................................................................................ 31
3.5.1 Human factors/ ergonomics ................................................................................. 31
3.5.2 Winterization ....................................................................................................... 32
3.6 Logistical challenges ........................................................................................... 34
3.6.1 Remoteness .......................................................................................................... 34
3.6.2 Infrastructure ....................................................................................................... 35
3.6.3 Inbound and outbound logistics........................................................................... 36
3.6.4 Storage of spare parts and supplies ..................................................................... 37
4 Maintenance and reliability in the Arctic ....................................................... 39

4.1 Basic concepts of reliability and maintenance .................................................... 39
4.2 Balance between design for maintenance and designing reliable systems.......... 40
4.3 Maintenance strategies ........................................................................................ 42
4.3.1 Improvement maintenance/ upgrading ................................................................ 42
4.3.2 Proactive or planned maintenance ....................................................................... 43
4.3.3 Reactive or unplanned maintenance .................................................................... 44
4.3.4 Selection of maintenance strategy ....................................................................... 44
4.4 Human factor/ ergonomic design as an enabler for improved maintainability
in harsh environments.......................................................................................... 46
4.4.1 Human factors/ ergonomics ................................................................................. 46
4.4.2 Implementing human factors and ergonomics in the system design process ...... 46
4.4.3 Discussion............................................................................................................ 49
4.5 Methods to achieve high reliability and production assurance under Arctic
conditions ............................................................................................................ 50
5 Goliat FPSO ....................................................................................................... 53

5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 53
5.2 Environmental conditions .................................................................................... 53
5.3 Winterization measures of the Goliat FPSO ....................................................... 55
6 Summary and conclusion .................................................................................. 58
List of references ........................................................................................................... 59
Declaration .................................................................................................................... 65

List of figures 5
List of figures
Figure 1: Different environmental regions in the Norwegian Barents Sea (modified,
original by Det Norske Veritas (2010)) ............................................................................ 9
Figure 2: Overview of fields, pipelines and onshore treatment facilities in the
Barents Sea (Statoil, 2013) ............................................................................................. 12
Figure 3: The Snøhvit project (Engebretsen, et al., 2002) .............................................. 13
Figure 4: Concept for development of the Johan Castberg field (Statoil, 2013) ............ 13
Figure 5: Different potential basins (Belonin & Grigorenko, 2007) .............................. 14
Figure 6: Undiscovered Oil reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009) ......................... 15
Figure 7: Undiscovered Gas reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009) ........................ 15
Figure 8: Arctic Ocean (National Geophysical Data Center, 2012) ............................... 16
Figure 9: Arctic with approximate permanent pack ice (LLOYD'S, 2005, p. 14).......... 17
Figure 10: Icing on a vessel (Gudmestad, 2012) ............................................................ 23
Figure 11: Vessel icing process (Ryerson & Gow, 2000, p. 2) ...................................... 23
Figure 12: Stress- stain curves for brittle and ductile materials (Freitag &
McFadden, 1997, p. 532) ................................................................................................ 29
Figure 13: Explosion relief panel (Bjerketvedt, et al., 1993, p. 134) ............................. 33
Figure 14: Operational range of rescue helicopters (Gudmestad, 2012) ........................ 35
Figure 15: Bathtub curve (original by Ben-Daya et al. (2009, p. 338)).......................... 39
Figure 16: Causes for common mode failures of equipment (Aven, 1993, p. 118) ....... 40
Figure 17: Correlation of cost between reliability and maintenance .............................. 41
Figure 18: Maintenance overview (modified, original by Markeset (2012, p. 50)) ....... 42
Figure 19: Preventive maintenance cycle (Markeset, 2012, p. 13)................................. 43
Figure 20: Drawbacks of periodic maintenance (Markeset, 2008, p. 4) ......................... 43
Figure 21: Performance degradation of equipment (Markeset, 2012, p. 16) .................. 44
Figure 22: Maintenance strategy development process (Kumar & Markeset, 2005) ..... 45
Figure 23: Major stages in the system design process (Sanders & McCormic, 1992,
p. 727) ............................................................................................................................. 47
Figure 24: System uptime and downtime (Markeset, 2012, p. 13) ................................. 50
Figure 25: Measures to influence production performance (modified, original by
International Standard ISO (2008)) ................................................................................ 51
Figure 26: The production performance concept (modified by Markeset (2010),
original by Barabady et al (2009)) .................................................................................. 52
Figure 27: Sevan 1000 FPSO (Eni Norge AS, 2013) ..................................................... 53
Figure 28: Goliat (modified, original by National Geophysical Data Center (2012)) .... 54
Figure 29: Expected temperature range for the Goliat field (Rekdal, 2012, p. 7) .......... 54
Figure 30: Expected wind speed/ direction for the Goliat field (Rekdal, 2012, p. 7) ..... 55
Figure 31: Goliat platform winterization wall (Rekdal, 2012, p. 13) ............................. 56
Figure 32: Goliat with cantilevered flare (APTOMAR AS, 2012)................................. 56
List of tables 6
List of tables
Table 1: Critical factors overview .................................................................................. 20
Table 2: Seasonal ice development in Arctic waters (Gerwick, 2007, p. 754) ............... 22
Table 3: Prediction of vessel sea spray icing (after Overland (1990) ............................. 24
Table 4: Wind chill chart (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety,
2008) ............................................................................................................................... 25
Table 5: Sources and types of pollution.......................................................................... 27
Table 6: Work/ Warm-up schedule example (Canadian Centre for Occupational
Health & Safety, 2008) ................................................................................................... 32
Table 7: Traveling distances from Murmansk to different European harbors
(LLOYD'S, 2005, p. 21) ................................................................................................. 34
List of abbreviations 7
List of abbreviations
CBM Condition Based Maintenance
FPSO Floating Production Storage and Offloading
GPS Global Positioning System
JRCC Joint Rescue Coordination Center
MTTF Mean Time To Failure
MTBF Mean Time Between Failure
O&G Oil & Gas
RAMS Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Supportability
Prologue and acknowledgments 8
Prologue and acknowledgments

This thesis is submitted for the fulfillment of the Master degree in Offshore Technology
with specialization in Industrial Asset Management at the University of Stavanger.
“For the oil and gas industry, the Arctic is without doubt the next frontier.” states the
Scandinavian Oil and Gas magazine (2012, p. 5). It is a fact that with the rising demand
for energy in the world, developments in the Arctic regions are increasingly important.
It is assumed that up to 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 13% of
world’s undiscovered oil (Ole Anders, 2011) can be found in this region. With the re-
cent increase in the oil price, Arctic energy resources have become economically more
interesting. This has lead to a bigger interest in the Arctic region. The obvious reasons
that these energy sources haven’t been explored yet are due to the environmental fac-
tors. Harsh climate with very cold temperatures and sea ice, fast changing weather situa-
tions, the remote location, a sensitive ecosystem and high cost are major factors that
need to be considered during activities in this region.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Tore Markeset from the Uni-
versity of Stavanger for supervising my Thesis. I appreciated very much his thoughts
and comments as well as his personal support whenever questions arouse.
Further, I would like to thank Ove Tobias Gudmestad, Professor at the University of
Stavanger. Mr. Gudmestad has supported me by allowing me to use some of his course
material regarding the Arctic. I further had the chance to visit his course Arctic technol-
ogy at the University of Stavanger. This has helped me to understand the complexity
and importance of the subject.
I would like to thank Mr. Per Inge Leiros and Mr. Ole Rekdal from Eni Norge, for sup-
porting me with a chapter about the offshore project Goliat in the Norwegian Barents
Sea.
Finally, I would like to thank Megan Rolerkite for her assistance with proof reading and
checking of consistency in the text.
1 Introduction 9
1 Introduction
In the following section a short introduction to the problem will be given. Further the
goals and delimitations of the thesis will be described.
1.1 Problem statement

The remote location of the Arctic development and the special environment creates ma-
jor challenges for the Arctic oil and gas industry/ development. Especially maintenance
and operational tasks will need proper planning so they can be performed in the most
efficient and safest way.
Operations in the Arctic are creating enormous challenges for the oil and gas industry.
In Norway, this environment can be found in the Barents Sea. The following figure sep-
arates the Barents Sea into different zones with and without surface icing.
Figure 1: Different environmental regions in the Norwegian Barents Sea (modified,

original by Det Norske Veritas (2010))
New methods and old methods have to be evaluated to face these challenges. The harsh
environment creates the need for special logistic and maintenance strategies that can
overcome the problems.
Further, the nature has to be considered. This region is very sensitive, and special
measures must be taken to protect it successfully.
The following three main questions shall be discussed in the thesis:
 What is the theoretical background of oil and gas in cold regions?
 What are critical factors concerning the operation and maintenance in Arctic en-
vironment?
 How to implement reliability and maintenance in the Arctic environment?
1 Introduction 10
1.2 Goal of the thesis

The goal is to present methods how to approach the platforms operation and mainte-
nance activities in the Barents Sea. Main activities include literature research and dis-
cussions regarding how oil and gas platforms can be operated and maintained under
Arctic conditions.
As a result this paper can be used for further studies concerning Arctic environments.
1.2.1 Sub goals

In the following the sub goals of the thesis shall be stated. The sub goals shall be indi-
vidually discussed and researched in the chapters of this thesis.
 Describe the relevant basics
 Discuss some ongoing projects in the industry that are relevant
 Discuss the impact of the environment such as temperature, ice and icing and
other
 Discuss challenges reading communication and navigation in the Arctic
 Discuss use of different materials in the Arctic environment
 Discussion of operation requirements with emphasis on the Arctic environment
 Discuss what considerations must be taken related to the logistics
 Introduction of the concept of reliability and maintenance
 Discussion of different maintenance strategies
 Define requirements for the design emphasizing on human factors/ ergonomics
 Define methods to achieve high production assurance
 Describe an industry example of a winterized platform
1.3 Delimitations
The following report will focus on operations and maintenance of offshore installations
in Arctic regions. In specific the Norwegian Barents Sea and challenges related to this
region shall be discussed. The difference of the Norwegian Barents Sea to other regions
is that there is much less sea ice due to the impact of the warm Gulf Stream currents.
Thus, the impact of sea ice on e.g. logistics of the offshore platform will not be dis-
cussed in depth.
2 Theoretical background 11
2 Theoretical background
In the following section the background for the thesis shall be described. Short descrip-
tions of current offshore oil and gas development in cold environments will be given. In
the following the definition of the “Arctic” and “cold climate regions” are stated. Final-
ly the terms “operations” and “maintenance” are shortly defined.
2.1 Oil and gas development in cold environments

First oil and gas reserves in cold climates have been discovered about a century ago.
One of them was the Norman Wells in northern Canada 1920 (ExxonMobil, 2013).
Most of the current developments in the Arctic are dependent of a high oil and gas price
to make the financial investments worthwhile. This is e.g. due to the higher costs in-
volved with transportation of the crude but also because of the harsh and difficult envi-
ronment.
2.1.1 Current projects

Ongoing projects such as production and exploration in cold regions can be found in
many different areas. Russia, the USA and Canada have been the biggest players in re-
cent years (Lloyd’s Maritime Academy Seminar, 2009). Norway is currently entering
this run for the arctic resources. There is a big importance on current projects. Accord-
ing to Budzik (2009) these fields have the capability to create a spinoff development for
other smaller known fields in the region. These fields are becoming financially interest-
ing as bigger fields are developed and produced.
Current projects for exploration and production are:
 Canada/ Alaska Beaufort Sea
 Alaska Chukchi Sea
 Russia
o Barents Sea (Stockman)
o Kara Sea (Yamal)
o Chukchi Sea
o Sakhalin Island
 Norway
o Western Barents Sea with Snohvit, Goliat and Johan Castberg (former
called Skrugard-Havis)
The Norwegian reserves in the North Sea have decreased, so new projects have been
started in the Norwegian Barents Sea.
In the following a short overview will be given of selected projects to present the cur-
rent status of the development with the regional focus being put on the Norwegian Bar-
ents Sea. Figure 2 on page 12 gives an overview of the location of the fields Snøhvit,
Johan Castberg and Goliat. In the following Snøhvit and Johan Castberg will be pre-
sented. The filed Goliat will be discussed in chapter 5 on page 53 in more detail.
Figure 2: Overview of fields, pipelines and onshore treatment facilities in the Barents
Sea (Statoil, 2013)
2.1.1.1 Snøhvit
The following section is based on information from Statoil (2012), Net Resources Inter-
national (2012) and the conference paper by Engebretsen et al.(2002).
The Snøhvit project is the first realized gas offshore development in the Barents Sea.
The reserves are estimated to be 190 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 18 million
cubic meters of condensate. The major shareholders are Statoil, Petoro, Total E&P
Norge and GDF Suez E&P.
One major difference compared to many other projects in the world is that this field has
been realized with only subsea installations at a depth of 300 m. Therefore subsea tem-
plates have been installed. The product (gas) is transported via a 143 km long pipeline
towards the shore. There the gas is liquefied in an LNG plant on the Island Melkøya.
This is the very first LNG plant in Europe and the world’s most northern plant of its
kind. The liquefied gas is exported by LNG carriers to Europe and the USA. To reduce
the impact on the environment, produced CO2 is spereated in the plant at Melkøya and
then reinjected. This will improve the CO2 balance.
This is the first offshore project and a major investment in the region Finnmark. The
impact on the city ,Hammerfest, has been intense. The LNG plan has created many jobs
and has in general a very big impact on local economy and population (Engebretsen, et
al., 2002).
Figure 3: The Snøhvit project (Engebretsen, et al., 2002)
2.1.1.2 Johan Castberg (Skrugard-Havis)

