Stable subsea electric power transmission to run subsea high speed motors

Abstract

The invention provides a subsea pressure boosting system feasible for operation at subsea step out lengths above 40 km and by control merely from a dry topside or onshore location. The system is distinctive in that it comprises: at least one subsea power step out cable, arranged from a near end at a dry location onshore or topsides to one or more subsea loads such as subsea pumps or subsea compressors at a far end, at the near end at least one source for electric power is connected and the cable is dimensioned for operation at a frequency different from the operation frequency of the connected subsea loads in order to handle the Ferranti effect and electric losses, and at least one passive electric frequency transformer, operatively connected between the subsea step out cable far end and the subsea loads, said transformer is located in a pressure vessel and transforms the operation frequency of the subsea step out cable to a frequency feasible for operation of the connected loads.

Claims

1. A subsea pressure boosting system feasible for operation at subsea step out lengths above 40 km and by active control merely from a dry topside or onshore location, the system comprising: a subsea power step out cable arranged from a near end of the subsea power step out cable at a dry location onshore or topsides to a subsea load at a far end of the subsea power step out cable; a source for electric power connected at the near end of the subsea power step out cable, and wherein the subsea power step out cable is dimensioned for a first operating frequency that is different from a second operating frequency of the subsea load in order to handle the Ferranti effect and electric losses; and an electric motor and an electric generator that are operatively connected between the far and of the subsea power step out cable and the subsea load in order to passively step up the first operating frequency of the subsea power step out cable to the second operating frequency.

2. The system according to claim 1, comprising: wherein the electric motor and the electric generator are encapsulated in one pressure housing; and wherein one pressure compensator is arranged in the one pressure housing and one penetrator is provided for each phase of a three phase input connection and a three phase output connection.

3. A method for operation of the subsea pressure boosting system according to claim 1, feasible for pressure boosting by operation of subsea pumps and compressors at subsea step out lengths above 40 km, the method comprising: adjusting a speed of the subsea load by adjusting operation parameters of equipment connected to the near end of the subsea power step out cable without using any active subsea control means.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the electric motor and the electric generator are arranged axially apart from one another on a common shaft.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the electric motor and the electric generator have a common shaft and are located in a pressure vessel and the electric generator comprises a pole number that is a multiple of a pole number of the electric motor.

6. A passive electric frequency step-up transformer operatively connected between a far end of a subsea step out cable and a subsea load, for pressure boosting, wherein the passive electric frequency step-up transformer is encapsulated in one pressure housing and steps up a first operating frequency of the subsea step out cable to a second operating frequency feasible for operation of the subsea load without using any active subsea control means, the passive electric frequency step-up transformer comprising: an electric motor and an electric generator having a common shaft, wherein the electric generator comprises a pole number that is a multiple of a pole number of the electric motor; one penetrator for each phase of a three phase input connection and a three phase output connection; and a pressure compensator arranged within the one pressure housing.

7. The passive electric frequency step-up transformer according to claim 6, wherein the electric motor and the electric generator are arranged axially apart from one another relative to the common shaft.

8. A method for operation of a subsea pressure boosting system, feasible for pressure boosting by operation of subsea pumps and compressors at subsea step out lengths above 40 km, the method comprising: arranging a subsea power step out cable from a near end of the subsea power step out cable to a subsea load at a far end of the subsea power step out cable; connecting a source for electric power to the near end of the subsea power step out cable; dimensioning the subsea power step out cable for operating at a first operating frequency that is different than a second operating frequency of the subsea load; transforming the first operating frequency in a passive electric frequency transformer, the passive electric frequency transformer comprising an electric motor and an electric generator that are operatively connected between the far end of the subsea power step out cable and the subsea load in order to passively step up the first operating frequency of the subsea power step out cable to the second operating frequency; that is operatively connected between the far end of the subsea power step out cable and the subsea load; and operating the system.

Description

FIGURES

(1) The invention is illustrated with figures, of which

(2) FIGS. 1-3 illustrate prior art embodiments, and

(3) FIGS. 4-8 illustrate embodiments of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

(4) The invention provides a subsea pressure boosting system feasible for operation at subsea step out lengths above 40 km and by control merely from a dry topside or onshore location. The system is distinctive in that it comprises: at least one subsea power step out cable, arranged from a near end at a dry location onshore or topsides to one or more subsea loads such as subsea pumps or subsea compressors or other loads at a far end, at the near end at least one source for electric power is connected and the cable is dimensioned for operation at a frequency different from the operation frequency of the connected subsea loads in order to handle the Ferranti effect and electric losses, and at least one passive electric frequency transformer, operatively connected between the subsea step out cable far end and the subsea loads, said transformer is located in a pressure vessel and transforms the operation frequency of the subsea step out cable to a frequency feasible for operation of the connected loads.

