Abstract
The use of floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels for offshore oil production has been deemed the most effective solution, mainly for deep waters applications where they eliminate the need to lay an expensive long-distance pipeline to an onshore terminal. Another advantage is its storage capacity of up to fourteen days of total oil production. The cargo tanks are arranged below the ship deck in the hull to store this production. So far, the arrangement of the tanks is the same as used in oil tankers from which the FPSO design came. This paper presents a longitudinal cargo tank arrangement that aims to reduce the amount of equipment and piping on the FPSO deck. This longitudinal arrangement saves topside weight and space and reduces FPSO construction and commission time. Further benefits are achieved by reducing the cost of operating and maintaining the storage and offloading systems due to reducing the number of cargo pumps and piping.