The following section is based on information’s from Statoil (2012), Statoil (2013) and
an article from the online page of Offshore (2013).
Johan Castberg is a new discovery in the middle of the Norwegian Barents Sea. The
field has just recently been renamed from Skrugard-Havis to Johan Castberg. Statoil,
Eni Norge As and Petoro AS are together involved in the discovery which has an esti-
mated volume of 200 to 300 million barrels of oil equivalents. The filed lies 100 km
north of the Snøhvit-field.
It is planned that production will start in 2018. The field will be developed with a semi-
submersible platform. Using a 280 km long pipeline the oil will be sent to a terminal at
Veidnes in northern Norway. There the oil will be stored in caves that will be built into
the rock. Tankers will be loaded with the oil from the storage caves in the safety of the
harbor. The oil can then be shipped to the marked. This type of storage allows overcom-
ing periods in which production must be stopped to various reasons such as mainte-
nance and bad weather. Further the storage possibility gives room for undiscovered off-
shore fields in the region by using the same infrastructure and storage capacity.
Figure 4: Concept for development of the Johan Castberg field (Statoil, 2013)
2.1.2 Expected reserves of the Arctic

The Arctic has a large energy potential. According to Budzik (2009, p. 3) large new
discoveries are crucial for the future development of the Arctic region. Once larger
fields have been developed it becomes economically interesting to develop smaller
fields which are in the vicinity of the larger findings. The reason is that often infrastruc-
ture that is necessary to develop a field is simply too expensive, making the smaller
fields uneconomical. For example Budzik (2009, p. 9) states that onshore projects on the
Alaska North Slope can have a 1.5 to 2.0 higher capital cost then similar projects in
Texas.
Most of the known fields (approximately 61 large fields are known in October 2009
(Budzik, 2009, p. 4)) are located in Russia. An extensive analysis of the “Energy poten-
tial of the Russian Arctic Seas” can be found in the book of Piskarev & Shkatov (2012).
They point out that the Barents and Kara Sea seems to be especially promising (2012,
pp. 55 - 56).
In the following different graphs will be presented to highlight the energy potential of
the Arctic Ocean and the distribution of the predicted resources.
Figure 5: Different potential basins (Belonin & Grigorenko, 2007)
As it can be seen in Figure 5 the highest potential basins are:

 Norwegian Barents Sea
 Barents- Kara Sea
 The South Kara Sea
 The North Alaska Slope
The biggest extend of high potential basins lies in the Russian sector.
The following two maps will give an overview of estimated oil and gas reserves above
the Arctic Circle.
Figure 6: Undiscovered Oil reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009)
Figure 7: Undiscovered Gas reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009)

In both figures Norway can be found between 90°E and 0°. According to Gautier
(Gautier, 2009) the potential for large gas reserves is higher than for large oil reserves in
the Norwegian Barents. As exploration is still in the beginning in the Arctic, positive
and/or negative corrections of the estimates are probable.
2.2 Arctic location and cold climate
2.2.1 Arctic
The following section is based on information’s provided by the report of Budzik
(2009).
The Arctic has been defined as the area north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle
defines the line where sunlight or darkness can be present for 24 or more hours. This
line is at 66.56° north latitude. This area represents approximately 6% of the entire earth
surface.
As it can be seen in Figure 8 the Arctic is mainly covered by water. Only one-third is
covered by land.
Figure 8: Arctic Ocean (National Geophysical Data Center, 2012)

According to Budzik (2009) the Arctic could hold up to 22% of all conventional oil and
gas reserves on the planet.
A distinguishing characteristic of the Arctic is the permanent pack ice as shown in the
next figure.
Figure 9: Arctic with approximate permanent pack ice (LLOYD'S, 2005, p. 14)
The ices surrounding the pack ice varies by season. Due to global warming ice is melt-
ing in this region. The impact of this development is still under research.
There are eight countries bordering the Arctic. These countries are (see also Figure 9):
 Russia
 United States of America
 Canada
 Greenland which belongs to Denmark
 Norway
 Iceland
 Finland and Sweden who do not have jurisdictional claims in the Arctic Ocean
As mentioned previously the Arctic experiences long periods without sunlight. This
leads to a very cold climate with the main temperatures often being below freezing
point. Further this allows the buildup of the permanent pack ice in the center of the Arc-
tic Ocean. Due to the climate, there is only a small amount of vegetation and other liv-
ing organisms onshore. This is one of the reasons why settlements are rather limited.
Because of the development of the energy potential of the Arctic, the human population
in the Arctic will increase (Budzik, 2009).
Although Antarctica is believed to be energy rich as well, the Antarctic Treaty prohibits
any activity in the region (The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, 2011).
2.2.2 Cold climate

Arctic environments can not only be found above the Arctic circles but also in other
geographic regions. There are different criteria on how to define cold climate regions.
Freitag & McFadden (1997, p. 2) point out that each scientific discipline usually devel-
ops the most suitable definition. This can be e.g. the tree growing line, the average be-
low 10°C line (10°C isotherm) or regions with permafrost in the ground. A distinguish-
ing factor for the Arctic is the lack of sunlight for more than a 24 hours period.
The northern Caspian Sea is a good example for a cold climate region. Many factors in
this region are the same as in Arctic environments during the winter months. Very low
temperatures and wind chill effects can be observed. Even sea ice is possible and often
observed on the northern Caspian Sea. In this case the environment can be described as
“cold climate”.
2.3 Operations and maintenance

In the following sections the terms operations and maintenance shall be shortly de-
scribed. At a later stage of this thesis operations and maintenance will be discussed
more in depth.
2.3.1 Operations
Operations are actions required to control, and if necessary correct system functions to
achieve optimal performance. This in turn will lead to the lowest running cost
(Investopedia US, 2013). On offshore platforms many different operations are necessary
to achieve optimal performance.
Typical activities that can be considered part of operations include (Driscoll & Kucik,
2011, p. 69):
 The operation of the system to satisfy the user needs
 Reduce risk by monitoring and measuring system parameters
 Identify improvement potential
 Sustain the level of performance using maintenance
These actions are necessary since the surrounding environment of the systems often
constantly changes. Operations are thus necessary to adapt to the changes. Operations in
Arctic environments will be further discussed at a later stage in this Thesis.
2.3.2 Maintenance
“Due to cost and technological considerations, it is difficult to design a system that
doesn’t degrade or fail.” (Kayrbekova, et al., 2011, p. 122). After a system starts opera-
tions, its performance usually will gradually starts to degrade (Driscoll & Kucik, 2011,
p. 65). Therefore systems need maintenance to achieve their optimal performance over
long periods of time.
Maintenance is further necessary to compensate for unreliability (Markeset, 2012), the
probability that a component will fail during use. Maintenance is thus an action that will
improve the state of a system or component of a system. It can therefore be stated that
maintenance is a part of the operations. There are different types of maintenance which
will be further discussed in depth at a later stage in this thesis.
3 Critical factors for operation and maintenance in the Barents Sea 20
3 Critical factors for operation and maintenance in

the Barents Sea
Arctic projects will have high demands on the design of systems. Further, there is a
need for good organizational bases. In the following chapter critical factors that arise
due to the Arctic conditions will be discussed.
The main source of information is the book “Introduction to Cold Region Engineering”
by Freitag & McFadden (1997).
3.1 Overview
The following table will name the main critical factors and their sub factors that apply
for operations and maintenance in Arctic regions.
Table 1: Critical factors overview
Factor Sub factors

Environment  Temperature
 Snow
 Ice and icing
 Wind
 Polar lows
 Weather forecast
 Visibility
 Sensitive environment
Communication and Navigation  Communication means

 Navigation means
Materials and lubrication oils  Materials

 Lubrication oils
Operations  Human factors

 Winterization
Logistics  Remoteness
 Infrastructure
 Inbound and outbound logistics
 Storage of spare parts and supplies
The listed factors in Table 1 will be discussed in the following chapters. The used in-
formation source will be noted at the beginning of each chapter.
3.2 Environmental challenges

In the following chapter challenges related to the environment will be discussed. Espe-
cially the cold temperatures and the unstable weather conditions create a very demand-
ing environment.
3.2.1 Temperature
The maximum average air temperatures in the Arctic is +4,4 °C (range +2,0 to +7,0)
while the minimum average air temperature is -7,7°C (range -6,0 to -9,0°C) (Jacobsen
& Gudmestad, 2012). However, the coldest temperatures can reach up to -30°C or -
40°C (Larsen, 2007).
The temperature of the Arctic is a key challenge. The Arctic is a region where very cold
temperatures can be reached. Most of the oil and gas projects have taken place in rather
moderate temperatures such as the North Sea. Most of the designs of systems and the
organization of operations have been adapted to these temperatures. Thus the Tempera-
ture of the environment is important as it effects how well particular operations can be
performed in the Barents Sea. Humans, systems and materials are strongly affected by
cold temperatures.
The effects of the cold in the different circumstances will be discussed in the following
chapters.
3.2.2 Snow
Snow forms when water vapor condenses and freezes on very small particles. These
particles occur as dust in high altitudes. Often snow clouds form clouds. After snow has
formed it will fall to the ground where it either stays or melts away.
If snow has fallen and stays on the ground it will form ice grains that grow due to freez-
ing of water vapor to their surface (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 503). Thus over time
the density of the fallen snow increases. Additional snow might fall and pile up on top,
further increasing the density due to the load.
Snow can have impact on offshore facilities. However the biggest impact can be seen
for onshore facilities. Snow can make maintenance tasks difficult as it blocks access to
equipment (Larsen, 2007, p. 13). Further, snowdrift can create very large pileups of
snow with considerably high weight. Thus supporting structures must be able to carry
the weight of snow if piled up. Snow pileup is very important when onshore facilities
are planned. If not considered properly high loads can result due to snow pileup. There-
fore snow removal could be required (Ryerson, 2008, p. 12). Freitag & McFadden
(1997, p. 508) suggest that the snow conditions at a possible site should be monitored at
least for one winter before the site is selected. This process should also include possible
land transportation routes as snow might block these. For further information reference
is made to Freitag & McFadden (1997).
Especially small openings must be protected so that snow cannot enter. If this is not
done properly, snow will pile up inside the volume with the opening. Since the snow
might melt or freeze in the opening, further problems can occur (e.g. electrical short
circuit due to melting water).
Other negative impacts of snow are that if falling heavily it can block the vision of air-
craft pilots, crane operators or ship captains (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 505). The
phenomenon is called “whiteout” and creates an all white vision (Gerwick, 2007, p.
755). Good weather forecasts and technical systems are necessary to overcome the chal-
lenge of low visibility in snow.
3.2.3 Ice and icing

Ice is created when water temperatures fall below the freezing point. The freezing point
for fresh water is 0.0°C while sea water is freezing at about -1.9°C depending on its salt
content (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2013). Ice is a challenge in
many ways for offshore installations and supply operations.
3.2.3.1 Sea ice and icebergs

Sea ice is one of the most distinguishing features of the Arctic. The Arctic Ocean in its
center is covered by a permanent pack ice layer. The diameter of this ice layer is ap-
proximately 1500 km and has an average thickness of four meters (Gerwick, 2007, p.
752). At the outer edge of the pack ice icebergs can be found.
The pack ice is surrounded by seasonal changing ice features. Most of the current poten-
tial offshore fields are in the shear zone where seasonally different sea ice states govern
(Gerwick, 2007, p. 754). The following table lists these states according to their period
Table 2: Seasonal ice development in Arctic waters (Gerwick, 2007, p. 754)
Time period Conditions