(5) No earlier subsea pressure boosting systems has taken into consideration the Ferranti effect. The earlier system version with a subsea VSD can therefore be useless for many applications since the insulation of the step out cable can be damaged by uncontrollable high voltage at the far end due to the Ferranti effect. The feature a passive electric frequency transformer means that the transformer shall not and can not be adjusted on site during operation or any time during the service life of the system, the transformer is a passive slave unit, namely a passive frequency step up device or a passive frequency step down device, contrary to a subsea VSD. A subsea VSD is very complex, large and expensive, it is typically about 12 m high, 3 ml diameter and weights about 200 tons. The passive transformer will to the contrary be much smaller and simpler, being typically about 6 m long and 2-3 ml diameter, weighting about 50 ton. The reliability of the transformer is estimated to be several times better than for a subsea VSD. This is because a subsea VSD is very complex, and even though all components are of top quality the large number of components and the complexity results in a reduced reliability in practice. The cost of the system of the invention will be significantly reduced compared to the state of the art systems having a subsea VSD. The term other loads comprises power to control systems and other loads not necessarily related to pressure boosting.

(6) The input and output electrical frequency of the passive electric frequency transformer will be different. The difference will be at a fixed ratio since the transformer is passive. The input frequency, the operation frequency of the step out cable, will be in the range 0-150 Hz, such as 2-60 or 4-50 Hz or 5-40 Hz, whilst the output frequency will be in the range 0-350 Hz, such as 30-300 Hz, 50-250 Hz or 50-200 Hz. The subsea frequency transformer can be arranged in one or several housings, as one or several elements, however, all parts of it must withstand the harsh subsea environment without failure. With the present invention, the long term cost and reliability of said subsea transformer, and associated systems, improve significantly over what is currently achievable with for example subsea solid state variable speed drives.

(7) The operation frequency of the step out cable must be considered taking into account the Ferranti effect and the electrical losses. The insulation is a key element. Most preferably, the dimensions of conductors and insulation, and choice of operation frequency, are so that at the far end of the cable, the Ferranti effect increases the voltage just as much as the electrical losses, hence overvoltage at the far end due to the Ferranti effect is avoided and the cable design is simplified. The guidance provided in this document, combined with good engineering practice, is assumed to be sufficient for proper step out cable design, including choice of operation frequency: The solution should be found in each case. The passive electric frequency transformer is then designed in order to transform the operation frequency of the step up cable to the operation frequency of the subsea loads, i.e. subsea compressors or pumps, or more specifically, the motors of the subsea compressors or pumps.

(8) The invention also provides a passive electric frequency transformer, for operative connection between a subsea step out cable far end and subsea loads for pressure boosting, distinctive in that said transformer is located in a pressure vessel and transforms the frequency of the subsea step out cable to a frequency feasible for operation of the connected loads. The transformer increases the frequency of the electric power (in the range of 1.1 to 5 times increase, for example) or decreases the frequency (in the range of 0 to 0.9 times the frequency, for example) of the electric power. Preferably the transformer comprises an electric motor and an electric generator having a common shaft, the pole number of the generator is a multiple of the pole number of the motor, and the transformer is preferably encapsulated in one pressure housing, one pressure compensator is arranged in the pressure housing and for high power normally one penetrator is provided for each phase of a three phase input connection and a three phase output connection. Alternatively, particularly for relative low power, one common penetrator for all three phases in and out can be used, or more preferably one common penetrator for both the phases in and out. Alternatively the transformer comprises one of: a mechanical gear, a fluid-dynamic or hydraulic gear, a mechanical fluid dynamic gear, a magnetic gear, a static (solid state) passive frequency step up device or a rectifier.

(9) The invention also provides an alternative subsea pressure boosting system feasible for operation at subsea step out lengths above the range of 40 km, distinctive in that the system comprises at least one subsea power step out cable, arranged from a near end at a dry location onshore or topsides to one or more subsea loads such as subsea pumps or subsea compressors or other loads at a far end, at the near end at least one source for electric power at constant frequency is connected and the cable is dimensioned for operation at said frequency or a lower frequency in which case a passive frequency step down device is connected toward the step out cable near end in order to handle the Ferranti effect and electric losses, and at least one active electric frequency transformer, operatively connected between the subsea step out cable far end and the subsea loads, said transformer is located in a pressure vessel and transforms the operation frequency of the subsea step out cable to a frequency feasible for operation of the connected loads.

(10) The alternative system is for connection to a constant frequency power source, such as a 50 Hz power source, in which case adjustments take place in the far end of the step out cable but preferably controlled from a control room topsides or onshore, hence the term active electric frequency transformer. This is contrary to state of the art teaching prescribing active control devices in either end of the subsea step out cable. If the constant frequency is too high for the step out length, for the step out cable conductor and insulation dimensions and type, a frequency step down device is connected to step down the step out cable operation frequency. The active electric frequency transformer of the alternative system comprises at least one of: a controllable mechanical gear, a fluid-dynamic or hydraulic adjustable gear, a mechanical fluid dynamic adjustable gear, an adjustable magnetic gear or one common subsea variable speed drive for several loads; operatively connected between the subsea step out cable far end and the subsea loads in order to control the speed of the connected loads by adjusting the gear ratio or frequency step up ratio.

(11) The invention also provides a method for operation of a subsea pressure boosting system according to the invention, distinctive in that the method comprises adjusting the speed of connected loads by merely adjusting operation parameters of equipment connected to a near end topsides or onshore of a subsea step out cable. All subsea equipment are passive slave equipment, adjustments are only required and possible at dry topside or onshore locations at the step out cable near end, contrary to state of the art systems.

