Issue : October-December 2004

HVAC for OFFSHORE PLATFORMS

(Part 1 of 2)
By M. P. Ravindranathan Consultant M. P. Ravindranathan is an electrical engineer from Kerala University with 40 years experience in HVAC & R and has worked with four companies in India, the last one being Blue Star Ltd. He moved to Dubai in 1979 and in 1992 designed, installed and commissioned an HVAC system on a platform for Nigerian Oil Co. on behalf of Specialist Services, Abu Dhabi, that specialises in topside outfitting of platforms. In 1993 he joined the same company and worked on a very large platform for Qatar Liquified Petroleum Co. and later on several other projects including two for ONGC, India. He retired in 2002 and now lives in his native Kerala. He can be contacted at rvndrn@sancharnet.in With the ever-increasing demand and high prices of oil and gas, explorations for new sources of these two products have been a vital component of any expanding economy throughout the world. With the discovery of large quantities of offshore deposits of oil and gas in various parts of the world, including India (Bombay High, Krishna Godavari basin off the

Andhra coast and block NEC-25 off the Orissa coast, where Reliance has recently made new gas discoveries), there has been a growing requirement for building process utility modules, accommodation modules/platforms, well heads, control modules, laboratories etc., suitable for offshore application. These units accommodate anywhere from 20 to 200 persons (engineers, technicians and skilled workers) all year around. Considering the occupational hazards offshore and other social factors, people take turns in predetermined periodic cycles, to return home, depending on the policies of different organizations employed on the platforms. HVAC systems must be designed and installed on these modules/platforms with utmost care and thought given to reliability of design and equipment performance. Engineers India Ltd., has provided consultancy to a number of offshore projects in India and abroad. Indian HVAC contractors, who are well experienced in every kind of land-based HVAC system, do not have as much experience on offshore installations, though a couple of foreign organizations have started offshore-related works in India recently. They are basically manufacturers of equipment suitable for offshore operations. This article will help explain the complexities of designing offshore installations and how to go about carrying out the design and selection of a proper system and related equipment. While preparing this article, I have kept in mind a large sized accommodation platform, as that will cover practically all aspects of a custom-built HVAC installation offshore, having capacities in the range of 150 to 350 tons. Other installations like control rooms, MWD laboratories etc. will have installations with basic design concept on the same lines, but with a lesser degree of detail, sophistication and sizing, as the capacities of such installations will be much less, say in the range of 2 to 20 tons.

Codes and Specifications

The codes and specifications shown in the box alongside are the ones generally followed in Europe. Comparable American codes and specifications can be followed. The list given is only for guidance and is not exhaustive. 1. SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) Consolidated Edition 1997 (Published by the International Maritime Organization, 4, Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR). This code specifies the minimum requirements to ensure safety at sea, for vessels (in our case, accommodation platforms, though stationary, are to be considered equivalent to ocean going vessels) 2. British Standard BS EN ISO 15138:2001 - Petroleum and natural gas industries Offshore production installations Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.

3. Area Classification Code for Petroleum Installations The Institute of Petroleum, London 4. NFPA 496 Standard for Purged and Pressurized Enclosures for Electrical Equipment 2003 edition 5. CIBSE Chapter A4 for pressurization calculations 6. ASHRAE Book of Fundamentals latest edition 7. ASHRAE Standard Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality 62-2001 8. BS 229.1957 Flameproof enclosure of electrical apparatus (Exd) 9. BS 1259.1958 Intrinsically safe electrical apparatus and circuits for use in explosive atmospheres (Exi) 10. BS 4137.1967 Guide to the selection of electrical equipment for use in division 2 areas (ExN) 11. BS 4683 Electrical apparatus for explosive atmospheres 12. BS 5000 Rotating electrical machines of particular type of particular applications 13. BS 5308 Instrumentation cable intended for intrinsically safe systems 14. BS 5345 Code of practice for the selection, installation and maintenance of electrical apparatus for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. 15. BS 5501 Electrical apparatus for potentially explosive atmospheres. 16. BS 6941:1988 Electrical apparatus type N 17. BS 6351 Electrical surface heating 18. BS 540 Part I for dust particle sizing and removal 19. BP group Recommended practices and specifications for engineering Doc. No. GS 114-1 HVAC Dampers for Offshore Use 20. SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards Metal and Flexible Second Edition 1995 or DW 142 for duct fabrication 21. SMACNA HVAC Air Duct Leakage test Manual First Edition 1985 or DW 143 for testing of ducts Note: Items H to R mentioned above are typical and are for reference.

