Safety Aspects Related To Hydrocarbon Production And Processing Offshore Plants
Authors: Haun O. , Hansen H.R. , Nylund J. , Hafnor O.A. 
Published: October 2008

Offshore oil and gas production under conditions with increasing water depths and more desolate locations have tended to result in fewer and larger platforms with extremely high cost of space. In addition an integrated activity is desired comprising drilling, production and storage. Usually living accommodations are also located on the same platform.

Such complex facilities, mostly quite densely arranged, are introducing severe safety problems.

The safety philosophy and practical application of the philosophy is varying considerably within the oil industry and between different countries.

Existing national and international codes and standards have to some extent to be modified and supplemented in order to achieve an acceptable overall safety level.

Det norske Veritas has been acting as a Certifying Body for numerous offshore plants throughout the world. This has made it possible to compare different safety consideration in order to obtain a uniform safety level onboard the platforms.

To fill in the gaps in existing codes and standards, Det norske Veritas has developed regulations and guidelines with the purpose of helping the oil industry, contractors, consultants etc. in fulfilling mandatory requirements, and in obtaining uniform and acceptable overall safety level.

The safety evaluation of the design of hydrocarbon offshore plants may be devided into four parts:Concept evaluationProcess system and equipmentProcess safety systemEmergency system

Examples demonstrating the philosophy achieved through DnV's involvement in this field and some practical implications of this philosophy will be discussed in the paper.

INTRODUCTION

The development within the offshore oil and gas production industry has moved in the direction of increasing water depth which tend to result in fewer and larger installations. Higher cost of space lead to complicate installations intended to serve several activities as drilling, production and storage in addition to accommodate a large number of persons.

The large, integrated offshore installations are introducing severe safety problems. This is to some extent reflected in the requirements imposed by the national authorities in relation to such installations.

The safety philosophy and practical application of the philosophy is varying considerably within the oil industry and between different countries.

Det norske Veritas has through its involvement as a Certifying Body throughout the world had the opportunity to compare different safety philosophies and to focus the attention on areas which still need further consideration in order to obtains a uniform safety level onboard the installations.

An offshore oil and gas process plant should be considered as an industrial plant located in a marine environment. Therefore is the safety evaluation of offshore process plants based upon internationaly recognized industrial codes and standards, with additional requirements due to marine environment, limited space and difficult possibilities for escape.

Certification of an offshore process plant starts with evaluation of design and is continued with surveys during fabrication, installation, hook-up and commissioning.

The certification activities are based upon Quality Assurance program established by the owner, manufacturers, consultants and contractors. The degree of involvement of a Certifying Body will depend on how well the QA program is developed and implemented.