Deepwater Oil & Gas developments consist of many more components designed to extract,
transport and store the oil when compared with developments in shallower waters. Designing
the cathodic protection [CP] systems to protect the individual components is problematic
without an appreciation as to how CP systems fitted to the various components will interact
with one another once the entire asset is commissioned.
For a recent deep-water project, a computer modeling study was commissioned to provide
information on the performance of the CP systems protecting each of the subsea structures
and in particular the interaction currents flowing between them. The principal aim was to
ensure that the impressed current CP (ICCP) system on the hull of the FPSO would be
operated in such a manner as to reduce interaction with the sub sea sacrificial anode CP
(SACP) systems to the minimum possible throughout the operating life of the field and to
develop an understanding of the probable behavior of CP systems on the key components
(FPSO, Oil offloading lines & Buoy, Riser Structures, etc.) particularly in respect of sacrificial
anode lives.
As CP monitoring data becomes available from the field, the intention is to further refine and
develop the model as a working tool that will be used to provide input to Risk Based Inspection
and maintenance planning.
Information is now available from surveys carried out on the structure and the paper compares
the model predictions with the measured data. The paper describes the strategy and rationale
behind the modeling studies and some of the major lessons learned from the comparisons.
Keywords: Cathodic Protection, Boundary Element Modeling, Modeling, ICCP