November – May Winter ice conditions with very thick and large ice rafts con-
taining multi and first year ice. The movement of the ice is
rather slow and directed by wind and currents.
May – July Spring breakup of the ice. As the first year ice melts the
movement of the ice becomes more dynamic.
July – September Only multiyear ice rafts and icebergs might occur. As the sea
is free of ice high waves and strong storms can occur.
September – November Slowly ice is developing. Multiyear ice, ice rafts and Iceberg
will eventually freeze together.
Main effects of the sea ice are very high loads on vessels and fixed structures. To pre-
vent problems with sea ice and icebergs active ice management can be necessary. Ice
management can include towing of icebergs, use of an icebreaker and other measures
such as e.g. use of ice detection, ice forecasting and ice tracking (International Standard
Organisation ISO, 2010, pp. 109 - 110).
This thesis is not covering sea ice and icebergs in depth. Therefore reference is made to
“Engineering Aspects to Arctic Offshore Developments” by Gudmestad, et al (2007)
and “Actions from ice on Arctic Offshore and Costal Structures” by Løset et al. (2006).
3.2.3.2 Icing
When a ship hits waves or when water splash is carried by wind, it can accumulate on
the surface of structures. Temperatures must be freezing for this to occur. When icing
on structures occurs large additional loads will be created that can be a challenge for the
stability of vessels or the load bearing system. Further falling ice can pose a threat to
personnel on board. In Figure 10 the result of strong icing is shown.
Figure 10: Icing on a vessel (Gudmestad, 2012)
As it can be seen in the above figure a large ice crust has accumulated. The effect on the
accessibility of equipment is obvious. The effect of icing on a vessel is further illustrat-
ed in the next figure. The same principle can be applied to other structure in or close to
open waters.
Figure 11: Vessel icing process (Ryerson & Gow, 2000, p. 2)
The water splash needs to be in the air for a certain time period to cool down sufficient-
ly. Due to this fact, icing will occur mainly in the area behind the bow. Equipment such
as antennas and masts should especially be protected against icing. The effect of vessel
icing can also be seen on land. If splash is generated because of waves hitting the shore-
line, icing on onshore structures can occur.
For vessels the loads from icing can have tremendous effects on the floating stability.
Due to the high topside weight the center of gravity will rise and the vessel will become
instable and capsize. Further the local stresses can rise above the design criterion which
in turn leads to damage of the structure (Gerwick, 2007, p. 755).
The following table gives an overview of how sea spray icing is calculated. Further the
table gives a prediction what increase of the ice strength can be expected.
Table 3: Prediction of vessel sea spray icing (after Overland (1990)
PPR = Icing Predictor (moCs-1)

Va = Wind Speed (m s-1)
Tf = Freezing point of seawater
(usually -1.7 oC or -1.8 oC)
Ta = Air Temperature (oC)
Tw = Sea Temperature (oC)
PPR <0 0 – 22.4 22.4 – 53.3 53.3 – 83.0 > 83.0
Class None Light Moderate Heavy Extreme
Rate
0 < 0.7 0.7 – 2.0 2.0 – 4.0 > 4.0
(cm/h)
Icing will make maintenance tasks very difficult. Openings might not be accessible and
must be cleaned from the ice with wooden baseball bats. Optionally, heating of critical
openings or equipment that will not withstand the impact of the baseball bat might be
necessary to ensure access.
3.2.4 Wind
Wind should be considered as a challenge by considering two major aspects.
The first point is the environment that wind is creating. The strongest winds occur in
cold regions (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 30). These high wind speeds make opera-
tions difficult because e.g. waves are created. Crane handling of different equipment can
be impossible if the wind speed is too high or when the generated waves are too large.
This effect is currently increased as the sea ice cover is melting the fetch length for the
wind becomes larger. This will most probably result in even bigger waves and should be
considered in the planning of supply operations for offshore platforms. Wind is also the
major factor for sea spray icing on structures with higher waves and strong winds in-
creasing sea spray icing (see section 3.2.3 Ice and icing).
The second important aspect of wind and cold is the wind chill effect. The heat loss of
an exposed surface will increase if wind blows. On the one hand this can be desirable if
cooling is necessary. On the other hand it can be highly undesirable if e.g. the working
conditions are considered. The next table shows a wind chill chart.
Table 4: Wind chill chart (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, 2008)
As it can be seen in Table 4 the wind together with low temperature creates an equiva-
lent cooler temperature. Thus e.g. human skin will cool considerably faster. This can
create dangerous working environments if the working force is not properly protected.
3.2.5 Polar Low

According to Larsen (2007) a major challenge is rapidly changing weather and tempera-
ture. These occur due to polar low pressure systems. These systems are developing over
the North Pole and then usually travel e.g. towards the coast of Norway (Gudmestad,
2011).
A polar low is small and often limited to a certain area. It is formed when cold, dry air
masses that have been formed over the pack ice in the Arctic move out to the sea (Zahn
& Storch, 2010). The diameter of theses weather systems ranges from in between 100 to
500 km. Once a polar low has developed it can last from 6 hours to 48 hours. These
phenomena are rare but create a very intense weather situation. Very heavy snowfall
with strong winds and low temperatures are characteristic for this situation.
Polar Low’s are hard to predict and develop rapidly. Therefore weather forecasts are
very important. Due to the intense weather situation, polar lows have a very negative
effect on marine operations.
3.2.6 Weather forecast

According to Gudmestad (Gudmestad & Markeset, 2013) a major challenge is forecast-
ing the weather as polar lows are not predictable. Weather forecasts in the Arctic envi-
ronment are of critical importance. For many tasks a weather window with sufficient
length is important (Gudmestad, et al., 1999, p. 85).
Weather forecasts are based on numerical models (United States Arctic Research
Commission, 2009, p. 162). These models need input from e.g. drifting buoys and satel-
lite images. There are several reasons that there is a lack of data for these models. Re-
moteness, low shipping traffic and a small number of buoys are making weather fore-
casting a very difficult task for Arctic regions (United States Arctic Research
Commission, 2009, p. 163).
Sea ice information should also be included in the weather forecast. Due to global
warming the sea ice cover will be reduced. However, sea ice will still form during win-
ter months (United States Arctic Research Commission, 2009, p. 160). It is therefore
important that extend and location of sea ice is monitored. Especially ice management is
dependent on sea ice information.
3.2.7 Visibility
Visibility is an important factor to carry out efficient and safe operations. The main
challenge from low visibility is that tasks can only be performed slowly and that safety
issues might arise. Collision of e.g. vessels is more probable in bad lighting conditions.
Visibility can be influenced by different factors which are as follows:
 Darkness and poor light conditions
 Fog
 Whiteout due to snowfall
Darkness and poor lighting conditions are a result of the lack of sun during the winter
month. The effects of lack of natural sunlight are:
 Loss of efficiency if no additional light is available
 Negative impact on the mental state of the workforce (Freitag & McFadden,
1997, p. 30).
Lighting on offshore structures must be sufficient to support all activities on and in the
surrounding of a platform. The negative impact of the mental state of the workforce
must be studied. Lack of e.g. vitamin D must be compensated with diet.
Fog is condensed water vapor and is often formed in Arctic environments when cold dry
air over ice features is moving over the warmer free water surface (Freitag &
McFadden, 1997, p. 12). There are statistically 76 days with visibility below 1 km due
to fog in the Barents (Gudmestad & Karunakaran, 2012, p. 5). Thus it is important that
e.g. supply vessels have sufficient technical equipment to navigate in fog. It is also
probable that waiting on weather is necessary more often.
The effect of a Whiteout is a loss of contrast due to heavy snowfall. This effect is fur-
ther described in section 3.2.2.
3.2.8 Sensitive environment

The Arctic environment is a very big and important topic. It is therefore important to
notice that the following section will only give a brief introduction into this field.
The Arctic environment reacts very sensitively to any kind of change. The impact of
pollution in the Arctic on Arctic species shall therefore be discussed in the following
sections.
3.2.8.1 Pollution sources and types

All marine activities can pose a threat to the sensitive Arctic environment. Offshore oil
and gas activities create various possibilities how harmful substances can enter the envi-
ronment. These pollutions could create very large challenges.
The key sources of pollution due to accidents and normal operations are:
 The offshore platforms

 Ship and helicopter activities
 Pipelines to transport the final product
The following chart shall give a basic overview of different specific pollution types for
the above mentioned pollution sources. This table is partially based on the chapter “En-
vironmental Considerations and Impacts“ from the report of the United States Arctic
Research Commission (2009, p. 138).
Table 5: Sources and types of pollution
Pollution source Type of pollution (normal and accidental)

Oil and gas platforms  Accidental release of oil due to a blowout
 Accidental release of chemicals
 Pollution of air due to machinery
 Noise pollution of the sea during drilling operations
and production
 Local footprint of the structure
Pipelines  Accidental release of oil or gas products

 Accidental release of chemicals
 Local footprint of the structure
Helicopter  Air pollution

 Noise pollution
 Release of liquids after accident
Tanker ships  Spill of oil or LNG

 Spill of chemicals
 Noise pollution
 Introduction of new species
Icebreakers  Impact on ice structures and thus wildlife

 Release of harmful chemicals
 Release of radioactive material in case of accident
Supply vessels  Air pollution

 Noise pollution
 Accidental release of substances
Oil and gas exploration  Noise pollution of the sea during drilling operations
vessels  Pollution due to seismic activities
 Air pollution
As it can be seen in the above table Arctic activities will lead to various pollutions. The-
se pollutions can be summarized in the following major pollution types (United States
Arctic Research Commission, 2009, p. 134):
 Release of substances due to emission to air/ water
 Accidental release of oil or other hazardous cargo
 Disturbance of wildlife due to e.g. sound or light
 Introduction of invasive species
Due to the uniqueness of the Arctic it is very important to reduce the above mentioned
types of pollutions. Neglecting of the responsibility regarding the pollution could result
in prohibition of certain arctic activities. It is therefore very important to conduct all
Arctic activities in a manner that produces the least amount of pollution.
3.2.8.2 Arctic species under the impact of pollution

Arctic species have adapted to the difficult climatically conditions by e.g. being able to
pass long periods without nutrition. Further adaption to the cold climate is defining the-
se species. The food chain of the Arctic is very complex and interconnected. Various
species such as fish, seabirds, seals, and whales live in the Arctic. The fish industry is a
major food source for humans living in the coastal regions and a major economic factor
for the Arctic.
A key definition of many Arctic mammals (especially whales) and birds is that they
migrate in and out of the Arctic region in a course of a year (United States Arctic
Research Commission, 2009, p. 134). The breeding season is in the Arctic while for the
cold and dark winter time the animals migrate south. If the animals are disturbed while
they are in the Arctic, it can have negative impacts on their behavior and thus on their
reproduction. This is a challenge as many activities concerning the Arctic will have to
be performed during the summer as the weather conditions are much better.
Considering the Barents Sea mammals can be found in the southeast during wintertime
(United States Arctic Research Commission, 2009, p. 135). During springtime the
mammals migrate further north and reproduce. Currently there are only very limited
ship and construction activities during this period and the mammals are not influenced.
Arctic bird species often rely on feathers as main insulation (United States Arctic
Research Commission, 2009, pp. 134 - 135). This is an important factor relating to oil.
In an accidental release of oil e.g. due to a blowout the oil will stick to the feathers. This
will result with a high probability in the death of the animal due to the loss of the ability
to fly and to withstand the cold temperatures.
In the Svalbard region, but also along the Norwegian shoreline, large bird breading are-
as exist (Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, 2011). Here cold less salty
melting water from Svalbard and warmer water from the sea are mixing. A very rich
and productive maritime ecosystem is created. Therefore the Barents Sea is one of the
areas with the most seabirds. Estimates assume that there are up to 20 million seabirds
in late summer (Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, 2011, p. 8).
3.3 Communicational and navigational challenges

Communication and navigation is an important challenge in the arctic environment. The
remoteness creates the need for very sophisticated systems. In the following chapter
related challenges will be discussed.
3.3.1 Communication
The following section is based on a report by the United States Arctic Research Com-
mission (2009, pp. 164-165).
Communication and Navigational assistance is important because weather, wave and ice
information must be broadcasted to vessels. Therefore the “radio facsimile broadcast”
via analog signals is used by various radio stations in e.g. the USA and Russia to broad-
cast information about the weather and marine communication. Digital signals are still
only slowly broadcasted in the Arctic. The infrastructure for this signal needs to be fur-
ther developed. Voice and data transmission with the analog system doesn’t reach all
regions in the north. In very far northern areas, satellite digital communication systems
must be used. These systems offer only limited transfer rates which will put limitations
on the amount of data that is possible to be transmitted. Additionally Gerwick (2007, p.
755) points out that due to effect of Aurora Borealis (northern light), electrical magnetic
disturbance can occur which can cause problems with communication systems.
Norway has a special situation regarding the communication infrastructure. According
to the United States Arctic Research Commission (2009, pp. 164-165) Norway has a
very advanced system that guides and informs vessels. This system is necessary as
Norway will increase Arctic activities. The system will help to reduce risk.
3.3.2 Navigation
Navigation with cards and technical systems is a very big challenge in the arctic. Satel-
lite navigation via GPS is very well possible in Arctic areas (Gerwick, 2007, p. 756).
However, compasses in the far north are useless as the magnetic north pole is too close.
Further navigational charts are often currently unavailable or outdated (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2013). Often, shoreline and depth of the wa-
ter is unknown. Additionally currents and tides in Arctic regions are often unknown.
This makes ship navigation challenging and poses a thread as vessels might ground and
sink. To prevent accidents, nautical charts must be updated.
3.4 Challenges related to materials and lubrication oils

