Abstract
The BM-C-33 field is located in Campos Basin 200 km offshore of the Rio de Janeiro state in Brasil. The field development will comprise an offshore development and an onshore development with a gas export pipeline connecting the two installations. The development concept includes subsea installations tied back to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit for crude storage and offloading to shuttle tankers. Gas will be exported to shore via Gas Export Pipeline (GEP).
The water depth at the field is nearly 3 000 m, making the field one of the deepest developments in the world. Pipeline tie-in architecture at such water depth is pushing the boundaries of current design codes, component design and installation vessel capacity. There is a need to ensure that the design limits the installation loads and ensures an installation friendly design. As a consequence, the BM-C-33 project has explored a design for a direct tie-in Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM) for the GEP system at the deep-water end.
This paper discusses the PLEM and tie-in architecture proposed for the connection of two 10.5″ ID Steel Catenary Risers (SCR) and the 22″ ND GEP in 2 735 m water depth. In addition, this paper discusses the background and processes leading to the selected concept.