(12) In an alternative method of the invention, using the alternative system of the invention, the only active adjustment is at the subsea cable far end.

(13) The invention also provides a method for subsea pressure boosting, using a subsea pressure boosting system of the invention, feasible for pressure boosting by operation of subsea pumps and compressors at subsea step out lengths above 40 km and by control merely from a dry topside or onshore location, distinctive in that the method comprises arranging and dimensioning at least one subsea power step out cable, from a near end at a dry location onshore or topsides to one or more subsea loads such as pumps or compressors at a far end, at the near end connecting at least one source for electric power and dimensioning the cable for operation at a frequency different than the operation frequency of the connected subsea loads in order to handle the Ferranti effect and electric losses, transform the step out cable frequency in at least one passive electric frequency transformer, operatively connected between the subsea step out cable far end and the subsea loads, to a frequency feasible for operation of the connected loads, and to operate the system.

(14) Further, the invention provides use of a subsea pressure boosting system according to the invention, for operation of subsea pressure boosting pumps or compressors at a far end of a subsea step out cable, the subsea step out length can exceed 40 km and the pressure boosting require no subsea control means.

(15) Finally the invention provides use of a passive electric frequency transformer according to the invention, for operative connection between a subsea step out cable far end and subsea loads for pressure boosting.

(16) The Embodiment of the Invention with Frequency Step-Up to Run AC Motors

(17) An embodiment of the invention, the Fourth Solution is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The main feature of the embodiment is introduction of a subsea frequency step-up device (FSD) located subsea at the far end of the transmission cable and at a short distance to the motors that runs the compressors and pumps. Short distance means in this context near enough to keep acceptable the ohmic resistance drop and thereby power loss between the generator and the motors, and it also means short enough to avoid problems caused by Ferranti effect and instability. It is important to note that the subsea FSDs are not directly controlling the frequency to suit the operational speed of motors by having a local control system that adjusts the speed according to needs. The variation of speed according to steady state production need, start and stop and ramping speed down and up, is done by the near end surface (topsides on platform or onshore) located VSD far from the subsea FSDs. The FSDs are simply slaves of the VSD and their purpose is only stepping-up the transmission frequency given by the VSD by some multiple.

(18) This step-up is easiest obtained by using a subsea electric motor which shaft is coupled to a subsea electric generator and both machines running with same speed, i.e. a subsea rotating FSD (SRFSD). Any type of coupling (e.g. flexible, rigid, common shaft of motor and generator, hydraulic, fluid coupling) can be used that gives the same speed of motor and generator). The motor should preferably have 2-poles to keep the transmission frequency as low as possible, while the generator's number of poles will be chosen according to the need for step-up from a transmission frequency that is low enough to not give the above described problems caused by Ferranti effect, instability and high resistance due to skin effect with corresponding unacceptable voltage drop; i.e. within a problem free frequency range.

(19) By having a 2-pole motor and a 4-pole generator the step-up ratio will be 2:1, a 6-pole generator will give a ratio of 3:1 and an 8-pole generator 4:1 and so on dependent of the number of poles of the generator. This means that if the frequency from a surface VSD is in the range of 50 the subsea frequency from the subsea RFSD device will be in the range of 100 Hz corresponding to a revolutionary speed of 2-pole motors from 6000 rpm. If using an 8-pole generator the corresponding stepped-up frequency will be in the range of 200 and the speed of a 4-pole motor 12000 rpm. These examples clearly demonstrate that the invention can supply any needed frequency for realistic motor speeds by a correct combination of poles of motor and generator of the rotating subsea RFSD and at a problem free transmission frequency.

(20) Generally the step-up ratio can be expressed:
fs-u=nft, where
ft: transmission frequency, Hz
fs-u: stepped-up frequency=input frequency to motors, Hz
n: multiple 2, 3, 4 and so on dependent of number of poles of the generator compared to the motor

(21) The problem free frequency range must be calculated from case to case. For step-out distances of up to say 150 km a transmission frequency of up to say 75 Hz could be within the problem free range which will give a 2-pole compressor motor speed of 27560=9000 rpm if the step-up ratio is 2:1 (2-pole motor and 4-pole generator). If 75 Hz is found to be to high to be problem free, a step-up ratio of 3:1 (2-pole motor and 6-pole generator) can be applied, which for the given example will reduce the transmission frequency to maximum of 50 Hz. The transmission frequency will not stay constant over the whole production period of the oil or gas field, but have to be adjusted up over time as the pressure at the wellheads decreases. For a given case the transmission power from the near end could be 33.3 Hz by the beginning and 50 Hz by the end of production corresponding to a speed of between 6000 and 9000 rpm of a 2-pole compressor motor at the far end.

(22) By selecting the right step-up ratio by selection of poles of motor and generator, it will probably be possible to transmit AC power problem free to subsea motors with a distance from the near end to the far end (step-up distance) of 300 km or more.

(23) Use of a 2-pole motor is beneficial to keep the transmission frequency as low as possible. If there of other reasons, e.g. torque and power, should be found favourable to use a motor with higher number of poles, it is still possible to get a desired step-up by selecting the number of poles of the generator correspondingly, e.g. 4-pole motor and 12-pole generator will give a step-up ratio of 3:1.