In the following chapter, challenges related to materials and lubrication oils behavior in
cold climate will be discussed. As most of the designs that are in use today for e.g. the
North Sea didn’t consider very cold temperatures, this will be a major challenge to
overcome.
3.4.1 Materials
According to Freitag and McFadden (1997, p. 531) materials are characterize by their
manner of failure, brittle and ductile.
Figure 12: Stress- stain curves for brittle and ductile materials (Freitag & McFadden,
1997, p. 532)
An example of a brittle material is glass. As it can be seen in Figure 12 brittle materials

have a sudden break point. This makes these materials difficult to predict as failure hap-
pens unexpectedly. Ductile materials, on the other hand, show large permanent defor-
mations before failure. This process of deformation allows monitoring and thus preven-
tive actions before failure. Many materials behave and fracture differently in cold cli-
mate.
3.4.1.1 Metals
Metal strength increases with dropping temperatures. With dropping temperature, the
yield strength increases until it equals the ductile range. Then, the metal will fail like
brittle material (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 532). This means that e.g. iron and steel
will become more brittle while aluminum will improve its usability and durability.
In cold regions, machines break down more often. The reason for this is that the metal
contracts in the cold. As it has less ductility, it doesn’t cope with the contraction change
and fails in a brittle mode. Freitag and McFadden (1997, p. 543) recommend the use of
low carbon steels in cold climates.
Special considerations must be taken when welding is performed. Welding in cold are-
as should include pre- and post heating of the welding area (Freitag & McFadden, 1997,
p. 544).
3.4.1.2 Polymers
Polymers, generally called “plastics” change their characteristics in cold temperatures.
According to Freitag and McFadden (1997, p. 552) polymers are divided into two
groups which are thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics. Thermoplastics can be
melted and remodeled. Thermo setting plastics can only be heated and modeled once.
Generally, polymers will become more brittle in cold temperatures. Polymers are used
in many different ways, e.g. as housing for elements, as insulation or as seals.
Elastomers (amorphous polymers), which are generally called “rubbers” are used as
seals. Some elastomers perform well under cold conditions. It is thus very important
that the right type is selected so that the sealing function is achieved (see Freitag and
McFadden (1997, p. 555)).
Electrical insulation on the other hand is posing according to Freitag and McFadden
(1997, p. 556) a hazard as current products are often not suitable for the cold. If the
wrong insulation for cold conditions has been selected (e.g. PVC (polyvinylchloride))
the insulations will lose flexibility at temperatures below -30°C and peal of.
The speed of degradation of plastic and rubber components is accelerated if large tem-
perature changes occur. This typically occurs in cold environments as the working tem-
perature of machines is much higher than the surrounding temperature. Freitag and
McFadden (1997, p. 556) point out that failed plastic or rubber elements can cause sec-
ondary failures such as e.g. blocking of air intakes or loss of containment if rubber seals
break. It is therefore important to check these elements and determine what results their
failure can have.
3.4.2 Lubrication oils

Lubrication oil has many different functions. These are (Markeset, 2012):
 Reduced friction for startup
 Lubrication to reduce friction and wear
 Protection of metals against rust and corrosion
 Removal of wear particles
 Cooling of engine parts

 Seal combustion pressure
The performance of lubrication oil is strongly affected by temperature. The viscosity
especially has an influence on how well lubrication will work in cold environments
(Khonsari, 2007). If the viscosity drops below the pour point of the oil, very high
startup torque will be required to startup machines. If the torque resistance is too high,
the machine might not start or parts might be overstressed, leading to severe damage. If
the startup is still achieved, high abrasive wear will result until the lubrication oil has
reached a sufficient high temperature to perform well.
A solution is to use lubrication oils with a pour point below the temperatures that can be
expected in the temperature environment the machine will be used. Alternatively, spe-
cial additives can change the behavior of lubrication oils, making them more viscous
even in very cold environments. Another possibility is to use winterization with pre
heating of systems that use lubrication (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 585).
3.5 Operational challenges
3.5.1 Human factors/ ergonomics

Human factors/ ergonomics are a major challenge for the Arctic development. The hu-
man body is strongly influenced by the environment. Especially the cold, dark and re-
mote environment makes it difficult for humans to adapt. High quality engineering is
needed to protect the human body from the influence of these factors. Further, it is im-
portant to define if there will be a higher demand for personnel in the cold climate dur-
ing the winter period. The direct effect is, that it makes the developments more expen-
sive as the workforce expects higher wages to compensate for the inconvenient living
situations (Budzik, 2009, p. 9).
Cold temperatures will directly influence the performance of a human worker (Larsen,
2007, p. 18). Temperatures below freezing will reduce the efficiency of a worker and
also introduce errors (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 4). Warm and dry clothing as well
as longer work breaks are necessary to compensate the effects of cold temperatures,
wind, rain and others.
It is important to ensure safe working conditions for the crew. Here frostbite and hypo-
thermia (too low body temperature) can be considered as a major challenge (Heller &
Zieve, 2012). If skin is exposed to cold temperatures, bad injuries will occur. Therefore
warm and dry clothing becomes necessary. The drawback of this layer of clothing is
that the human loses some of his ability to perform work efficiently. Larsen (2007)
points out that any kind of maintenance becomes difficult when gloves are used. Opera-
tions and maintenance tasks have to consider the additional time a worker uses to per-
form certain tasks. To compensate for the drawbacks of the clothing the machine design
needs to specifically include the clothing of the working force. Tools have to be adapted
if necessary. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (2008) further
suggests that equipment safety can be easily improved by covering metals that could be
in contact with skin.
As mentioned previously warm-up periods for workers are necessary. In Table 6 sug-
gestions for a four hour work shift in a combination of different cold temperatures and
wind speeds are shown. This table has been developed by the Canadian Centre for Oc-
cupational Health & Safety (2008).
Table 6: Work/ Warm-up schedule example (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health
& Safety, 2008)
Another important fact is that in cold temperatures the metabolism rate of the human
body increases. Therefore workers will require approximately 1.5 to 2.0 times more
food (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 601).
Human factors and ergonomics are discussed further in the chapter 4.4.
3.5.2 Winterization
Winterization is a key challenge as it can largely improve working conditions on an
offshore platform. The following questions regarding winterization must be discussed:
 How can be ensured that production equipment and other equipment can work in
the cold
 How can safety equipment be kept functional (e.g. firewater system)
 How can personnel work in the cold
Winterization thus means that equipment must be specifically designed for the cold.
This can include heating of machines, surfaces and other. This heating system must also
consider production stops where machines stand still over long time periods with liquids
that can freeze. It is further a major task of winterization that safety equipment such as
the firefighting system, the evacuation means and alarms work in the cold climate.
Due to icing on the outer structure of the facility, falling ice can cause a hazard for the
workforce. Therefore, sufficient protection against possible falling ice must be provid-
ed. It is also important that deicing of e.g. cranes and other equipment is possible.
Another important factor is to reduce the effect of wind chill by covering working areas
(Freitag & McFadden, 1997, pp. 603 - 605). Much care has to be taken to prevent gas
from accumulating. Bjerketvedt et al. (1993, p. 12) point out that large mixtures of
combustible fuel-air must be avoided in any case. Else confined explosion with very
large pressure build up will result. This stands in contradiction of the requirement to
create a wind still environment to protect workers against the cold.
Gudmestad & Markeset (2013) point out the criticality for providing sufficient ventila-
tion. The ventilation system must be designed in a way that pressure piling (locally dy-
namic increase of pressure) cannot occur and that gas is not transported from one area to
another (Bjerketvedt, et al., 1993, pp. 124, 141). To avoid very high overpressures,
some walls should be designed in a way that they open if an explosion occurs. This will
reduce the overpressure (explosion relief panels could be used). Another possibility is to
use partially perforated walls or the use of wind panels that are only closed if mainte-
nance is performed. The challenge will be to find the right method for each case with
the little experience that has been gained.
Figure 13: Explosion relief panel (Bjerketvedt, et al., 1993, p. 134)
Bjerketvedt et al. (1993, p. 16) therefore emphasis that gas explosion hazards should be
considered in the very first design phase, as changes made later will be costly and result
in suboptimal solutions. This is especially the case for Arctic projects as explosion haz-
ards due to protection against the cold are a major problem.
Gudmestad and Karunakaran (2012) make a reference to ISO 19906 (International
Standardization Organization, ISO, 2010) where measures for winterization are sug-
gested. Some suggestions are as follows (Gudmestad & Karunakaran, 2012):
 No pockets or dead ends in pipes to avoid damage to freezing water.
 Maintain flow in lines such as fire and cooling water to avoid freezing of static
liquid.
 Use insulation to protect against freezing.
 Use of heating to prevent freezing.
 Use of enclosure.
 Use of chemical and mechanical seals on equipment to avoid entrance of exteri-
or substances.
 Use of protecting walls against wind chill effect.
 Use of chemicals to change freezing point of liquids.
 Ensure sufficient ventilation
Winterization is very challenging if sea ice can be expected. In this case it must be de-
fined to which degree a mobile or fixed unit has to be able to resist the ice force. Rein-
forced designs are necessary to resist the ice loads.
3.6 Logistical challenges

Due to the remoteness of the Arctic, the logistics of platforms are a key challenge. The-
se challenges will be discussed in the following sections from different perspectives.
3.6.1 Remoteness
Remoteness of the Arctic is a distinguishing feature. Remoteness has two major draw-
backs.
The first drawback is that it is difficult to support a platform with man and material if it
is in a remote area. Discoveries in the Arctic are currently far away from manufacturers
and suppliers. This means that developments in this region will have a higher cost with
transportation for supplies and manpower being a major cost driver.
Second, the products such as oil, gas and condensate are much further away from the
customers. This transportation cost will increase their price and is just as well a major
cost driver.
To better express the remoteness, different distances from the Russian harbor Mur-
mansk to other harbors in Europe have been listed as an example in Table 7.
Table 7: Traveling distances from Murmansk to different European harbors (LLOYD'S,
2005, p. 21)
To Murmansk
London 3150 km
Rotterdam 3015 km
Hamburg 2900 km
Bergen 2052 km
Le Havre 3290 km
With this table it becomes obvious that travel distances from most of the cities in Eu-
rope to the Arctic are enormous. The same applies to other Arctic regions. Thus the dis-
tance to suppliers can be considered as a major challenge.
Another major drawback of the remoteness is that in case of emergencies and accidents
the time to reach the site will be large. The next image shows the current range of JRCC
(Joint Rescue coordination Center) Helicopters for the Norwegian Barents Sea.
Figure 14: Operational range of rescue helicopters (Gudmestad, 2012)
It becomes clear with this image that in general large Arctic areas cannot be covered by
helicopters flying from shore to the offshore location. Stops to refuel might become
necessary. Thus emergency response is a particular challenge in Arctic regions (United
States Arctic Research Commission, 2009, p. 173). This again also applies to the
transport of workforce and spare parts. It might be necessary to use mobile vessels and
stationary places, such as islands, with helicopter landing spots for refueling.
3.6.2 Infrastructure
Infrastructure in the Arctic is a challenge as it is often only slightly developed. The main
reason for the limited infrastructure is the low population in many regions. However, it
is important to note that the population density varies to a large extent. For example
Norway has many small settlements, while in Russia very large populations in the Bar-
ents region exist (Barentswatch Atlas, 2013). For offshore oil and gas projects, it is im-
portant to assess the infrastructure regarding land supply bases. Depending on the re-
gion the infrastructure is negatively influenced by the surrounding environment. Icing,
snow piling up or the melting of the permafrost can make roads and train tracks impass-
able.
The next part of this section will highlight some important facts about each transporta-
tion measure. Existing and possible transportation means in the Arctic:
 Roads and seasonal ice roads
 Airfields and use of airplanes and helicopters
 Train connections
 Transportation via vessels to ports and deep water ports
Normal roads are hard to build because the ground is often too soft during summer time
when the permafrost ground melts to some extent. To efficiently support these roads,
piling of the support into the permanent frozen ground is necessary. An alternative are
ice roads. Ice roads are seasonal roads (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 518). They form
by themselves when the water surface of a rivers or lakes freezes and can be strength-
ened by spraying water over the frozen surface. These roads must be constantly moni-
tored to avoid breaking of the ice. They are used to supply many communities in Arctic
regions and might allow some supply for onshore supply bases.
Another form of transportation is the use of airplanes or helicopters. Therefore airfields
are needed. Transportation of goods by airplane is for many remote regions one of the
most important and reliable systems available (Christopher, 2008, p. 1). Due to high
fuel costs this way of transportation is getting more and more expensive.
Train transportation varies with the region. While Scandinavia and Russia have a quite
extensive railroad system, Alaska and Greenland use predominantly air transportation
(Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 43). Many challenges faced for train transportation are
equivalent to road transportation. The major difference is that by train usually larger and
heavier loads can be transported.
Finally, transportation by ship is a very good option regarding transportation of supplies
and spare parts. Ships can carry very heavy and large loads over long distances. During
the summer months, ships are a very good option for transportation in Arctic regions
(Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 37). Problems occur during the wintertime when large
storms are forming and the sea becomes rough (Freitag & McFadden, 1997, p. 37). Ad-
ditionally, it is possible that sea ice is formed and some ports become inaccessible. Sea
ice is a thread to vessels that are not designed for ice pressure on their hull. Cargo ships
that are designed for ice might still need assistance from ice breakers during their voy-
age which will add additional cost. Norwegian ports on the continental shelf have an
advantage. Warm water from the Gulfstream keeps ports ice free. Many northern ports
in Norway are deep water ports which allow large vessels to access the port. In other
regions, cargo must be unloaded offshore and then transported by smaller ships to shore.
With the increasing temperatures in the Arctic transportation via ship might become
increasingly important. According to Christopher (2008, p. 1) the strong variability of
the sea ice conditions will make the Arctic very challenging as traffic conditions could
vary greatly.
3.6.3 Inbound and outbound logistics

