ABSTRACT
Offloading hoses/flexible pipes are used to transfer compressed natural gas (CNG) from an intermediate floating CNG storage unit-floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) to CNG vessel. The floating hoses are subjected to environmental loads that are mainly waves, current, and vessel motions from both the FSO and the CNG vessel.
As a part of European Commission Horizon 2020, GASVESSEL project develops offshore transport and distribution technologies for natural gas. In the present study, the feasibility of an offshore loading/unloading system of CNG transportation system in the Barents Sea is investigated.
Numerical simulations are performed by using the software RIFLEX under SIMA workbench. Critical responses such as curvature and axial forces are checked. For the new offloading hose, it is important to check the combined bending-tension loading capacity. The results show that the specified hoses/flexible pipes of the loading/unloading system has ample capacity for the considered operating conditions.
Crude oil is by far European Union (EU)'s largest imported energy product (72 % of total EU energy imports in 2018), followed by natural gas in gaseous state (23 %) (Eurostat, 2019). To secure Europe's energy supply, the key is diversifying supply routes. This includes identifying and building new energy supply routes that unlock resources, to reduce Europe's dependence on a single supplier of natural gas and other energy resources (GASVESSEL, 2019) By proving the techno-economic feasibility of a novel CNG transport concept, the GASVESSEL project will open up new possibilities to exploit stranded, associated and flared gas where this is currently economically not viable and creates new costefficient gas transport solutions. The new offshore and onshore CNG system is enabled by a novel patented Pressure Vessel manufacturing technology and a new conceptual ship design including safe loading/unloading solution (CORDIS website, 2019).
The CNG transport concept of GASVESSEL studies possible new energy routes in Europe to three different oil and gas fields (Droushiotis, 2018):