An expert-based approach to production performance analysis of oil and gas facilities considering time-independent Arctic operating conditions

- The availability and throughput of offshore oil and gas plants operating in the Arctic are adversely influenced by the harsh environmental conditions. One of the major challenges in quantifying such effects is lack of adequate life data. The data collected in normal-climate regions cannot effectiv...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management
Main Authors: Naseri, Masoud, Barabady, Javad
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer International Publishing 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8744
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13198-015-0380-4
Description
Summary:- The availability and throughput of offshore oil and gas plants operating in the Arctic are adversely influenced by the harsh environmental conditions. One of the major challenges in quantifying such effects is lack of adequate life data. The data collected in normal-climate regions cannot effectively reflect the negative effects of harsh Arctic operating conditions on the reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) performance of the facilities. Expert opinions, however, can modify such data. In an analogy with proportional hazard models, this paper develops an expert-based availability model to analyse the performance of the plants operating in the Arctic, while accounting for the uncertainties associated with expert judgements. The presented model takes into account waiting downtimes and those related to extended active repair times, as well as the impacts of operating conditions on components’ reliability. The model is illustrated by analysing the availability and throughput of the power generation unit of an offshore platform operating in the Western Barents Sea.