Offshore Seawater Intake in the Arctic

Wu, Oliver C.; ,

Offshore Seawater Intake in the Arctic

by Oliver C. Wu, Stearns Catalytic World Corp, Denver, CO, USA,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Civil Engineering in the Arctic Offshore

Abstract:

Waterflood has become a proven technique for enhancing oil recovery from oil producing reservoirs. At Arctic north slope areas, seawater has been used successfully for such operations. Operational problems complicated by the random movements of ice, sediment and waves can be minimized by the proper design of a compact structure which is low in projection areas normal to ice loading and symmetrical in plan for stability, with intake openings at multiple sides. The facility must be environmentally acceptable in the manner that it provides protection for marine life. A cost effective construction necessitates simple, prefabricated units which are easily assembled on-site. A conceptual layout of an Arctic seawater intake facility is presented. A proposed multi-sided configuration will alleviate structural and foundation design problems as well as offer maximum flexibility and back-up redundancy. Features provided for fish protection include velocity cap, low entrance flow velocity, free movement area and passive intake pipe screens.

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