(24) An advantage by using low frequency and 4-poles motor is that the speed of the motor and generator will be low and so will be the corresponding frictional losses in the motor. This opens for use of oil filled motor and generator arranged in common pressure housing.

(25) If for instance the transmission frequency is 25 Hz and a 4-pole motor is used the rotational speed will be only 750 rpm, which will result in low frictional losses. To achieve a frequency of 150 Hz from the generator, this has to be 24-pole By varying the transmission frequency from 18 to 28 Hz, the frequency from the generator will vary in the range from 6480 to 10080, which could be suitable for a compressor motor.

(26) The selection of the region of the variable transmission frequency and the consequential necessary step-up ratio will therefore be based on a low enough frequency to have a stabile transmission for the given step-out distance and keep the Ferranti effect and skin effect low combined with a suitable number of poles and torque of the motor and the generator. Additionally, if oil filled motor and generator are preferred, the speed must be kept below some limit to avoid too high frictional losses; typically could a speed of 750 to 1500 rpm be favourable, i.e. a transmission of 25 Hz to obtain 750 Hz for 4-pole motor and 1500 rpm for 2-pole motor.

(27) Below is given as an example a table that shows the resulting speed of a subsea compressor drive (motor) with 2-poles by using a motor-generator set with 4-poles motor and 12-poles generator:

(28) TABLE-US-00002 Transmission Speed of Output frequency Speed of 2-poles frequency, 4-poles from 12-poles compressor Hz motor, rpm generator, Hz drive, rpm 5 150 15 900 10 300 30 1800 20 600 60 3600 25 750 75 4500 30 900 90 5400 40 1200 120 7200 50 1500 150 9000 60 1800 180 10800 70 2100 210 12600 80 2400 240 14400

(29) The table demonstrates that a transmission frequency range up to 50 Hz will cover the most actual speed range for compressors.

(30) A similar table is given below for a compressor drive with 2-poles, a 6-poles motor for the motor-generator set and 24-poles generator:

(31) TABLE-US-00003 Transmission Speed of Output frequency Speed of 2-poles frequency, 6-poles from 24-poles compressor Hz motor, rpm generator, Hz drive, rpm 1 20 4 240 5 100 20 1200 10 200 40 2400 20 400 80 4800 25 500 100 6000 30 600 120 7200 40 800 160 9600 50 1000 200 12000 60 1200 240 14400 70 1400 280 16800

(32) In this case a transmission frequency of up to 40 Hz will be sufficient.

(33) The above tables clearly demonstrate that the transmission frequency can be kept low to avoid problems caused by Ferranti effect and skin effect.

(34) Selection of compressor bundle is also a factor that helps to give freedom in selection of transmission frequency and frequency step-up ratio, i.e. a bundle can be selected, within reasonable limits, to suit an f.sub.s-u resulting from an optimum transmission system.

(35) A subsea RFSD is in principle quite simple and no control system is need because the stepped-up frequency will be automatically obtained as a result of the ratio of poles of the generator relative to the poles of the motor of the SRFSD.

(36) Another advantage with a subsea rotating step-up device is that the output current and voltage will have a practically perfect sine wave form which is beneficial for the motors, i.e. no electric filter for smoothening is needed to obtain this.

(37) The subsea RFSD also supplies inductance to the transmission system, which due to the cable has a surplus of capacitance, and the SRFSD therefore reduce the need for near end electric phase compensation.

(38) There will be some power loss in a SRFSD, say 5%, but a subsea VSD will also have losses, however perhaps lower.

(39) The selection of SRFSD must of course be such that the output power of the generator at a given frequency is such that it corresponds to the demand of the connected motor(s). If for instance a 2-pole compressor motor shall give 10 MW at 10000 rpm, the power output of the generator must be accordingly plus a little additionally to cover for losses at a frequency of 167 Hz. The motor of the SRSFD must correspondingly give a shaft power of 10 MW plus some additionally to cover for losses.

(40) Another way than having different poles of the motor and generator of the motor-generator set, can be to include a fixed step up gear in between the, e.g. of 3:1. If the transmission frequency for instance is 50 Hz, a 4-poles motor will have a speed of 1500 and the generator speed will be 4500 rpm with an output frequency of 150 Hz that gives a 2-poles compressor drive a speed of 9000 rpm. A combination of fixed step-up and number of generator poles can also be used to keep the number of poles down if favourable. If for example a step-up gear with ratio 2:1 is inserted between a 4-pole motor and a 8-pole generator, the speed of the motor at 50 Hz will be 1500 rpm, the speed of the generator 3000 rpm and its frequency output 200 Hz and the speed of the drive 112000 rpm. By having VSD at the near end the speed of the drive can be adjusted to suitable values by adjusting the transmission frequency in the range up to 50 Hz.

(41) In some cases can be kept a fixed transmission frequency and thereby a fixed frequency from the generator and hence a fixed speed of the connected motor, e.g. compressor, multiphase or single phase pump motor. If the motor runs a compressor, the compressor speed can for instance be kept constant at 9000 rpm, and a suitable flow capacity and pressure ratio of the compressor, which will vary over time, can be adjusted by rebundling and some recirculation. This will give the simplest and lowest CAPEX of the total system, but with somewhat higher power losses due to periods with recirculation on the compressor. A more frequent rebundling of the compressor may also be necessary compared to variable frequency. An optimum power transmission and compression system must be based on calculations to establish optimum system design from case to case.

