PETROBRAS TESTS P-53 PLATFORM
TURBINES
USING AGGREKO LOADBANK RENTALS
- Platform to produce
180,000 barrels of oil /six million cubic metres of gas per
day
- Aggreko load bank
testing crucial for commissioning of
turbines
- Growing demand for
load bank testing in Brazil to ensure reliable power
supplies
Brazil, January
2008- Aggreko plc, the global leader in the provision of
temporary power and temperature control services, has successfully
completed load tests for Petrobras SA, the largest energy company
in Brazil, on four turbogenerator sets on the new P-53 platform.
When the P-53 platform is operating at full capacity, its four 27MW
turbines will produce energy equivalent to the supply for a city of
170,000 inhabitants. In order to ensure that the turbines would be
able to operate at full capacity, Aggreko carried out several load
tests during a 45-day period to commission the turbines using
resistive and reactive load banks.
Load testing is a critical aspect of the
commissioning process of an oil platform, as it ensures that the
turbines are properly assembled and installed. “It is worth noting
that the turbines were tested before the platform start-up to avoid
any energy supply problems upon start-up, which could delay
production,” said Diogenes Paoli Neto, Managing Director, Aggreko
South America.
The use of load banks has been growing in
Brazil in recent years. This technology detects possible weaknesses
and allows measures to be taken to minimise any faults in the
turbines after commissioning. Altogether, the P-53 load testing
project used 23 interconnected containers – including load banks,
step-up transformers, protection systems and auxiliary generators –
which allowed the platform turbines to be tested at 110% capacity,
as specified by the certification agency.
After all the turbines were tested, a complete
document, in addition to daily reports, was created, showing all
the results of the project. “The feasibility of these tests has
been discussed since 2006, while the contract was executed on May
1st, 2008. One month after the signing of the contract,
the power solution was available in Rio Grande Port, waiting for
authorization to startup,” said Diógenes Paoli Neto. Besides the
turbine tests, Petrobras required 12 MVA in advance to load test
the P-53 auxiliary generators, a request which was promptly met by
Aggreko.
Aggreko is the world leader in the provision
of temporary power services, performing tests with resistive and
reactive load banks on generators for clients around the world and
has been operating in Brazil for five years. Aggreko is currently
the largest supplier of temporary power for Petrobras in Campos
Basin, in Rio de Janeiro. The partnership between Aggreko and the
state-owned company started in 2005, when Aggreko supplied 1250kVA
and 800kVA generators to local platforms over a two-year period.
Since that time, Aggreko has worked closely with Petrobras on many
projects, including performing load tests during the commissioning
of the platforms Barracuda P-43 and Caratinga P-48.
Further Information:
P-53 is an FPSO - a floating
production, storage and offloading oil platform. It cost $US 1.3
billion to build. As part of the Brazilian Growth Acceleration
Program, the conversion to a Floating Production Unit (FPU) was
performed in Singapore and the production modules were built in
Niteroi, Rio Grande and Singapore. The platform was installed in
Marlim Leste field, 125km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Campos
Basin. Its hull is 346m long and and 57m wide. The platform is 110m
high and can produce 180,000 barrels of oil and six million cubic
metres of gas per day.