As mentioned previously, a major challenge is the remoteness of the new developments.
Therefore, the outbound and inbound logistics need to be well scheduled. Inbound logis-
tics is concerned with the management of transportation and storage of supply materials
to an installation. On the other hand, outbound logistics is focused on the management
of the storage and transportation of produced goods and also waste materials (Murray,
2013). To efficiently plan these activities, it will be necessary to gain more data about
the weather in Arctic regions. Weather is a key influencing factor for logistic systems
on the sea. In the following chapter, inbound and outbound logistics will be discussed in
more detail.
3.6.3.1 Inbound logistics

Inbound logistics ensures that support material for the operations is ordered in time.
This includes spare parts but also the transportation of the workforce. Delays in this
supply chain will result in costly production stops. It is therefore necessary to plan when
material is supposed to arrive offshore. Due to the large distances, this process is very
difficult in Arctic regions. The planning must include waiting times to cover unexpected
events such as heavy storms or sea ice. These waiting times will increase the cost for
offshore operations. Monitoring with technical equipment is therefore very important.
This can include the tracking of goods via GPS (Global Positioning System) as well as
monitoring the weather via satellite to only mention some possibilities. Challenges will
occur if waiting periods have been underestimated. Storage closer to the offshore plat-
forms can provide a solution to decrease the risk of inbound logistic delays. It is there-
fore necessary to assess the onshore storage possibilities.
3.6.3.2 Outbound logistics

A key challenge will also be the organization and management of the outbound logistic
systems. The final product should be shipped or transported as fast as possible to the
costumer. There are different approaches. In principle the two solutions are:
 Storage of the product offshore at the site
 Transportation to an onshore location
The offshore storage requires offshore offloading of the product. This operation is high-
ly dependent on the weather situation on the sea. Offshore storage is used for the Goliat
field (see chapter 5).
The second approach, which is currently applied, is the redirection of the product to an
onshore storage facility. From here the product can be loaded easier and transported
because harbor structures can be used to protect the loading site. This decreases the risk
of unloading problems. However, cost will increase since pipelines are necessary to
transport the final product. This approach is used for Snøhvit (see section 2.1.1.1). De-
pending on the properties of the product this method will not always be an option.
Transportation of waste material is an additional challenge. Additional space on an off-
shore platform could be necessary to store waste material.
3.6.4 Storage of spare parts and supplies

Spare parts and supplies are necessary to keep an offshore platform operational. If any
equipment breaks down, diagnosis has to be made and the broken part has to be re-
placed. According to Markeset (2008) this process must be well assessed according to
the Arctic environment.
Weather conditions are very harsh in the Arctic and offshore facilities will be far away
from spare part storage centers. This means that necessary parts might be impossible to
fly in by helicopter or offload by ship immediately if waiting on weather becomes nec-
essary. This in turn leads to the importance to store more critical parts on the offshore
plant. Increased topside weight will always increase the overall cost of the load bearing
system of the offshore structure. Therefore Markeset (2008) suggests that smaller criti-
cal parts as well as big and critical parts should be stored offshore. Also storage of dif-
ferent parts on different offshore platforms should be considered. Interorganizational
cooperation would therefore be necessary. Markeset (2008) points out that seasonal ex-
change of stored parts and supplies might be an option.
4 Maintenance and reliability in the Arctic 39
4 Maintenance and reliability in the Arctic

In the following section, the importance of maintenance and reliability of systems will
be discussed. Good practices in maintenance as well as reliable designs will provide a
good basis to overcome some of the major challenges in the Arctic.
4.1 Basic concepts of reliability and maintenance

Reliability is a distinguishing feature of equipment. Reliability is commonly expressed
by probabilities defining equipments “Mean time to failure” (MTTF) or “Mean time
between failures” (MTBF) which represents the uptime of the equipment. Reliability
thus expresses the ability of a piece of equipment to perform its function during a cer-
tain period of time without failing.
Figure 15: Bathtub curve (original by Ben-Daya et al. (2009, p. 338))
In Figure 15 the Bathtub curve is displayed. This curve shows possible occurrences of
failures for equipment like e.g. a motor. The failure rate is highest at the beginning and
at the end of the age of a component or system. In the beginning equipment fails more
often due to a “run in period” while in the end the equipment fails more often as it has
worn out and reach its maximal lifetime.
Maintenance is used to set equipment back into a functional state. Maintenance can be
divided in three major branches:
 Improvement maintenance
 Planned maintenance
 Unplanned maintenance
There are different methods such as condition based maintenance (CBM) where the
health of equipment is monitored and maintenance is performed before fatal failure oc-
curs. This and the above mentioned branches will be further discussed under
“Maintenance strategies” in chapter 4.3 on page 42.
4.2 Balance between design for maintenance and designing

reliable systems
“One must recognize that no product can be assumed to have 100% reliability at any
point in its life cycle – even in the first minutes of use. However, successful designs
should have 100% maintainability.” (Markeset, 2012, p. 202).
To achieve high reliability of a design engineers must analyze the failure rates of
equipment and conduct reliability studies. According to their findings they shall used
proven methods and available equipment. The Arctic is a challenge for reliability as
only little experience and data with currently available equipment has been gathered.
Probability distributions available from other regions to define reliability and failure
functions might not apply to equipment working in the Arctic environment. This is e.g.
due to the impact of cold climate such as changed behavior of materials and lubrications
as discussed under chapter 3. However, equipment used under the Arctic environments
must be highly reliable because of the remoteness of the offshore plants. If equipment
fails, long downtime periods and large cost will result. The challenge of reliability is
that it increases the cost of the design and 100% reliability is hardly feasible because
complex systems can fail in complex ways. The system reliability cannot be improved,
unlimited and unforeseen failures will occur because a design cannot cover all failure
causes. In particular the lack of data for the Arctic will introduce new failure causes.
Here especially common mode failures are a threat to high reliability systems. Common
mode failures occur in complex systems. Multiple systems interact with each other and
are dependent on each other. This is making them prone to errors that successively
overcome all inbuilt barriers of the highly reliable design. The following overview
shows some of the main failure causes for common mode failures.
Figure 16: Causes for common mode failures of equipment (Aven, 1993, p. 118)
Kayrbekova et al. (2011, p. 121) suggest that for the beginning the poor statistical data
available for Arctic regions should be used as far as possible. This data should then be
combined with e.g. data from the North Sea region to estimate the maintenance cost.
They further suggest using the Monte Carlo simulation tool as it provides more infor-
mation about risk and uncertainty. Reference is made to Kayrbekova et al. (2011) as in
this PhD Thesis the Monte Carlo simulation has been applied.
Markeset states that “Maintenance is an enabler for improved business performance”
(Markeset, 2008, p. 1). Maintenance is necessary as it is extremely difficult to make a
system fully reliable. Kayrbekova et al. (2011) point out that unplanned maintenance in
northern regions is a major risk to the business. Unplanned maintenance comes at a high
cost and has an important influence on the organizations profitability (Ben-Daya, et al.,
2009, p. 3). Man work, spare parts transport, spare parts storage and the downtime dur-
ing the maintenance operation can result in large costs. Finding the right maintenance
strategy is a critical element in the risk reduction for maintenance (Kayrbekova, et al.,
2011, p. 121). Kayrbekova et al. (2011, p. 121) point out that current uncertainty to de-
fine the right maintenance strategy arises due to:
 Insufficient data about working conditions
 Insufficient data about the equipment performance (reliability, maintainability
and supportability)
 Cost of the maintenance activity and the spare parts.
These challenges and uncertainties related to maintenance make reliable designs more
desirable. Thus assessments should be conducted clarifying for each case if the design
should focus on maintenance or reliability. The optimum cost will most probably give
the best solution in terms of performance.
Figure 17: Correlation of cost between reliability and maintenance
As it can be seen in Figure 17 the optimal balance between cost of maintenance and cost
of reliability is the minimum overall cost. Cost benefit analysis should consider many
aspects to define the optimal solution. The correlation between the cost of a reliable
design and a maintainable design are often not linear.
4.3 Maintenance strategies

As mentioned in the previous chapter, maintenance is an important factor in keeping a
platform operational. The key to success is the right maintenance strategy for the right
equipment.
Figure 18: Maintenance overview (modified, original by Markeset (2012, p. 50))

In Figure 18 different types of maintenance is shown. The following section will go into
more detail about this figure.
4.3.1 Improvement maintenance/ upgrading

The following section is based on “Design for Petroleum Production Performance in
Arctic Locations Considering Maintenance and Support Services” by Markeset (2008).
Improvement maintenance includes redesign, upgrading and modification of equipment.
Upgrading is often initiated by the manufacturer. The main benefit of an upgrade is that
the performance is improved while the rest of the system will be kept in the original
state. This results in lower cost for the improvement. The outcome of the improvement
can be:
 Improvement of design to withstand environment
 Increased performance
 Higher safety
 Less pollution of the environment
Improvement maintenance can thus be anything from updating software to installing
new filters in turbines.
According to Markeset (2008) the new Arctic development will result in a high percent-
age of improvement maintenance. The operators will try to design for all possible envi-
ronmental factors. However, not all aspects can be covered. This is the experience that
has been made with some systems already installed. For example the Statoil LNG plant
at Melkøya at the Barents Sea frequently has many problems with long downtime and
large costs (Pettersen, 2011). Improvement maintenance due to available upgrades for
current systems could be used to reduce reactive maintenance.
4.3.2 Proactive or planned maintenance

Proactive or also known as planned maintenance has large benefits if done properly.
These benefits are listed below:
 Lower repair costs
 Less downtime
 Reduced risk of accidents
Figure 19: Preventive maintenance cycle (Markeset, 2012, p. 13)
Due to the possibility to “plan a job” preventive maintenance gives the operator time to
organize the actual work. This allows negotiating better prices for replacement parts and
labor. Planned Maintenance itself can be separated into:
 Preventive maintenance
 Planned corrective maintenance
Preventive maintenance itself can then be further developed into:
 Predictive (Periodic) maintenance
 Condition based maintenance
Predictive or also known as periodic maintenance uses statistical data to define when
maintenance should be performed. The actual state of the machinery is not taken into
consideration. Thus, there is the possibility to establish incorrect maintenance dates.
These can either be too early or too late.
Figure 20: Drawbacks of periodic maintenance (Markeset, 2008, p. 4)
Maintenance performed too early in advance, while parts are still in working condition,
can create unnecessary replacement costs. If maintenance is performed too late it will
have the same implications as reactive or unplanned maintenance. The costs will be
very high due to the e.g. unplanned downtime. Therefore, the result of periodic mainte-
nance depends to a large degree on the error in the statistical data as well as in the inter-
pretation of this data. Safety margins are necessary to avoid reactive unplanned mainte-
nance.
A different approach is condition based maintenance (CBM). This type of maintenance
takes the actual condition of the equipment into consideration by measuring certain sys-
tem values.
Figure 21: Performance degradation of equipment (Markeset, 2012, p. 16)