(42) Design of Subsea RFSD

(43) Oil Filled Pressure Housing

(44) Alternative 1

(45) The motor and generator are assembled in a common pressure housing with a suitable number of flanges with seals. Further there are several options for the practical design, which are listed in the following:

(46) The motor-generator has a suitable number of bearings.

(47) The rotational speed of the motor-generator is low enough to keep the frictional losses acceptable, and the common pressure housing is filled with a suitable liquid, e.g. oil, that lubricates the bearings and also cools motor and generator and the properties of the selected oil should preferably be such that it serves as electric insulator.

(48) Instead of oil, the housing can be water filled with water or a mix of water and antifreeze agent, e.g. MEG, which requires a complete electrical insulation of the motor and generator windings.

(49) The pressure inside the housing can be selected freely by not filling it completely with liquid and have a gas volume at some pressure.

(50) A favourable solution is to fill the housing with liquid and have pressure balancing device between the ambient seawater and the internal liquid of the pressure housing. This will result in a minimum thickness of the pressure housing and also reduce the load and requirements to flanges and seals If the direct cooling of the motor-generator by heat flow through the pressure housing and to the sea is too low, has to be included an external cooling circuit with heat exchange to the ambient seawater.

(51) The pump for the cooling circuit can favourably be coupled to the motor-generator shaft or it can be a separate pump with electric motor.

(52) If magnetic bearings for operation in liquid are available, this could be an option to liquid lubricated bearings. For more details about this, reference is made to the description below for gas filled housing.

(53) Gas Filled Housing

(54) The pressure housing can be filled with an inert gas, e.g. dry nitrogen or dry air. The advantage of this is lower frictional losses than for oil filled, which allows higher speed of motor-generator. Additionally the practical solution can include the following:

(55) Liquid lubricated bearings (e.g. oil, water or water/MEG) with a circulating circuit through an external heat exchanger or only inside the housing.

(56) Minimum one pump for the lubricant, either driven by the motor-generator shaft or a separate electric pump

(57) If necessary a cooling circuit for the gas is included by having minimum one fan to circulate the gas inside the enclosure or if needed through an external heat exchanger

(58) Alternatively to liquid lubricated bearings, magnetic bearings can be used. The cooling system for the gas must then be dimensioned to also cool the magnetic bearings.

(59) A control system for the magnetic bearings must be included, located in the vicinity of the motor-generator housing or inside the housing or at surface on platform or onshore. If the control system is located in a pod outside the motor-generator housing, penetrators through the housing wall are needed as well as wires for power and signals between the control system and the magnetic bearings. If the control system is in a pod, the pod can be designed to be separately retrievable or not.

(60) The pressure inside the housing can be selected from in the region of one bar and up to equal to the ambient water pressure or higher. The advantage of low pressure is low friction and losses. The advantage of high pressure is that the heat capacity of the gas increases with pressure and therefore gives better cooling. Another advantage of high pressure is also reduced requirement to wall thickness and lower load on flanges and seals. If the pressure is selected close to equal to ambient seawater pressure, the resulting requirements to the pressure housing and flanges and seals will be similar to a liquid filled pressure balanced vessel.

(61) Subsea Rotating VSD

(62) Above is mentioned use of hydraulic or fluid coupling between the motor and the generator in the motor-generator set. Such a coupling has the advantage of giving soft start, i.e. the generator load on the motor is not immediate, but ramps up over some time such that a high start current peak is avoided. The use of such a coupling can be further expanded to make the coupling adjustable such that the speed of the generator can be adjusted relative to the constant motor speed. In this way the motor-generator set can be used as a subsea variable speed drive, i.e. subsea rotating variable speed drive (RVSD), and the topside VSD can be omitted.

(63) Instead of a fluid coupling can be used a mechanical gear for stepping up and down the speed of the generator, and thereby its output frequency.

(64) If a variable coupling of some kind (fluid or mechanical) is used, the control system for the variable coupling can be in a separate pod externally to the SRVSD or it can preferably be surface located and preferably connected to or integrated in the overall control system for the subsea booster station, compressor station or subsea processing plant or other system with subsea motors with variable speed.

(65) It is important to note that if this SRVSD is applied the topsides VSD becomes superfluous and system with both surface and SRVSD is not an actual solution of this invention.

(66) Subsea Static Frequency Step-Up Device

(67) Alternatively to a RFSD can be used a subsea static VSD (SVSD) provided that such a device, when modified to suit the simple purpose of being a step-up device of the transmission frequency, can be made in a simplified version with acceptably high robustness, reliability and availability. One obvious simplification seems to be that the control system computer for setting the step-up ratio can be surface located and connected to or integrated in the control system for the surface VSD that really controls the speed of the motors. The only function of the subsea static frequency step-up device (SFSD) is to step-up the transmission frequency with a set step-up ratio, n:1. There is no need for very quick response locally to the subsea SFSD, which therefore allows for a near end location of it.

(68) A surface located control system is obviously much easier to maintain and repair that a subsea located one, and will therefore significantly increase the availability of the subsea SFSD.