Special Features of an Offshore Installation

Safety Considerations. The first and foremost consideration is the safety aspect that overrules any other activity on an offshore platform since the value of human life cannot be quantified. Hence, absolutely no chance shall be taken while designing any system. This aspect

is more relevant and important, as many of the offshore installations are in areas where toxic gases are present or can get pumped out along with crude oil or gas, besides the fire hazard, which is relatively easier to comprehend. These two hazards combined together can play havoc with human life besides the damage they can inflict on costly equipment and systems, with an effect on various other activities downstream. To give an idea of the toxicity and the danger of Hydrogen Sulphide, which is the most commonly found gas in oil fields, exposure to H S of 10
2

ppm concentration for about an hour will bring about loss of sight and damage to the brain. Exposure to 200 ppm concentration for a duration of less than 5 minutes can result in death. Since HVAC involves handling air, which can get contaminated with gases, adequate care has to be taken to prevent gas ingress into accommodation areas, restrict air flows to prevent spread of gas or fire into surrounding areas and to ensure safe evacuation of personnel. This aspect is very important, as one has very few options on an offshore installation, when any accident occurs on the field. One can only choose certain death either by suffocation or burns or by drowning, in case things go out of control, as was experienced in the biggest tragedy that occurred in one North Sea oil production platform, about 15 years back, in which about 180 lives were lost. Labour and Logistical Cost. To carry out any installation offshore, the cost involved is prohibitively high. Hence detailed engineering has to be done prior to taking up the installation, with a view to reduce offshore work as much as possible, except the final hookup which can only be done offshore. In the case of a new installation, such as, say, living quarters (LQ) to be installed on a platform, the basic structure will be usually fabricated on shore, all utilities outfitted and then transported to the location offshore by means of barges and lifted onto the final position by cranes. In such a case, one has to carry out practically 100% of the work onshore, as otherwise, the contractor will have to pay through his nose to get anything done later offshore. Once, the writer carried out an exercise working out the cost of doing a very minor modification to a drain connection for an air handling unit, which was not working satisfactorily due to the shifting of a service pipe of some other service from the originally planned route due to some functional requirement of that discipline. On a land installation, this modification would cost, say about Rs 200, where as the same work offshore would cost, more than Rs 20,000, depending on the availability of boats, as materials cannot be transported in helicopters. (Only personnel can be transported in helicopters, as per security/safety regulations with limited quantity of personal clothes. Even aerosol filled perfume cans are not permitted).

Space Constraints. As is well known, space available is very limited on any offshore installation, due to the high cost of structural, protective coating and allied requirements. Since HVAC is only one of the services required for the installation, the HVAC engineer will usually find himself on the defensive on the space aspect as well. Most of the time, equipment manufacturer's space requirements cannot be made available in a straight forward manner. The HVAC engineer will be required to justify the space requirements for installation and maintenance with proper documentation. In most of the cases, adequate drawings will have to be made to prove that required access space will be available. Since all services are virtually fighting for space, the need for proper engineering, co-ordination with other services and clash checking cannot be underestimated. At times one can be fighting for millimeters with other services. When we consider space as a constraint, recent developments such as the Montreal Protocol and restrictions imposed on the use of halogen gases due to their ozone penetration capability are adding to the problems of a HVAC engineer. Refrigerant-22 is on the way out and the replacement refrigerants proposed such as R-407, R- 407C, R-134a etc. all will result in larger size equipment for comparable duty. This matter needs further study and this point is raised only for our comprehension of the situations that will follow, over the years to come.

