Abstract

During the last decade oil and gas finds offshore UK have been in deeper and more hostile waters. The cost of building and emplacing production platforms, be they built of steel or concrete have become extremely high. This has lead to a need to minimize the number of individual structures required.

A given field and the various facilities that in easier waters would be located on separate jackets have to be crammed onto a single structure. Hazardous equipment such as well-heads, oil-gas separators, and flares have to be accommodated alongside utilities and living quarters. This paper considers some of the problems of safety encountered and reviews the various engineering solutions considered. Reference is made to the layout of equipment, to the location of flares, to the use of fire and blast walls, and to the use of fire resistant materials of construction. The design of such a complex has to be a compromise and topside weight and deck are must be kept to a minimum in order to limit costs. However safety must not be compromised and full allowances must be made for ease of movement within the facilities of 100 to 200 personnel and for their escape from the platform in the event of a full emergency.

These and other topics will be considered in detail in this paper covering the subject of "Engineering for safety in the north sea". By D. Richardson Humglass London SWL.