(69) One obvious advantage with a subsea SFSD compared to a subsea RFSD, is that the step-up ratio can be reset at some points of time if beneficial, e.g. by increasing the ratio from 2:1 to 3:1.

(70) The input signal to the control system for the subsea SFSD is the transmission frequency and the output is a signal that steps-up the frequency of the electrical power out of the subsea SFSD with a set ratio that suits the actual speed of the motor(s).

(71) Also in this case the general expression is:
f.sub.s-u=nf.sub.t, where
n: a multiple that do not necessarily need to be an integer, but can be set to any desired value, e.g. 2.3, which is different from a RFSD where the number of poles of the generator relative to the poles of the motor will result in n being an integer

(72) A SFSD can alternatively to setting a frequency ratio be programmed to step-up the frequency by a certain added increase, e.g. add 100 Hz to a transmission frequency of 50 Hz, or in a more generic expression: f.sub.s-u=f.sub.t+f.sub.a, where:

(73) f.sub.t: transmission frequency, Hz

(74) f.sub.s-u: stepped-up frequency=input frequency to motors, Hz

(75) f.sub.a: added frequency, Hz

(76) Some elements of a practical solution can include:

(77) The components of the subsea SFSD can be assembled in a pressure vessel filled with a suitable liquid, e.g. insulating oil that is also cooling the electronic and electrical components

(78) The internal oil can be pressure balanced to the ambient seawater or the pressure can be kept at a level between one bar and ambient pressure decided by the pressure tolerance of the components.

(79) The control system can be located inside the pressure housing, but more favourable in a separate external pod (ref is made to the above description of Gas filled housing for details).

(80) The control system can be located at surface (topsides or onshore)

(81) Alternatively to a liquid filled vessel can be used a vessel filled with inert, dry gas, e.g. dry nitrogen. The pressure inside the housing can be selected from in the region of one bar and up to equal to the ambient water pressure or higher. The advantage of high pressure is that the heat capacity of the gas increases with pressure and therefore gives better cooling. Another advantage of high pressure is also reduced requirement to wall thickness and lower load on flanges and seals. If the pressure is selected close to equal to ambient seawater pressure, the resulting requirements to the pressure vessel and flanges and seal will be similar to a liquid filled pressure balanced vessel. It is pressure tolerance of the components inside the vessel (i.e. electronic, electrical, others) that will decide the pressure limitation.

(82) If favourable, the components of the subsea SFSD can be segregated in an optimum way according to their tolerance to: liquid, pressurised liquid and pressurised gas. The components can be arranged in vessels in the following way:

(83) The most robust components can be installed in a vessel filled with pressurised liquid

(84) Liquid tolerant components that have low tolerance to pressure can be installed in another low pressure liquid filled vessel

(85) Components that do not tolerate liquid but tolerate high pressure gas can be installed in a high pressure vessel

(86) Components that only tolerate low pressure gas can be installed in a vessel with low pressure gas.

(87) Suitable cooling has to be applied for the different vessels.

(88) Components in the various vessels will be connected as needed by wires that go through penetrators in the vessel walls. Subsea mateable connectors can also be arranged between the vessels to make them separately installable and retrievable.

(89) It shall be mentioned that the above described segregation to achieve an optimum arrangement of the components of a subsea SFSD in different vessels, taking into account the number of penetrators and connectors needed, also can be applied for subsea variable speed drives (VSD).

(90) Some Considerations

(91) One important point of the invention is that though typically a VSD is used at near end, it is not important to be able to quickly adjust the frequency of the motor loads. The motor speed is slowly adjusted over years while the reservoir is produced and the field pressure gradually decreases thus requiring increased power, i.e. motor speed. This fact allows for e.g. temporarily ramping down running motors in order to connect one more motor. Alternatively, the unused motor can be connected direct on load if calculations have demonstrated that this is feasible with respect to current peaks or other disturbances of the power transmission system. Depending on the number of already running motors it can be beneficial to temporarily reduce the frequency before the DOL (direct on-line) start. If necessary the power can be switched off when starting an additional motor and the start and ramp up the speed of all motors simultaneously. In a compression station another option is to put all pumps and compressors in recirculation before starting up a compressor or a pump that has been stopped, then start the stopped unit and when it has reached the desired speed, put all compressors and pumps on line in production mode.

(92) The above mentioned devices and methods make it possible to manage the Ferranti effect and skin effect and thereby considerably extend the distance for stable subsea high-voltage power transmission.

(93) Hence maximum practical step-out distance can be very much increased without introducing subsea VSDs with local subsea control of the frequency. Both in FIGS. 4 and 5 the step-up devices have not a local control system that varies the frequency and thereby the speed of motors according to the production, neither do they directly control the ramping down of frequency to add operation of motors that have been stop nor do they directly control the ramping up of the frequency to obtain the actual speed of the motors to suit the production.

(94) If the RFSD has oil lubricated bearings, there is no need for any control system of the unit, and possible instrumentation can be limited to monitoring, e.g. vibrations and temperature, if found beneficial.

