Trade Study of Alternative Controls and Power Distribution Architecture in Subsea Processing

This paper reports on a trade study of feasible concept alternatives for control and low voltage power distribution architecture for subsea process stations. Subsea gas compression is a new process station technology that is responding to the market need for extending the lifetime of existing subsea gas fields. These subsea process stations are deployed in deeper water, farther offshore and in harsher environments. The demand for a more efficient, less complex, and cheaper solution is pushing the technology development and screening for alternative concepts. The SPADE methodology has guided a trade study of concept opportunity exploration for alternative distribution architectures. The Pugh matrix demonstrated its ability to provide a simple overview of the multiple factors in a decisionmaking situation, with extensions for risk and opportunity assessment.