The challenge of increased recovery in development of subsea fields has driven the advancement of subsea processing technologies, in particular within the subsea boosting domain. The successful operation of large subsea boosting systems on a global scale, coupled with significant added value of pre-compression systems in gas fields, has driven the next technology step; subsea multiphase compression. The application of the multiphase compressor in a subsea environment simplifies a subsea compression system significantly, as there is no need for pre-processing. This enables development of simplified subsea systems at lower capital expenditure and field development costs.
This paper will provide an overview of the Technology Qualification Program (TQP) completed for Statoil's Gullfaks Subsea Compression (GSC) project, as well as present the WGC4000 compressor performance characteristics and mechanical design. Experiences from the GSC project, as well as deployment and commissioning of the subsea compression system in second half of 2015, will also be described.