(95) As mentioned in the section: Background of the invention and prior art the speed of compressors can typically range from e.g. 4000 to 14000 rpm and of pumps from e.g. 2000 to 5000 rpm. When compressor and pump motors in a compression station according to the invention (Fourth and Fifth Solution) are supplied with the same frequency by a common transmission cable, the speed of the pumps can easily be adjusted to the desired speed of half of the compressor speed by using four-pole or more pole motors for the pumps and two-poles

(96) motors for the compressors. If the pumps are used for controlling the liquid level of a separator in a compressor station, a suitable variable net forward flow for the pump can be arranged by re-circulation and equipped with flow control valves.

(97) The speed of the pumps can therefore be controlled in the following optional ways:

(98) Dedicated subsea FSD for each pump motor

(99) One common FSD for several pumps motor

(100) Running the pump motors on same frequency as the compressors, but with the double number of pole resulting in half the rotational speed

(101) Running the pumps on the transmission frequency.

(102) Generally, for the number of subsea FSDs, whether they are RSFSs or SFSDs, their number can be from one per motor to one big common unit for all motors or something in between, e.g. one FSD per large compressor motor and one common unit for the quite small pump motors or, as mentioned above, no FSD for the pump motors.

(103) Some Suggested Combinations of Surface Located VSDs, Number of Subsea Drives and Number of 3-Phase Transmission Line

(104) A 3-phase transmission line consists of three individual cables that are insulated and bundled together. For long subsea transmission with more than one motor, e.g. two compressors, it is with present technology possible to bundle together transmission lines for two motors, i.e. six cables in the bundle. This will reduce the laying cost of the lines and has the advantage of allowing individual frequency control of two motors at the far end of the two lines that are bundled together. There is one step-up device per motor. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 7. In this case the motor is of the high voltage type and the transmission voltage can be e.g. 100 kV and there is no need for subsea transformers. In such case the circuit breaker have to be located after the generator where the voltage is acceptable because subsea circuit breakers for very high voltages large 100 kV are presently not available.

(105) Another way, which results in lower investment, is the solution shown in FIG. 4 and with a hydraulic soft starter between motor M and generator G such that the motors M1-M4 can be started individually without unacceptable start currents. All motors will operate at same speed, which is not a problem for equal machines, e.g. compressors.

(106) The less complicated arrangement is that of FIG. 4 without soft starter. In this case it will be necessary to start all compressors simultaneously, and this is a little inconvenient but not considered a problem because number of start-ups per year is limited.

(107) In Table 2 is explained the meaning of the items in the figures.

(108) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 2 Figure labels. Item # Explanation 1 Electric power supply grid 2, 2, 2, 2 Step-down transformer 3, 3, 3, 3 VSD, Variable Speed Drive 4, 4, 4, 4 Step-up transformer 5, 5, 5, 5 Transmission cable 6, 6, 6, 6 Step-down transformer 7, 7, 7, 7 Circuit breaker 8, 8, 8, 8 Near end of transmission cable 9, 9, 9, 9 Far end of transmission cable 10 Common bundle of two or more power transmission lines 11 Pressure housing 12 Inert gas or liquid 13, 13, 13, 13 Step-down transformer 14, 14, 14, 14 VSD 15, 15, 15, 15 Circuit breaker 16, 16, 16, 16 Rectifier 17 Fluid (hydraulic) coupling (optional), stepless fluid gear (optional) or fixed ratio gear box (optional) 18, 18 Penetrator 19 Pressure balancing unit M1, M2, M3, M4 Motor M Motor of the subsea rotating frequency step-up device (subsea RFSD) G Generator of the sufsea rotating frequency step-up device

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(109) Reference is made to FIG. 4, illustrating a specific embodiment of the present invention. Node 1 is connected to a source for electric power; the source is a local power grid or, for instance, a local power generation system. A VSD 3 is connection to power source. A VSD input transformer 2 is often connected in between in order to adjust the supply voltage, e.g. 13.8 kV for a platform to the rated VSD voltage, e.g. 6 kV. The transformer can be an integrated part of the VSD as offered by some suppliers. Normally a step up transformer 4 is needed to connect the VSD 3 to the high-voltage transmission line 5 that in the example of a subsea application consists of a cable. A typical voltage applied to the cable could for instance be about 120 kV. The cable is laid into the sea in order to extend from the near end 8 to the subsea far end 9; the cable has any operative length where the Ferranti effect starts being observed until where it strongly dominates to the load current. This can be translated to length in the order 20 km, to 100 km and probably beyond, dictated by the location and properties of the subsea loads. At the far end 9 of the cable, a subsea transformer 6 is arranged, stepping down the voltage to for example 20 kV suitable for the circuit breakers 7, 7, 7, 7, followed by transformer 13, 13, 13, 13 stepping down to for example 6 kV suitable for the motors of subsea RFSDs or the operational voltage of SFSDs, which is also a suitable voltage for the motors M1, M2, M3, M4. Four subsea motors are illustrated, which for instance could be two compressor motors M1, M2 and two pump motors M3, M4.

(110) The step down transformers are in principle optional because the step-down transformer 6 (ref. FIGS. 4 and 5) can directly step-down the voltage suitable for the subsea FSDs as illustrated in FIG. 5. Inclusion of 13, 13, 13, and 13 is a question of optimisation of the far end power distribution system.