Figure 21 shows different equipment P1 to P3 with different degradation times. It be-
comes clear from this figure that certain circumstances for condition monitoring have to
be met so it can be applied. Some are mentioned below.
 The degradation must be gradual
 The must be a possibility to detect the degradation
 An acceptability limit of the performance must be defined
A gradual development of the failure is important as instant failures cannot be moni-
tored. Taking the measurements with sensors will give then indications (e.g. in forms of
vibrations) about the state of the system. These measurements can be taken periodically
or continuously depending on how fast the problem develops and also on how much of
the resources shall be invested for the monitoring system.
4.3.3 Reactive or unplanned maintenance

Reactive or unplanned maintenance for offshore platforms results in:
 Large repair cost
 Loss of production
 Risk of large accidents
Unplanned maintenance is unwanted because it leads to long periods of downtime.
Downtime is obviously always a cost, as the workforce must still be paid while there is
no income from production. In the oil and gas and other industries these losses can have
very high rates and make projects uneconomically.
Another important fact is that if maintenance is not planned and failure occurs, random
large accidents can result. Thus, unplanned maintenance increases the risk of operations.
For oil and gas operations these are not acceptable, as the human safety and the envi-
ronment must be protected as much as possible at all times. Thus this type of mainte-
nance should be avoided.
4.3.4 Selection of maintenance strategy

Currently more advanced and complex systems are becoming available (Markeset,
2008). Additionally, the Arctic is more challenging than other regions such as the North
Sea. Due to these points there will be more errors and thus longer downtime if no addi-
tional measures are taken. Therefore the maintenance strategy becomes increasingly
important to increase uptime and reduce downtime after failure (Markeset, 2008).
Different equipment requires different maintenance strategies. As a result Kumar &
Markeset (2005) created Figure 22 to decide which maintenance strategy should be ap-
plied in which case. Following this flow chart diagram the outcome shall give the most
overall cost effective and risk reducing solution.
Figure 22: Maintenance strategy development process (Kumar & Markeset, 2005)
To develop the right maintenance strategy for a system, an assessment of the actual
condition has to be conducted. During the assessment, data and information about the
system have to be acquired.
After the assessment, the technical and functional hierarchy of the system has to be de-
veloped. Several questions must be discussed such as:
 How do single parts of the system interact with each other?
 How do system components influence each other?
One of the most important steps of this assessment is then to perform a criticality analy-
sis. As it can be seen in Figure 22 the system components are divided into criticalities
ranging from “low” to “very high”. According to the level of criticality of the system
and the resulting consequences of failure one of the previously discussed maintenance
strategies will be selected. If the system has a level of criticality which is too high and a
failure is unacceptable the system must be redesigned.
Many of the challenges discussed in previous chapters will have to be considered when
the maintenance strategy is selected. Especially the large distances in case of Arctic
projects and the possible waiting on weather will require considerations of:
 Where should spare parts be stored?
 How can transport of spare parts be organized and assure in the different weath-
er conditions?
 How will transportation of necessary workforce/ specialists be organized?
 Where should the maintenance task be performed?
The engineers and the management establishing the maintenance strategy must be aware
of the challenges and risks that arise due to the Arctic environment. Improvement
maintenance can be used in cases where the design of already installed systems is not
appropriate or can be improved. Planned maintenance and especially condition based
maintenance strategies will have advantages in Arctic environments. As the degradation
of the systems will be harder to predict as statistical data about wear might not be appli-
cable, condition monitoring delivers real time data. Costs in Arctic for transportation are
much higher than in more southern and urban regions. Further, the challenges created
by the weather and environment will call for better planning. This can be achieved by
applying condition based maintenance. Unplanned maintenance should be avoided for
critical systems in any case. As mentioned previously, the disadvantages and the risk are
not acceptable if an organization wants to be profitable and reduce risk
4.4 Human factor/ ergonomic design as an enabler for

improved maintainability in harsh environments
The Arctic is a particular environment which the human body hasn’t adopted as well as
for others. Human factors and ergonomics therefore have a large influence on efficient
maintenance repair work. If human factors/ ergonomics are implemented correctly they
can improve safety and performance of oil and gas operations.
4.4.1 Human factors/ ergonomics

As with most systems in any environment, maintainability is an important factor in the
design. To achieve best practice regarding human factors/ ergonomics the knowledge in
this field should be considered within the very first design steps.
Human factors/ ergonomics are an area that is occupied with the design of systems for
humans and their needs (Wong, 2002, p. 62; Baby, 2008). The main idea is that people
are different in different areas (e.g. education, body size etc.) and this should be taken
into account during the engineering phase. Further the design should support the user in
his tasks rather than being a hurdle. Therefore the user needs to be more involved in the
design. The goal is to design-in reliability by taking the human into account (Bridger,
1995, p. 4) and that human – machine systems work safe and efficiently together
(Bridger, 1995, p. 1). This is especially important in the Arctic because the human
worker will have to rely on the systems to support him in his everyday tasks.
In the following section, the system design process regarding human factors/ ergonom-
ics will be discussed.
4.4.2 Implementing human factors and ergonomics in the system design

process
The importance of implementing human factors/ ergonomics into the system design lies
in the improved performance and reliability of the operator of the system. Therefore the
system design process shall be discussed more in depth in the following. The next figure
shows the different stages of a general system design process.
Figure 23: Major stages in the system design process (Sanders & McCormic, 1992, p.
727)
Stage one is the determination of the objectives and performance specifications of the
system. This stage is closely related to stage two, where the system to be used for the
application is defined. It follows stage three to stage five. These stages deal with the
basic design, the interface design and the facilitator design of the system. In the last
stage, number six, the system will be tested and evaluated.
In the following sections human factors/ ergonomics from each stage will be discussed
in more detail. The section is based on Sanders & McCormic (1992).
4.4.2.1 Determination of the objectives and performance specifications

There are two human factors that have to be considered in this stage. First it has to be
defined who the user of the system will be. This will include information about where
the system is used (e.g. in a cold environment) and who will use it (e.g. an expert).
Second, the activity in the interaction between the human-machine system has to be
defined. At this point it will be defined what the purpose of the system is and how it is
increasing the human functional ability. In an Arctic environment this will generally be
related to the cold- and darkness and the resulting operational conditions for e.g. the
maintenance worker.
4.4.2.2 Definition of the system

In this stage functions are defined. It must be explicitly stated what shall be performed
by the system. Human factors design criteria are used to decide whether the functions
will meet the requirements of the human users or not.
4.4.2.3 Basic design

At this stage, the human factors will be used to:
 Define which parts shall be executed by humans and which by the hardware,
software
 Define the human performance requirements
 Analysis and description of the tasks
 Job design
In a first step, it has to be decided which functions a human operator should execute and
which functions the machine part/software shall perform. This decision is based on cost
factors and the superiority of either the human part or the machine/software part. A
simple question regarding the function of the system could be if the maintenance pro-
fessional should remove icing covering a maintenance opening or if it is possible to in-
clude heating elements in openings to keep them ice-free.
After the function of the human has been clarified, the human performance in this func-
tion must be defined. This means that a definition has to be given what the human part
must do so the machine part can fulfill its function. If the human part will not be able to
meet the performance, the system must be redesigned. In this stage, it’s especially im-
portant that, the challenges discussed earlier should be implemented. A design support-
ing fast maintainability due to the very cold temperatures might be the goal. Much
thought should be put into how efficient maintenance can be achieved.
It follows a step where the task performed must be analyzed and described. All neces-
sary tasks that shall be done by the operator and maintenance personnel have to be col-
lected and put into sequence.
The last step of this stage is the job design. The operator will use a machine to perform
a certain job. The same applies for the maintenance worker who will have to take cer-
tain steps to e.g. exchange a filter of a motor. This also defines how much the worker
will “like” his job. A well designed job will give the worker satisfaction and motivation,
which will lead to higher performance of the worker.
4.4.2.4 Interface design

In the interface design stage, the connection for the human-machine and human-
software are designed. These are the buttons, switches, displays, screws etc. that the
worker will use to perform his task in the system. The maintenance professional might
need to close certain valves if he wants to change the oil in a motor. The immediate
question will be, where these valves should be located and who will close them. The
task could be performed by e.g. a worker in an acclimatized control room or a worker
outside in the cold wind. The interface design has a large importance regarding small
things such as what size screws are and where they are located when a worker is wear-
ing large glows. Again the actual conditions are important.
A good interface design will lead to high human efficiency and a low error rate. The
human factors give input in the comparison of different arrangements for e.g. how the
layout shall be chosen. There are three main points Sanders & McCormic (1992, p. 738)
specifies as activities:
 Gather and interpret human factors and human performance data
 Conduct attribute evaluations of suggested designs
 Conduct human performance studies
These points have to be considered as they have effect on the interface design, which in
turn has effect on the risk and performance of the human part. The overall idea is that
data needs to be provided, and if not available, it shall be researched so that human fac-
tors can be taken into account.
4.4.2.5 Facilitator design

This stage deals with all the tools that help to facilitate the function of the human opera-
tor. Again, human factors need to be considered as it is important that e.g. manuals and
utensils can be used efficiently. Situations in which a maintenance worker has to read a
long manual in cold and snowy condition should be avoided.
The goal is to make the task as understandable as possible so the maintenance profes-
sional can achieve maximum performance.
4.4.2.6 Testing and evaluation

In this last stage, the system has to be evaluated from a human factors/ ergonomic point
of view. This means that it has to be tested if the anticipated function can be fulfilled in
the anticipated way by the worker.
There are four factors that have to be considered:
 Subjects
It is emphasized that the users of the system shall test the system.
 Criteria
Criteria have to be defined in which the system will be tested. They should reflect the
anticipated goal of the human factors that have been taken into consideration during the
design of the system.
 Experimental Procedures and Controls
To have satisfying results, the experiment has to be conducted in a controlled way to
make it comparable to similar experiments.
 Research setting
Finally, the research setting has to be as close as possible to reality. This is very difficult
to achieve as every human is different. The mental condition plays a big role in the use
of a system (e.g. high stress in emergency situations) it can be difficult to create an ade-
quate research setting. Sanders & McCormic (1992, p. 750) state further that the test
persons will be aware of the test situation and behave differently. The lack of data, es-
pecially for cold and remote regions, might underestimate the actual stress and work-
load the maintenance professional might be exposed to.
4.4.3 Discussion
Humans contribute in many different ways to operational risk. According to Lehmann
& Wilson (2012, p. 2), it is often the lack of communication of people that causes inci-
dents. When people operate and maintain equipment, they can make errors. According
to Jones (1995, pp. 254 - 257) these errors are due to two factors:
 The work the people do is less practical then it used to be. Due to increase auto-
mation, the tasks performed are no longer easy to understand. The design of the
system plays a very big role. It needs to follow and adapt to the human needs.
 The second cause is that people get exhausted after a certain time period.
To improve the human performance during maintenance tasks, human factors and ergo-
nomic design criteria have to be considered. As pointed out above, the “job” the human
worker is performing has become less practical. Today, often electronic devices are
used to establish a picture of the system health. These devices need to be designed in a
way that they are easily operable in cold conditions. It becomes clear that the system
design process is of uttermost importance. Monitoring and measurement devices used in
Arctic conditions need to be adapted to the clothing and the bad lighting conditions.
This will result in new designs that might need stronger batteries and larger buttons so
they can be used with gloves.
Further, people get exhausted after a certain time period. A human factor/ ergonomic
based design can decrease the time a maintenance worker spends on maintaining
equipment. Due to the cold weather this will be especially important, as the time a
worker can spend in the cold is very limited. Thus, the system designing process should
be followed to optimize designs for maintainability, as this will lead to higher reliabil-
ity.
4.5 Methods to achieve high reliability and production

assurance under Arctic conditions
Especially under Arctic conditions production assurance is of major importance. As the
market is becoming increasingly competitive, industrial customers require better per-
formance of their equipment.
Achieving high reliability and production assurance means to reduce downtime and to
increase uptime. Downtime and uptime form together the major states a system can be
in. Figure 24 gives an overview of “Uptime and Downtime” related terms.
Figure 24: System uptime and downtime (Markeset, 2012, p. 13)
It can be seen in the figure that uptime can be divided into:

