Safety in Design for Offshore Oil and Gas Projects

Abstract

The offshore facilities are in the remote area and the plant area is limited, therefore it is difficult to ensure the safety distance between the processing area and the living quarter area which results in the higher risk in the living quarter due to fire and explosion in the processing area. It is also difficult to ensure the safety distance between the equipment in the processing area which results in more the congested area and the confined area leading to the fire and explosion escalation. In addition, there is frequent ship / helicopter access for the production loading / the operators transfer therefore there is higher risk of the ship collision / the helicopter crash on the offshore facilities.

The risk analyses, such as the fire and explosion risk analysis, the ship collision analysis, the dropped object analysis, the escape, evacuation and rescue analysis, are carried out for the safety in design of the offshore facilities.

The risk analyses need to be completed at the early phase of the projects in order to consider the analysis results in the final designs. While the risk analyses need the design information, such as 3D model which includes process equipment size and layout, therefore it is important to expect the final design properly and carry out the risk analyses at the early phase of the projects.

The appropriate schedule of the risk analyses, and the accurate expectation of the final design information for the risk analyses are the key points for the safety design success.