The project is part of the Brown Field Allowance development programme announced last year by the UK Government to encourage operators to get the most out of existing fields and infrastructure in the UK Continental Shelf.
The pumps, which had to fit into the existing Alder structure, are for high pressure duties on the platform separator recirculation process where the suction pressure can fluctuate between 1 and 60 bar. To handle the 60 bar pressure, Amarinth designed a new pump casing for its API 610 OH2 A-Series pump to a higher pressure tolerance of 75 bar (rated).
The very large fluctuations in pressure also meant that the more complex API 682 Plan 53C seal support system was required which uses a take-off from the pump in order to continually balance the seal pressure with the pressure of the pump.
Amarinth managing director Oliver Brigginshaw said: “We are very pleased with this latest order from ConocoPhillips. Developing brown fields to extract their remaining oil reserves requires an interactive flexible approach to engineering in order to design and package solutions that will meet the complex design challenges of the equipment as well as fit within the restrictive confines of existing infrastructure. We are extremely pleased to have delivered this successfully to the Alder platform and are currently looking forward to working on further projects in this sector.”
This is Amarinth’s third significant orders for API 610 pumps from ConocoPhillips in recent years.
