Brazil’s state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. has joined forces with Curtiss-Wright Corp. to develop a totally electrical, extremely dependable subsea pumping system with far much less dependency on the manufacturing platform.
In a media launch, Petrobras mentioned that the brand new gear goals to scale back vessel prices, revitalize mature fields, and allow manufacturing by lengthy subsea flowlines connecting the nicely to the platform. The pair have agreed to conduct prototype testing beginning in 2026 within the Jubarte and Espadarte fields within the Campos Basin.
In case of profitable testing, the expertise is predicted to hit the market as early as 2028, in line with Petrobras.
The system will pump uncooked oil and gasoline mixtures at a depth of as much as 4,921 ft (1,500 meters) of water. Moreover, as a substitute of utilizing mechanical seals, the gear will use hermetically sealed (canned) motors. These improve reliability and effectivity, in addition to scale back unplanned interruptions and consequent manufacturing losses, Petrobras mentioned.
“This new mission’s success will positively impression your complete oil and gasoline trade, opening up new and higher manufacturing alternatives. This partnership reinforces Petrobras’s dedication to innovation and technological growth to boost our actions repeatedly”, Petrobras Engineering, Know-how, and Innovation Director Carlos Travassos mentioned.
Subsea pumping programs allow the reservoir fluid to rise to the manufacturing platform at larger stream charges. Pumps at present obtainable in the marketplace have a mean lifetime of round three years. As soon as they attain the tip of service it prices as much as $70 million to trade them. The brand new expertise is predicted to double the common life, Petrobras mentioned.
“This new pumping system is a pioneer available in the market. There are comparable motors, together with Curtiss-Wright’s, however this can be the primary sealless mudline pump to course of oil. Petrobras is proud to assist develop such a expertise, which is able to enable us to function higher and revenue extra”, mentioned Travassos.
Moreover, the specialists of Petrobras and Curtiss-Wright are learning an evolution of the prototype below growth—5 instances extra highly effective. This extra superior model may have a lifetime of no less than ten years, with one machine able to pumping two wells or extra concurrently whereas decreasing prices and rising productiveness, Petrobras mentioned.
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