[top] Constructional Features. The constructional features of any platform will naturally be different from those found onshore, mainly due to the corrosion resistance and fire rating required for the external walls/decks and a number of internal walls/decks surrounding areas like electrical, battery rooms, etc. due to the safety codes. Doors on these walls shall have the

same fire integrity and hence will be provided with gaskets etc. which will help maintain pressurization. Engineering Aspects. The importance of detailed engineering cannot be underestimated as any correction or modification which may be required to be carried out after commissioning a platform will be extremely costly. For example, in the case of a land installation, the cost of corrections will be lower than the cost of engineering, at least time-wise, as can be best explained in an example. How many times does an HVAC engineer carry out detailed air pressure drop calculations for an installation onshore? Mostly, he goes by his experience and arbitrarily assumes a pressure drop depending on the installation. Motor and drive for the AHU or fan are selected on this basis. The time taken for working out pressure drop calculations even by using software will be generally costlier than any modification. In the case of an offshore installation, corrective action will be much more costly and justifies a detailed pressure drop calculation even manually. My experience has shown that softwarebased pressure drop calculations generally tend to give very high values, say 30 to 40% higher than manual calculations, due to the built-in safety factors, which result in oversized motor and increased air flow, creating difficulties in air balancing and condensate removal, due to larger percentage of fresh air. Similarly, the importance of engineering reflects in control systems too. There will be an overall control system contractor for the installation and the HVAC system has to be integrated into it, to comply with the safety and security codes. Since various constraints are applicable to the control system contractor too, any change by the HVAC engineer will result in back charging by the control system contractor, which can be avoided if detailed engineering is done accurately the first time. Fire dampers are to be operated remotely by the platform control system and the operation has to be monitored for safe operation of the system and the platform. There was a typical case, once, in an installation, where the HVAC contractor proposed increasing the quantity of fire dampers by just one number, i.e. from 82 to 83. The control system contractor, who had completed his engineering by then, put forth a demand of back charging the HVAC contractor a sum of $ 300, 000 or so, to take care of the additional requirement, since the operation of all fire dampers had to be controlled and monitored by the F&G (fire and gas) system. This amount of $ 300,000 was quite justifiable from any point of view for that installation. The HVAC contractor was forced to revise his designs by replacing another relatively unimportant small size fire damper with a long fire rated sleeve, which was permitted by the relevant codes. (This is a true incident that occurred during the construction of a platform in the Middle East).

Though, compared to structural work and heavy equipment required to be installed on a platform, the weight of HVAC machinery and other ancillary items will be of lower magnitude, weight analysis of HVAC items will need detailed study, while planning the marine spread (industry jargon for all logistics involved in erecting an offshore structure) and services to be provided for installation and hook up offshore. The platforms are fabricated onshore and later transported to the final location in barges. While planning the marine spread, cranes will have to be suitably selected. At times, the weight of the platform will need shedding and after the loose fittings such as furniture, air conditioning ducts and other roof mounted equipment will be items such as packaged equipment and fans, that will generally be in the shedding order, to be reinstalled after structural hook up of the platform. On many installations in classified hazardous areas, the chillers and pump sets need installation in pressurized rooms, so that standard safe area equipment can be installed, subject to safety philosophy of the platform and the consultant's appraisal of related factors. There will be control interlocks to ensure that such equipment will operate only when the pressurization is effective. Naturally, the pressurizing fan, mostly the supply fan of the concerned air handling unit will be a zone-classified motor driven equipment. Needless to say, engineering documentation is of utmost importance through all phases of installation. All equipment shall be identifiable with tag numbers, keeping in line with the design and engineering philosophy of the project. These tag numbers should appear in all drawings and documents to facilitate easy and fast reference. Preparing the following documents will go a long way in ensuring a properly executed installation: 1. Heat load calculations and capacity work out 2. PID (Piping and Instrument Diagram) for chilled water and condenser cooling system 3. DID (Ducting and Instrument Diagram) for air distribution system 4. SLD (Single Line Diagram) for air distribution are prepared with data on pressure drop/meter, velocity, air flow rates and duct sizing for each section. A well prepared SLD will help considerably in pressure drop calculations. 5. Duct layouts and sections 6. Chilled water and condenser water piping layouts and sections 7. Instrument air piping layouts 8. Equipment layouts and sections 9. Air pressure drop calculations for each system 10. Water pressure drop calculations for chilled water and condenser cooling systems as applicable

