Gas Turbine Power for Offshore Oil Production (Revised)
Authors: Lundstrom Wade O. 
Published: December 2007

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the 45th Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Ventura, Calif., April 2–4, 1975. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

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Gas turbines have, in the last eight years, developed into a reliable, low maintenance and highly versatile prime mover easily adaptable to oil field production operations. This is demonstrated by Union Oil Company operated Grayling Platform, Cook Inlet, Alaska, which has twenty-one 1100 HP gas turbines driving centrifugal gas compressors, centrifugal water injection pumps, an oil shipping pump and AC generators.

Gas turbines, their driven equipment and accessories can be operated and maintained in an Alaskan offshore oil production operations for as little as $4.38 per HP month. This is compared to $4.22 per HP month in 1971.

Turbine availabilities are consistently in excess of 99 percent and compressor plant availability in excess of 98.7 percent.

All data are based on an accumulated 750,000 hours of engine operation during 1968 through 1974.

Introduction

The Grayling Platform, Cook Inlet, Alaska, is presently equipped with twenty-one Solar Saturn 1100 HP gas turbine engines driving various types of equipment.

Six of these 22,300 rpm turbines are used as prime movers driving, through gear boxes, multi-stage centrifugal water injection pumps capable of delivering over 70,000 B/D at 3500 psig. Four other turbines are driving 750 kw, psig. Four other turbines are driving 750 kw, 480 v, 60 Hz generators for the entire platform AC power supply. platform AC power supply. Gas compression requires the largest block of horsepower because the Grayling wells are produced with gas lift. Two gas lift plants produced with gas lift. Two gas lift plants are in operation, one with three turbine driven centrifugal compressors operating in series and delivering 15 to 18 MMCF/D at 1300 psig. The other plant has five turbines as prime movers, each driving centrifugal compressors. Three low stage compressors operate in parallel, charging two high stage compressors in parallel and delivering 22 to 27 MMCF/D at 1250 psig with compression ratios approaching five per stage. Two turbines drive centrifugal compressors to ship gas to shore.

One additional turbine drives a centrifugal pump shipping oil to shore. All of these units pump shipping oil to shore. All of these units utilize natural gas as fuel with one unit being a combination gas or diesel.