 Standby/ ready time
 System operating time
On the contrary downtime can be developed into:
 Active maintenance time
 Logistics delay time
 Administrative delay time
Active maintenance is further divided into
 Preventive maintenance
 Corrective maintenance
The main goal of operations is to achieve as much uptime in a system as feasible. The
assessment system regarding its maintenance strategy will give the optimal solution. If
e.g. preventive maintenance is performed, logistic and administrative delays become
less likely. The actual health of the system will be predictable, allowing for better plan-
ning and production assurance.
Production assurance is defined as “activities implemented to achieve and maintain a
performance that is at its optimum in terms of the overall economy and at the same time
consistent with applicable framework conditions” (International Standard ISO, 2008, p.
6). Thus, to achieve higher performance, systems need to be specifically designed re-
garding their functional and technical requirements.
The following overview shows different measures that can be influenced to achieve
higher reliability and performance of a system regarding overall operations and design.
Figure 25: Measures to influence production performance (modified, original by Inter-

national Standard ISO (2008))
It can be seen in this figure the environment (e.g. cold climate and remoteness) is the
key influence which needs to be considered to improve the design of technical equip-
ment. Further, logically it can be seen that the environmental factors have a major im-
pact on the operations that are necessary to optimize performance of a system. The
overall goal is to create systems that have optimized RAMS (reliability, availability,
maintainability, supportability) characteristics by applying the above mentioned
measures (Markeset, 2010).
The availability has a large impact on the production performance.
Figure 26: The production performance concept (modified by Markeset (2010), original
by Barabady et al (2009))
Figure 26 shows the influencing factors on availability performance:

 Reliability performance
 Maintainability performance
 Maintenance support performance
Reliability performance is the achieved percentage of the designed reliability. If a sys-
tem fails above average, the reliability performance will be low. Reliability can be de-
signed into a system, but it is often impossible to establish 100% reliable systems. As
discussed in the challenges reliability will be especially influenced by the cold tempera-
ture in the Arctic. As little experience with current systems has been made in this cli-
mate, the reliability design will need to have design margins to achieve optimized per-
formance. This means, for example, that it can be advantageous to select materials with
higher performance in cold conditions.
The maintainability performance will, just as the reliability performance, be largely in-
fluenced by the environment. If there is no possibility to increase reliability (due to cost
or feasibility) designing for maintainability is the alternative. In the Arctic, especially
the effect of the cold temperature and bad lighting conditions, will negatively affect
maintainability. Cold temperatures and wind reduces the working time a worker can
spend on a task outside. The clothing limits the workers abilities. Cold can further lead
to icing and snow on openings, reducing the accessibility of equipment.
Finally, maintenance support performance must be optimized to achieve optimal
maintenance performance. As the Arctic is a very remote and inaccessible region, spare
part delivery must be well planned. Delays can result, due to waiting on weather or sea
ice restricting operations.
To summarize, it can be said that increased availability will increase production assur-
ance as increased production availability is achieved. To achieve high availability the
influencing measures in Figure 25 shall be applied to achieve optimal production per-
formance of a system.
5 Goliat FPSO 53
5 Goliat FPSO
The following chapter is based on information has been made available by Eni Norge,
to be used in this thesis (Rekdal, 2012). Further information’s have been gathered on the
website of Eni Norge AS (2013).
5.1 Introduction
The Goliat field was discovered in 2000. It consists of the Kobbe and the Realgrunnen
formations. The development takes place with a joint cooperation between Eni Norge
AS (operator, 65%) and Statoil (35%). Production is planned to start in late 2014. The
estimated recoverable reserves are 174 million barrels of oil. It is, according to Eni
Norge, the first oil field that will be developed in the Barents Sea.
The field development consists of a cylindrical FPSO (Floating Production Storage and
Offloading) by “Sevan Marine” which will be connected to 22 wells in eight subsea
templates. Installation of the FPSO is planned in summer 2014.
Figure 27: Sevan 1000 FPSO (Eni Norge AS, 2013)

The process deck will have a diameter of 107m, while the main deck will measure
102m. The elevation of the main deck will be 44m with a normal loaded draft of 30m
(Rekdal, 2012, p. 3).
Produced oil will be stored in cargo tanks in the hull. The produced gas will be reinject-
ed into the Kobbe reservoir. To store the oil, it must be stabilized on the platform mak-
ing it necessary to implement separation equipment. The oil will then be offloaded to
tankers and shipped to the market. It is important to mention that Goliat will be supplied
with electrical power by a cable from shore, to ensure energy supply and reduced pollu-
tion due to exhaust.
5.2 Environmental conditions

In the following section the environmental conditions of the Goliat field shall be briefly
highlighted.
5 Goliat FPSO 54
Figure 28: Goliat (modified, original by National Geophysical Data Center (2012))
The Goliat field is located in the Norwegian Barents Sea. This region lies within the
region that is considered to be Arctic.
The next image shows the 100 years temperature range in course of a year.
Figure 29: Expected temperature range for the Goliat field (Rekdal, 2012, p. 7)
The minimum average temperature in January and February are expected to be around -
15°C. Sea ice and icebergs will most likely not occur at the Goliat location (NORSOK,
2007, p. 27).
5 Goliat FPSO 55
Figure 30: Expected wind speed/ direction for the Goliat field (Rekdal, 2012, p. 7)
According to Figure 30, rather high wind speeds can be expected primarily from an
western direction. The maximum wind speed to occur in 100 years equals 108 km/h (30
m/s); in 10 years this value equals approximately 100 km/h (27 m/s) and every year 80
km/h (26 m/s).
Weather data shows that strong winds from the western direction are significantly
warmer then the less strong winds from the eastern direction. Thus, the possibility for a
combination of cold temperatures and strong winds, which will lead to a strong wind
chill effect, is low.
Additionally, other factors such as remoteness and darkness, which have been presented
previously, apply and must be considered in the design.
5.3 Winterization measures of the Goliat FPSO

The following chapter will discuss some of the winterization measures which are de-
signed into the FPSO to overcome the challenges of the Arctic.
According to Rekdal (2012, p. 8) the FPSO’s main deck will be sufficiently elevated to
avoid effects from sea spray that could generate ice build-up on the deck. In addition,
there are sufficient capacities available to cope with accumulations of spray icing on the
hull and snow on top of the platform. Thus, the floating stability can be kept even under
large additional load accumulations.
Rekdal (2012, p. 11) points out that the main principal for the design of the FPSO is to
install shielding against the environment such as rain, snow and wind. According to this
principle, it has been decided to enclose as much equipment as possible in the utility
area. The process area has a risk for gas leakage and gas accumulations. The walls are
therefore semi-opened and only the roof is fully closed in this area. This allows for suf-
ficient ventilation of the area as well as protection for the workers against wind, snow
and rain. In case of an explosion the main structure and fire divisions will remain intact.
The next image gives a closer view of the hull of the Goliat platform.
5 Goliat FPSO 56
Figure 31: Goliat platform winterization wall (Rekdal, 2012, p. 13)
The wall will have multiple positive effects (Rekdal, 2012, p. 16). The roof will cover
all process areas so that less water will have to be drained from the platform. Further
escape routes and equipment are protected from the outside environment so that there is
less need for special protection systems. Since the walls are semi-opened there is no
need for mechanical ventilation. Finally, the wall and roof will protect the areas against
falling ice that might have built up on cranes on the FPSO. Furthermore, the flare tower
will be cantilevered over the outside hull to avoid ice falling onto the main deck which
is shown in the figure below.
Figure 32: Goliat with cantilevered flare (APTOMAR AS, 2012)

Although the wall will protect large areas of the platform, there is still need for large
amounts of heating and heat tracing. Therefore, the platform will be supplied with elec-
tricity via a cable from land. In addition, the platform itself will be equipped with a high
efficiency generator (Eni Norge, 2013). This will improve reliability for energy supply.
All electrical cabinets are heated to avoid ice accumulation. Further heating is installed
on liquid carrying pipelines to avoid freezing. An important measure is the heating of
5 Goliat FPSO 57
the ventilation intakes to avoid ice crystals entering the ventilation system. These crys-
tals could lead to water accumulations in the ventilation systems. Additionally, snow-
drift simulations have been performed to identify areas with large snow pile-ups.
The working schedules for the workforce are adapted according to the weather condi-
tions. Due to the conditions, the workforce will only be allowed to work in the cold for
a certain period of time. To protect the workers against the effects from the cold, the
general working suits are improved with some smaller layers of wool. A major im-
provement has been made with the survival suits for evacuation and during helicopter
transportation (Lewis, 2013). The new suits have better insulation on hands and feet.
Additionally, the way the suits are put on has been improved for easier use. Further, a
signal is now not only sent to air transportation vehicles, but also to ships to improve
detectability during rescue operations.
6 Summary and conclusion 58
6 Summary and conclusion

In this Master thesis operations and maintenance challenges for Arctic offshore plat-
forms are discussed. These challenges have a large impact on the feasibility of future
projects.
In chapter one the outlines of the thesis are laid and the problem is stated. Here the dif-
ferent questions are formulated that will be discussed in the following chapters. Further
the delimitations are defined. The local extend of this thesis covers the Arctic in general
but focuses on the Norwegian Barents Sea.
In chapter two the theoretical background is discussed. Here oil and gas developments
in Arctic regions are discussed. It becomes clear that the development is just beginning.
Further the possible geographical extend of the Arctic is defined. This is difficult as
there are different opinions about the Arctic extend as characteristic conditions can not
only be found above the 66.56° north latitude. Further this section includes a short defi-
nition of operations and maintenance.
Engendering and management is based on observation of the environment. We must
design and manage according to the local conditions that apply. Chapter three therefore
covers in depth challenges that can be expected. The physical environment such as ice
and cold temperatures are described. This includes also operational challenges such as
human factors or necessary design changes which are achieved by winterization. Further
challenges related to the remote location for e.g. communication and the transport of
supplies are highlighted.
Challenges are then in chapter four discuss with regards to maintenance and reliability.
The importance of the correct maintenance strategy is discussed as it has a major influ-
ence on operations. Due to the benefits of planned maintenance on the overall produc-
tivity this type of maintenance is suggested. If sufficient resources are available condi-
tion based maintenance (CBM) should be applied in the Arctic as it allows for better
planning regarding spare part delivery times. Additionally in this chapter the importance
of a design for human factors/ ergonomics is pointed out and discussed regarding the
system design process. Finally measures to improve the reliability and production assur-
ance from the ISO 20815 Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries - Produc-
tion assurance and reliability management (2008) are suggested.
In the final chapter five the Goliat FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) is
presented as an example for a winterized platform. The Goliat field will be the first field
which is developed with an offshore platform in the Norwegian Barents Sea. The plat-
form, which will be operated by Eni Norge, has been specifically designed to withstand
the harsh Arctic environment. The environment the platform will be placed in will be
shortly discussed. Finally, measures such as a winterized hull are shortly presented.
The challenges and solutions presented in this thesis show the difference of the Arctic to
other regions. It is therefore of importance that first of all the engineers and managers of
companies that intend to explore the Arctic become aware of these challenges. New
designs and technologies are on the rise. A knowledge base must be established to bet-
ter share already gained experiences. The impact of maintenance on the overall running
cost of offshore platforms in the Arctic will make further research in this field neces-
sary.
List of references 59
List of references
APTOMAR AS, 2012. www.aptomar.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.aptomar.com/category/news/
[Accessed 7 June 2013].
Aven, T., 1993. Reliability and Risk Analysis. 1. Edition ed. Stavanger, Norway:
Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Baby, R., 2008. Integrity Management during Design Stage. Abu Dhabi, SPE
International.
Barabady, J., Markeset, T. & Kumar, U., 2009. Review and discussion of production
assurance program, Norway: Emerald.
Barentswatch Atlas, 2013. http://www.grida.no. [Online]
Available at: http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/population-centres-in-the-barents-
region_0a9c
[Accessed 16 April 2013].
Belonin, M. & Grigorenko, Y., 2007. Resource and geological analysis and the ways of
development of offshore hydrocarbon resources, in Oil and Gas of the Arctic, Moscow,
Russia: Oil and Gas Publishing House.
Ben-Daya, M. et al., 2009. Handbook of Maintenance Management and Engineering.
London: Springer.
Bjerketvedt, D., Bakke, J. & Wingerden, K., 1993. Gas Explosion Handbook, Bergen,
Norway: GexCon.
Bridger, R., 1995. Introduction. In: Introduction to Ergonomics. s.l.:McGraw-Hill.
Budzik, P., 2009. Arctic Oil and Natural Gas Potential, USA: U.S. Energy Information
Administration Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting Oil and Gas Division.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, 2008. http://www.ccohs.ca.
[Online]
Available at: http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/cold_working.html
[Accessed 27 March 2013].
Christopher, J., 2008. http://www.parl.gc.ca. [Online]
Available at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0808-e.pdf
Det Norske Veritas, 2010. Barents 2020 - Assessment of International Standards for
safe Exploration, Production and Transportation of Oil and Gas in the Barents Sea.
Norway: Erik Tanche Nilssen AS, Norway.
Driscoll, P. J. & Kucik, P., 2011. Chapter 3 System Life Cycle. In: Decision Making in
Systems Engeneering and Managment. 2. Edition ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Engebretsen, H. et al., 2002. EIA for the worlds' northernmost LNG plant, the Snohvit
project in an environmental sensitive area at 71°N.. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, SPE
International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration
and Production, 20-22 March 2002.
Eni Norge AS, 2013. http://www.eninorge.com. [Online]

