Framework for Combined Diagnostics, Prognostics and Optimal Operation of a Subsea Gas Compression System

The efficient and safe operation of subsea gas and oil production systems sets strict requirements to equipment reliability to avoid unplanned breakdowns and costly maintenance interventions. Because of this, condition monitoring is employed to assess the status of the system in real-time. However, the condition of the system is usually not considered explicitly when finding the optimal operation strategy. Instead, operational constraints on flow rates, pressures etc., based on worst-case scenarios, are imposed. This can lead to unnecessarily restrained operation and significant economic losses. To avoid sub-optimal operation, we propose to integrate diagnostics and prognostics with the optimal decision making process for operation to obtain an operational strategy which is optimal subject to the expected system degradation. This allows us to proactively steer the system degradation, rather than simply reacting to it. We use the operation of a subsea gas compressor subject to bearing degradation as a case example