简介：介绍了石油服务公司在海上技术研发上取得的主要进展，其中包括贝克休斯、SBM Offshore、StatoilHydro等公司.

Baker Hughes. The oilfield services giant is focused on developing next-generation field development and production technologies for deepwater wells and extreme high-pressure, high-temperature applications. Research in these areas involves ongoing projects that encompass both sustaining engineering and new product development. The company’s new Center for Technology Innovation in Houston is the focal point for much of this research, and is capable of testing full-size prototypes of equipment in a test environment with gas pressure up to 40,000 psi and temperatures up to 700℉.

SBM Offshore. Offshore engineering and installation specialist SBM Offshore Group is developing a steel catenary riser (SCR) connector deployment system for use with deepwater floating production systems. “The aim of this research was to develop a faster, lower-cost SCR lay system using mechanical pipe connectors rather than welded connectors, which are typically used for today’s lay vessels,” said Jack Pollack, Vice President of Research and Deepwater Development with SBM Offshore. "The mechanical connectors will enable SCRs to be used in deeper water with high-strength pipes and also increases SCR fatigue life, making them applicable to more offshore developments." Research for the SCR deployment system is well under way, and SBM Offshore expects to have a certified SCR connector ready for offshore use in 2009.

Nalco Company. Other service providers are focused on developing technologies that will facilitate production from ultradeepwater assets. "Many of the challenges of producing in these environments are still unknown today, and we have been partnering with oil companies, engineering companies, and consultants to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges posed," said David Horsup, Global Technology Leader of Upstream Research for production chemical provider Nalco Company. As part of this mandate to understand the technical challenges of operating in ultradeep water, the Energy Services division of Nalco has invested USD 1 million in a new laboratory and state-of-the-art simulation tools dedicated to utradeep-water production technologies. Nalco is currently focusing much of its chemical technology research on solutions for flow assurance challenges. "Our technology will enable the successful development of fields that were previously deemed too technically challenging to bring online," Horsup said. Production optimization is another major research effort, with the aim of developing new technologies and processes that maximize production from existing assets. "Specific focus areas include developing technologies that unload brine and condensate from lowpressure gas wells, providing comprehensive technical solutions for in-reservoir modification to maximize production, and providing rheology modifiers to allow the production and transportation of heavy oil," Horsup said. "These projects are active and will remain so, and for each area there are a series of deliverables that will be commercialized over the next 6 months to 3 years."

Southwest Research Institute. The independent nonprofit research organization has major research efforts under way in the areas of multiphase flow measurement instrumentation for deep water production and methods to convert gas from small offshore fields into a product that can be shipped to shore without a pipeline. "The aim of the first project is to test and develop instrumentation that can help instrument manufacturers develop better products or accurate measurement of multiphase and wet gas flows, including providing performance data at field conditions," said Chris Buckingham, the institute's Manager of the Fluid Dynamics and Multiphase Flow Section. "This work has been ongoing for several years, but has recently increased in volume." Converting gas into a storable and shippable product is of particular interest to operators of small offshore fields with no pipeline infrastructure present. "We are developing novel processes to achieve this conversion, which includes pilot plant operations. This work has also been going on for several years, and will continue for several more, most likely through field implementations," said Buckingham.

Aker Solutions. The Controls group of Aker Solutions has two active R&D projects ongoing related to data and power transmission for deepwater production systems. The first is a data communications program with the goals of providing an open communication infrastructure and a suite of interchangeable components that support flexible solutions. The current R&D aims of the project are to increase communications bandwidth to meet the increasing data demands for subsea envelope and stepout distances for subsea systems from host facilities, and to facilitate the use of legacy control components within the subsea system. The second R&D project aims to develop electrical power distribution networks that will enable stepout distances to be increased for multiplexed electro- hydraulic systems. The project will also provide a flexible power distribution network capable of serving a growing number of new power consumers. Both projects will take place over a number of years. The data communications project is anticipated to be ongoing into the foreseeable future, providing year-on-year improvements to offshore communications networks. 

StatoilHydro. The program New Development Solutions is developing technologies that address the business challenges related to deepwater, offshore heavy oil, and Arctic areas. This research is being undertaken in StatoilHydro’s three research facilities in Norway.