Available at: http://www.eninorge.com/en/Field-development/Goliat/
Eni Norge, 2013. www.eninorge.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.eninorge.com/en/Field-development/Goliat/Electrification/
ExxonMobil, 2013. Artic Leadership. [Online]
Available at: http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/files/news_pub_poc_arctic.pdf
Freitag, D. R. & McFadden, T., 1997. Introduction to Cold Region Engineering. New
York: ASCE Press, American Society of Civil Engineers.
Gautier, D. L., 2009. Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Arctic. Science,
Issue Science 324, 1175.
Gerwick, B., 2007. Construction of Marine and Offshore Structures. 3. Edition ed. San
Francisco, USA: Taylor & Francis Group.
Gudmestad, O., 2012. Lecture - Design versus operations, University of Stavanger,
Stavanger, Norway: s.n.
Gudmestad, O., 2012. Lecture 2 - Operations in cold climate, University of Stavanger,
Stavanger, Norway: s.n.
Gudmestad, O. & Karunakaran, D., 2012. Challenges Faced by the Marine Contractors
Working in Western and Southern Barents Sea, Stavanger, Norway: Offshore
Technology Conference.
Gudmestad, O. et al., 2007. Engineering aspects related to Arctic Offshore
Developments. St. Petersburg, Russia: LAN.
Gudmestad, O. & Markeset, T., 2013. Working under extreme conditions. [Online]
Available at: http://www.uis.no/news/working-under-extreme-conditions-article69473-
8865.html
Gudmestad, O. T., 2011. Lecture-8a Arctic Polar low pressures and icing, Stavanger,
Norway: s.n.
Gudmestad, O. et al., 1999. Basics of Offshore Petroleum Engineering and
Development of Marine Facilities. Stavanger and Trondheim , Norway; Moscow and St.
Petersburg, Russia: original layout, print publishing, "Oil and Gas", 1999.
Helgesen, O., 2013. Statoil vil inn i Shtokmann igjen. Teknisk Ukeblad, 11 April, pp. 12
- 13.
Heller, J. & Zieve, D., 2012. MedilinePlus. [Online]
Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000057.htm
[Accessed 12 May 2013].
International Standard ISO, 2008. ISO 20815 Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas
industries - Production assurance and reliability managment. 2008-06-01 ed. Geneva,
Switzerland: ISO.
International Standard Organisation ISO, 2010. Petroleum and natural gas industries —
Arctic offshore structures (final draft), Geneva: International Standard Organisation.
International Standardization Organization, ISO, 2010. ISO 19906 Arctic Offshore

Structures, Geneva, Switzerland: International Standardization Organization ISO.
Investopedia US, 2013. Investopedia. [Online]
Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operations-
management.asp#axzz2Ml7omnUR
Jacobsen, S. R. & Gudmestad, O. T., 2012. Evacuation from Petroleum Facilities
Operating in the Barents Sea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Proceedings of the ASME 2011
31st International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering OMAE2012.
Jones, R., 1995. Chapter-11, People: The newest measure in risk. In: Risk-based
management. s.l.:Gulf Publishing Co..
Kayrbekova, D., Barabadi, A. & Markeset, T., 2011. Maintenance cost evaluation of a
system to be used in Arctic conditions: A case study. In: PhD Thesis UIS no. 144:
Production Performance Analysis, RReliability, Maintainability and Operational
Conditions. Stavanger and Trømso, Norway: University of Stavanger and University of
Trømso, pp. 119 - 138.
Khonsari, M., 2007. http://www.machinerylubrication.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1014/low-temperature-
viscosity-limits
Kumar, R. & Markeset, T., 2005. RCM as a Tool to Improve Production Performance –
Examples from Norwegian Industry. Bhubaneswar, India, The Proceedings of
Geominetech Symposium on “New Equipment-New Technology management and
Safety” in Mining and Mineral based Industries, May 11-12th.
Larsen, A. C., 2007. Production facility design for operation, maintenance and support
in cold regions, Stavanger: PhD Student at Univeristy of Stavanger, Tromsø University
College.
Lehmann, S. & Wilson, P., 2012. Work Execution Data is the Key to Managing Day to
Day Frontline Operational Risk , s.l.: SPE Conference Paper .
Lewis, H. ø., 2013. Ny redningsdrakt skal redde flere liv i nord. [Online]
Available at: http://www.aftenbladet.no/energi/Ny-redningsdrakt-skal-redde-flere-liv-i-
nord-3186727.html#.UbM0qpzm6So
Lewis, H. ø., 2013. Ny redningsdrakt skal redde flere liv i nord, Norway, Stavanger:
Aftenbladet.
Lloyd’s Maritime Academy Seminar, 2009. Shipboard Winterisation. London, England,
Lloyd’s Maritime Academy.
LLOYD'S, 2005. Maritime Atlas of world ports and shipping places. London, UK:
Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit.
Løset, S., Shkhinek, K., Gudmestad, O. & Høyland, K., 2006. Actions from ice on
Arctic Offshore and Costal Structures. St. Petersburg, Russia: LAN.
Markeset, T., 2008. Design for High Performance Assurance for Offshore Production
Facilities in Remote Harsh and Sensitive Environment. Quarterly Journal of the
Operational Research Society of India (OPSEARCH), September, pp. 189 - 208.
Markeset, T., 2008. Design for Petroleum Production Performance in Arctic Locations
Considering Maintenance and Support Services, Beijing, China: Proceedings of the
Mine Planning and Equipment Selection Conference (MPES2008), October 20-22nd.
Markeset, T., 2010. Design for Performance: Review of Current Research in Norway,
Nara, Japan: The Proceedings of Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering
Managment (COMADEM2010), June 28-July2.
Markeset, T., 2012. Lecture MOM 350 – Condition monitoring and management,
University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway: s.n.
Markeset, T., 2012. Lecture MOM460 - Operations and maintenance management,
University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway: s.n.
Murray, M., 2013. http://www.about.com. [Online]
Available at: http://logistics.about.com/od/supplychainsoftware/a/Inbound-And-
Outbound-Deliveries-In-Sap.htm
National Geophysical Data Center, 2012. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/arctic/maps/version3_0/Ver3_Map_LetterS
ize_square.pdf
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2013. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.
[Online]
Available at: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oceanfreeze.html
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2013. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.
[Online]
Available at: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/economy/arctic/#2
Net Resources International, 2012. hydrocarbons-technology.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/snohvit-lng/
NORSOK, 2007. NORSOK N-003, Actions and action effects. [Online]
Available at: http://www.standard.no/PageFiles/1149/N-003e2.pdf
Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, 2011. www.dirnat.no. [Online]
Available at: http://english.dirnat.no/content/500041721/Protected-areas-in-Svalbard
Offshore, 2013. http://www.offshore-mag.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/2013/02/partners-agree-on-concept-
for-skrugard-havis-oil-development-off.html
Ole Anders, L., 2011. The new delimitation agreement: Norwegian approach to
sustainable resource management. Moscow, Russia, Ole Anders Lindseth, Director
General, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Overland, J., 1990. Prediction of Vessel Icing for Near-Freezing Sea Temperatures.
Weather and Climate, Volume 5, pp. 62-77.
Pettersen, T., 2011. http://barentsobserver.com. [Online]

Available at: http://barentsobserver.com/en/sections/topics/stop-production-statoils-lng-
plant
[Accessed 6 May 2013].
Piskarev, A. & Shkatov, M., 2012. Energy potential of the Russian Arctic Seas. 1.
Edition ed. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Rekdal, O., 2012. PowerPoint Presentation: Goliat – Arctic Challenges and Solutions;
DNV Winter ART Seminar, February 2nd, 2012, Høvik: Eni Norge.
Rupesh, K., Barabady, J., Markeset, T. & Kumar, U., 2012. Improving Maintainability
in Extreme Cold Climatic Conditions. International Journal of Performability
Engineering, September, pp. 563 - 572.
Ryerson, C., 2008. Assessment of Superstructure Ice Protection as Applied to Offshore
Oil Operations Safety, USA: US Army Crops of Engineers.
Ryerson, C. & Gow, A., 2000. Ship Superstructure Icing: Crystalline and Physical
Properties, s.l.: US Army Corps of Engineers.
Sanders, M. & McCormic, E., 1992. Chapter-22: Human factors in systems design. In:
Human factors in engineering and design. s.l.:McGraw Hill.
Scandinavian Oil and Gas, 2012. Commentary. Scandinavian Oil and Gas, 9/10(40), p.
5.
Statoil, 2012. Statoil.com. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.statoil.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2012/Pages/08Jan_Havis.aspx
Available at:
http://www.statoil.com/en/ouroperations/explorationprod/ncs/snoehvit/pages/default.asp
x
Available at:
http://www.statoil.com/en/OurOperations/FutureVolumes/ProjectDevelopment/Pages/S
krugard.aspx
Available at:
http://www.statoil.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2013/Pages/12feb_Skrugard.aspx
The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, 2011. The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty.
[Online]
Available at: http://www.ats.aq/e/ats_environ.htm
United States Arctic Research Commission, 2009. http://www.arctic.gov. [Online]
Available at: http://www.arctic.gov/publications/AMSA.html
Wong, W., 2002. Chapter-4: Human factors. In: How did that happen: Engineering
Safety and Reliability. s.l.:Professional Engineering Publishing.
Zahn, M. & Storch, H., 2010. Decreased frequency of North Atlantic polar lows
associated with future climate warming. Nature, 16 September, pp. 309 - 312.
Declaration 65
Declaration
I hereby declare that I have written this Master thesis independently.Only named
sourceshavebeenused.Literally assumedbodiesof thoughtshavebeenindicated.
Signature

Krüger Johannes PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Krüger Johannes PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

University of

Faculty of Scienceand Technolory

Operationsand Maintenanceof Oil and Gas platforms under Arctic conditions

Faculty supervisor: Professor Tore Markeset

Processing time: 1st February 2013 until 15th June 2013

Stavanger, June 2013

List of figures ................................................................................................................... 5

List of tables .................................................................................................................... 6

List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 7

Prologue and acknowledgments .................................................................................... 8

2 Theoretical background .................................................................................... 11

3.3 Communicational and navigational challenges ................................................... 28

4 Maintenance and reliability in the Arctic ....................................................... 39

5 Goliat FPSO ....................................................................................................... 53

6 Summary and conclusion .................................................................................. 58

List of references ........................................................................................................... 59

Declaration .................................................................................................................... 65

Prologue and acknowledgments

1.1 Problem statement

Figure 1: Different environmental regions in the Norwegian Barents Sea (modified,

1.2 Goal of the thesis

1.2.1 Sub goals

2.1 Oil and gas development in cold environments

2.1.1 Current projects

Figure 3: The Snøhvit project (Engebretsen, et al., 2002)

2.1.1.2 Johan Castberg (Skrugard-Havis)

2.1.2 Expected reserves of the Arctic

Figure 5: Different potential basins (Belonin & Grigorenko, 2007)

As it can be seen in Figure 5 the highest potential basins are:

Figure 6: Undiscovered Oil reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009)

Figure 7: Undiscovered Gas reserves in Arctic regions (Gautier, 2009)

2.2 Arctic location and cold climate

Figure 8: Arctic Ocean (National Geophysical Data Center, 2012)

2.2.2 Cold climate

2.3 Operations and maintenance

3 Critical factors for operation and maintenance in

Table 1: Critical factors overview

Factor Sub factors

Communication and Navigation  Communication means

Materials and lubrication oils  Materials

Operations  Human factors

3.2 Environmental challenges

3.2.3 Ice and icing

3.2.3.1 Sea ice and icebergs

Time period Conditions

Figure 10: Icing on a vessel (Gudmestad, 2012)

Figure 11: Vessel icing process (Ryerson & Gow, 2000, p. 2)

PPR = Icing Predictor (moCs-1)

3.2.5 Polar Low

3.2.6 Weather forecast

3.2.8 Sensitive environment

3.2.8.1 Pollution sources and types

 The offshore platforms

Pollution source Type of pollution (normal and accidental)

Pipelines  Accidental release of oil or gas products

Helicopter  Air pollution

Tanker ships  Spill of oil or LNG

Icebreakers  Impact on ice structures and thus wildlife

Supply vessels  Air pollution

3.2.8.2 Arctic species under the impact of pollution

3.3 Communicational and navigational challenges

3.4 Challenges related to materials and lubrication oils