11. HVAC load schedule ( to form a part of the overall electrical documentation) 12. Power cable schedule 13. Control cable schedule 14. MCT schedule and MCT design 15. Cable tray sizing calculations 16. Installation procedure 17. Pre-commissioning procedure 18. Commissioning procedure The above document list is a typical one generally followed by well-known clients and consultants such as TOTAL. This list can be varied to suit project requirements and clients' preferences. Hazardous Area Classification for Equipment. Since most of the offshore installations will be in a classified area, the equipment shall be manufactured and certified to be in compliance with the relevant hazardous area requirement. All installations need not be in classified areas, in which case standard equipment, which can withstand the saliferous and corrosive marine atmosphere, can be selected. For technical definitions, refer to more authoritative references such as British Standards. It should be noted that areas that could contain potentially explosive atmospheres are classified into degrees of hazard. These are called 'zones', but were formally called divisions. This is a term still used by the American codes of practice. Since European (inclusive of British) specifications are found to be more comprehensive and used in the installations handled by the writer, the term 'zones' is being used in this context. A safe area is considered as a space, where there will not be any trace of hazardous gases at any time. Zone 2 is an area in which an explosive gas-air mixture is likely to occur only rarely in normal operation, and if it occurs, will exist only for a short period. Zone 1 is an area in which an explosive gas-air mixture is likely to occur occasionally during normal operation. Zone 0 is an area in which an explosive gas-air mixture is continuously present or present for long periods. It should be noted that this area classification deals only with risks due to flammable gases and vapours and by implication flammable mists. It does not deal with dusts. As per the practice followed, ventilated space beyond 3 meters from the periphery of a zone 1 space is considered as zone 2. Similarly, ventilated space beyond 3 meters from the periphery of zone 0 space is considered as zone 1. Zone 0 is obviously the area in which a source of such flammable gas exists. (Caution: the above is only a guide line, not a definition.)

As a general rule followed for electrical equipment, what we come across in most of the offshore installations is HVAC equipment to meet with zone 2 requirements. In zone 1 areas, electrical equipment is generally avoided, as far as possible. HVAC equipment will not be installed in zone 1 areas, except for very essential exhaust equipment, on say, well head structures. And in zone 0 areas, no electrical equipment, and hence no HVAC equipment, is considered at all, except works associated with instrumentation, which will invariably be provided through IS barriers. (Intrinsically Safe barriers limit the energy fed to a circuit to prevent explosions) [top] Corrosion Resistance. Needless to say, the equipment to be installed offshore shall be adequately treated for corrosion as per marine engineering practice or project specifications, since for any offshore project, this aspect calls for detailed specifications. Technician's Versatality. Since engineers and technicians going offshore will find it difficult to get adequate accommodation both for stay offshore and transportation, the persons selected will have to carry out multidiscipline tasks. On land installations, this aspect will be of lesser magnitude, though an all-rounder will have advantages on land too. On offshore, this requirement is a must, but on land, this is an optional one, as alternatives are cheaper to provide. Transportation between land base and offshore facilities is generally by helicopters for personnel and by service boats for materials. There will be a lot of logistical constraints in organizing the handling of material and personnel. Unless the task involved requires very special skills (like certified welders), or highly time consuming works, it will not be justifiable to bring in additional work force many times. An incident comes to mind, when a process utility platform was being hooked up offshore in West Africa. A sudden downpour brought to the attention of all concerned, a concealed slit on the roof, though welding was done and inspected by a third party onshore. This incident is being highlighted to show that human failures can occur anywhere. The engineer representing the contractor in the field was an electrical engineer, who had to face the frowning faces of all concerned and organize welding and fire rated insulation under the roof deck. Welding was done by a certified welder of another agency who was glad to sublet the services at a very high cost. There was no experienced or skilled insulator available and hence this electrical engineer had to carry out the fire rated insulation himself. The whole work took just two days. If personnel had to be brought in by his organization from Abu Dhabi, the documentation, like visa, seaman's pass, etc. would itself have taken at least a month. Just imagine the cost involved in getting such personnel. Since other activities were to follow this 'minor' repair, the marine