(111) The subsea RFSDs in FIGS. 4 and 5 step up the transmission frequency with a desired step up ratio by selection of poles of the motor M and Generator G.

(112) No figure illustrating use of subsea SFSDs are included, but can be understood by simply exchanging the RFSDs in FIGS. 4 and 5 with SFSDs.

(113) It shall be emphasised that the key components of the power transmission systems of FIGS. 4 and 5 are the power source 1, the variable speed drive (VSD) 3, the transmission cable 5 and the motor-generator set M-G. The other components, i.e. step-up and step-down transformers, 2, 4, 6, and 14, 13, 13, 13, and circuit breakers 15, 7, 7, 7, 7, are included according to need from case to case.

(114) If for instance the motor M of the motor-generator set is of the type with insulated cables in the stator it can operate at a much higher voltage than motors with conventional coils. Hence both the step down transformers 4, 6 and 13 may become superfluous. If additionally the motors M1-M4 are run at fixed sped from the step-up devices, the VSD 3 can be omitted.

(115) Another advantage of high voltage subsea motors with insulated stator cables is that they need less current (amperes) through the penetrators through the motor housing than motors at conventional voltage in the range of 6 kV. This will allow for motors with higher power than at the present stage where around 12 MW is the maximum due the limitation in current (ampere) capacity.

(116) Cost of long subsea cables and subsea VSDs is high, and subsea VSDs in FIG. 2 have a negative impact on system reliability as well as being expensive. One common transmission cable compared to the solution in FIG. 1 therefore represents a considerable saving in investment.

(117) It shall be mentioned that even though one common transmission cable is beneficial of cost reasons, there is technically no problem to have one transmission cable for each subsea FSD. This may be the optimum solution for medium step out lengths, say 35 to 75 m, i.e. up to distances where the cable cost does not become prohibitive. With one VSD per transmission cable, i.e. one VSD per subsea motor, this results in individual speed control for each motor.

(118) Condensed Description of the Invention Subsea Step-Up Device

(119) It is problematic or even not possible to transmit high voltage high power electricity at high frequency, say more than 100 Hz, over long subsea step-up distances, say more than 40 km, to supply motors operation at high speed for subsea pumps and compressors. This is due to the Ferranti effect that can crate over voltage and instability in the transmission system as well as the skin effect that creates high ohmic resistance and consequently high voltage and power losses.

(120) Subsea variable speed drives to which the transmission frequency can be low, e.g. 50 Hz, presents a solution to this. They are however big and equipped with a large amount of sensitive, fragile electric and electronic components and control system, which additionally to making them expensive also are assumed to have a high failure rate.

(121) The invention offers a solution to this by having the VSD with its control system at surface (on a platform or onshore) and then having simple subsea frequency step-up devises, either rotating or static, near the subsea motors. These devises do not directly control the frequency of the electric current to the motors, but their only function is to step up the transmission frequency, which is variable and set at frequency according to the need of the motors, by a suitable ratio. In the case of rotation subsea frequency step-up devices, the resulting step-up ratio is resulting from the ratio of numbers of poles of the generator and the motor of the device. The ratio will for instance be 2 if the generator is 4-pole and the motor 2-pole.

(122) Rotating subsea step-up devices add inductance to the transmission system and are therefore beneficial by counteracting the large capacitance of the cable, and therefore the near end compensation system can probably be reduced.

(123) If static step-up devices are used, they can be simplified compared to subsea variable speed drives since the step up ratio can be fixed. Among other things the step-up control system can be surface located and can either be connected to the surface located VSD or integrated into it.

(124) The Invention with Subsea AC/DC Rectification to Run DC Motors

(125) Another embodiment of the invention to make it possible to have surface located frequency control for speed control of subsea motors at long step-out distances, is by rectifying transmitted AC to DC at a subsea location near the motors. Near means in this context near enough to keep acceptable the ohmic resistance drop and thereby power loss between the rectifier and the motors. Reference is given to FIG. 6 that illustrates a transmission system from surface located VSD to a subsea rectifier that supplies DC to subsea motors.

(126) The rectifier can be of the rotating type, in which case the static rectifiers (16, 16, 16, 16) will be substituted with rotating rectifiers that in reality is a motor-generator set of which the generator is a DC generator to which is connected a subsea DC load, e.g. motor, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, but in this case the generator is a direct current (DC) generator and the connected motor is a DC motor. Practical arrangement of a rotating rectifier in pressure housing can be like the arrangement for a motor-generator set previously described in Design of Subsea RFSD.

(127) In the following be more described use of the static type with solid state diodes.

(128) The rotating speed of the motors will be by the established y for DC motors, i.e. control of shunt, series or compound motors.

(129) The speed of a DC motor is directly proportional to the supply voltage. Therefore a suitable alternative way of adjusting the speed is to adjust the voltage from the DC generator.

(130) Alternatively one common rectifier can by used for several motors. Individual speed control can in such cases be done by shunt, series or compound arrangement.

(131) With respect to practical arrangement of the rectifier in a pressure vessel reference is made to the previous description for subsea static frequency step-up device because it can be similar.

(132) Either of the systems, methods, the frequency transformer and the uses of the invention, can include any feature or step described or illustrated in this document, in any operative combination, each operative combination is an embodiment of the invention.