Light Structures to Provide Hull Monitoring Systems for Two Brazil-bound FPSOs
Photo of an FPSO vessel is for illustration purposes only – Credit: Light Structures AS
Light Structures, a supplier of fiber optic condition monitoring systems based on Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) technology, has secured two contracts with China’s YANTAI CIMC Raffles Offshore.
Under the contracts, Light Structures will deliver SENSFIB hull stress monitoring systems for two Petrobras-commissioned Floating Production Storage & Offloading (FPSO) units.
“Representing the most extensive SENSFIB technology configuration available, the contracts for Petrobras P-80 and P-83 were secured via Light Structures’ agent China Merchants Hoi Tung company, following another recent order of SENSFIB systems for eight LNG carriers,” Light Structures said.
With a production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day, the FPSO units will be among the largest in the world when completed and deployed at the Búzios offshore oil field in Brazil.
The first SENSFIB system is scheduled to be delivered to the yard by the end of November 2023, with the second arriving within April 2024.
Identical in design and execution, the P-80 and P-83 FPSOs will feature innovations including carbon reduction technologies and digital twins that will provide Petrobras with high-fidelity virtual duplicates of the FPSOs to allow for remote simulation and testing that will secure operational safety, reliability and efficiency.
The digital twins will be connected to live data from diverse sensors on the FPSOs, including the SENSFIB hull monitoring system, ensuring
that any pre-operation check-outs provide accurate data for Petrobras engineering teams, Light Structures said.
“The sheer size of FPSOs combined with the risks and complexity of their offshore operations demands that structural monitoring data is available for safety and operational purposes 24/7,” said Goetz Vogelmann, Sales Director, Light Structures.