spread, i.e. providing large Derrick barges and personnel, would have cost the company millions and would have left a big hole in the bottom line of their operations. Standby Equipment. All important equipment particularly, rotating machinery, should have adequately installed standby equipment. Availability of Spare Parts. Spare parts should be easily available in the stores of the user, at least, in the onshore base, if space problems inhibit storage offshore. Sea Fastening. Since the platforms will be generally constructed and commissioned onshore, various equipment will need sea fastening, before transporting them offshore for hook up. Certification by agencies like Lloyds, ABS etc. Offshore installations will always need third party certification by world renowned agencies such Lloyds, ABS, etc. for compliance to specifications. Though all the above factors are relevant for any installation, whether onshore or offshore, these are to be considered without compromise for any offshore installation to achieve a healthy and hassle free installation, at a minimum possible cost, complying with the relevant codes of practice. Any deviation or compromise will result in costly repair or modification works as any work carried out offshore will be extremely costly.

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Design of the HVAC System

Heat Load Calculations. Just like any other HVAC installation, the starting point in carrying out a heat load estimate, both for cooling and heating, will depend on the ambient and inside conditions specified. However, before taking up the heat load calculations, it is necessary to

work out the fresh air requirement for each area in detail, as pressurization is an important requirement. Fresh Air Requirement is worked out not only on the basis of occupancy or exhaust requirements, but more importantly on the pressurization requirement of the area concerned. Highest of the values worked out on these various parameters shall be chosen as the fresh air requirement for any area. Adequate positive pressurization (generally in the range of 30 to 70 Pa) is essential to prevent ingress of toxic or hazardous gases like H S or CO or CO .
2 2

Generally entry/exit points on each deck level are provided with air locks from which return air will not be taken back to the AHU, as a good engineering practice. In such cases, the air supply requirement into the air lock will be governed more by the leakage area of the external door of the air lock, rather than the inside conditions, as inside conditions are not important for air locks, as no one stays in these rooms for long. An allowance for ageing of the gaskets of the external doors may be given, depending on the type of installation. However, any such allowances will tend to increase the size of the plant increasing design and construction constraints, such as space for installation of ducting etc. Since any revision of fresh air requirement at a later stage of design can change the capacity of the plant considerably, it is advisable to freeze the fresh air quantity before getting into detailed calculations. Smoking Rooms. Quite naturally, smoking is forcefully restricted to very limited areas, such as identified smoking rooms or recreations rooms. No return air is taken from these rooms. Exhaust Air Requirements. Similar to the fresh air requirements for various areas, exhaust requirements from areas (such as clinic, kitchen, toilets, battery rooms etc.) should be finalized considering various codes of practice. This will help in the preparation of a proper air balance chart for all the areas of any system, which in turn will facilitate further engineering and drawing works. Whenever pressurization with a view to prevent ingress of toxic or flammable gases is involved, such air balance charts are very essential, as return air will also have to be ducted to get a proper air balance. Many contractors have used return air plenums above a false ceiling, which results in unbalanced operations within a short period of commissioning, as the space above the false ceiling is being used for other services too and the maintenance staff of HVAC looses control over the performance of the plant. Equipment Heat Gain. Though it may be difficult to freeze the other parameters such as equipment load (heat rejection from equipment, switch gear panels etc.), and lighting load, during the initial stages, as design work for various disciplines is under progress concurrently, it

will be advisable to consider such factors based on comparable installations to begin with. However, before the design calculations are frozen, the final values of these parameters should be obtained from other disciplines. Reheating. Where reheating or winter heating is required, it is advisable to use software similar to Carrier E 20 II, Windows version (for Indian offshore conditions, winter heating will find very limited use). For electrical, instrumentation and telecom rooms, reheating will be required to maintain the desired levels of relative humidity. DOS version of the above software is found inadequate in working out the reheating requirements. Humidification has been found to be an avoidable luxury, since the requirement of humidification will be only for a very short and negligible length of time in Middle East and Indian waters. [top]