Lifetime Assessment of Combined Cycles for Cogeneration of Power and Heat in Offshore Oil and Gas Installations

The utilization of combined cycles for offshore cogeneration of power and heat is an attractive option to reduce the CO2 emissions directly related to the oil and gas sector. Main challenges for their efficient implementation are the potentially large heat-to-power ratios and the variability of power and heat requirements throughout the different stages of a field’s lifetime. This paper aimed to provide the first elements for an assessment of the technology. Two combined cycle configurations were evaluated (backpressure and extraction steam turbine cycle), as well as different scenarios of power and heat requirements. The optimum design approach was firstly investigated. Designing the combined cycle at the end-life conditions, rather than at peak conditions, demonstrated to return better overall performance, when the entire plant’s lifetime is considered. A comparative analysis between the defined optimum designs was then carried out. Although the backpressure steam turbine cycle demonstrated to be feasible in all the cases analyzed, it showed to be effective only for offshore installations characterized by low temperature large process heat demands. On the other hand, the extraction steam turbine cycle could not meet large process heat demands but it was very attractive when the heat requirements were more limited, irrespective of the temperature at which this heat was requested