Challenge

Build up of marine fouling on subsea structures leads to economic losses for marine industries including the oil and gas and decommissioning sectors.

Project Aim

To isolate antifouling (AF) active compounds from marine invertebrates with the potential use as environmentally friendly AF agents.

Project Outline

Marine invertebrates are known to produce interesting compounds including chemical defence compounds to protect themselves from predators and to prevent other organisms from settling on their surfaces. These compounds could be non-toxic alternatives to currently used antifouling agents which accumulate in the marine environment and are toxic to non-target species according to recent studies.

Status – project complete

Marine invertebrate extracts have been tested for their biofilm growth inhibition activity against five key marine bacterial species which are involved in the biofilm formation process in marine and estuarine environments. Purification to find the individual compounds responsible for the bioactivity has been completed.

Publications

Virtual Screening of a Library of Naturally Occurring Anthraquinones for Potential Anti-Fouling Agents, (Jan 2023), MDPI Molecules

A structure-activity relationship analysis of anthraquinones with antifouling activity against marine biofilm-forming bacteria, (Oct 2022) Frontiers in Natural Products

Marine Natural Products: A Promising Source of Environmentally Friendly Antifouling Agents for the Maritime Industries, (Feb 2022) Frontiers in Marine Science 

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner: Tritonia Scientific Ltd

Funder:
NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge
It is complex to quantify the outcomes of cost, duration and environmental impact when comparing different decommissioning strategies for any given offshore project.

Project Aim
Develop a decision support system whereby a user can input a description of offshore assets and produce a set of optimal decommissioning strategies for reaching an end of life.

Project Outline
Many decisions are required to complete a decommissioning project. A few key examples include decisions on reuse, selection of removal technologies, operational logistics, and choices of supporting facilities such as ports and decommissioning yards. The first part of this study involved producing a data model to describe the main types asset from the oil and gas industry along with the attributed site information. The next stage developed a work breakdown description of activities and events that can be arranged to form alternative project schedules. These events were then able to be modelled for evaluating cost, time and environmental metrics for a given schedule. The final stages of the project are focused on optimizing the project decisions to produce a set of candidate schedules and establishing a graphical user interface for the tool.

Status – project complete
The project has been successful in producing a data framework for describing offshore units and the activities of decommissioning.  A resource constrained project scheduling model was used to evaluate and optimise different schedules using a novel MATLAB GUI software tool.

Publications

AN ONTOLOGY FOR OFFSHORE OIL & GAS DECOMMISSIONING, (Dec 2020) International Conference on, The Decommissioning of Offshore & Subsea Structures
DECOM 2020 DECOM Proceedings

Project Team

Academic Team:

Funder :

NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge
To quantify the volume and type of GHG emissions produced during oil and gas decommissioning activities.

Project Aim
To holistically quantify GHG emissions from oil and gas decommissioning activity.

Project Outline
Decommissioning is a GHG intensive process with marine operations requiring large equipment and many ship-miles and operating time. There are GHG costs associated with waste disposal and recycling of materials. The GHG emissions caused by the decommissioning process can be very high and depend on the amount of infrastructure removed and methods used. Currently the GHG emissions associated with decommissioning are not evaluated in-depth as the life cycle assessment process is complex. This omission conflicts with the law to reduce UK GHG emissions to Net Zero by 2050.

Status – project complete
This project is now complete.

Publications

A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil and gas industry marine infrastructure (Nov 2023) Enviro. Sci.: Adv.

Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production (Nov 2023)
Energy Reports

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Decommissioning Manmade Structures in the Marine Environment; Current Trends and Implications for the Future (May 2023) Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 

First port of call: a horizon scanning workshop for sustainable Arctic marine infrastructure, (May 2023) Polar Journal

Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from decommissioned oil and gas structures: Can current policy meet Net Zero goals, (Jan 2022) Energy Policy

Sustainable Decommissioning – Wind Turbine Blade Recycling Phase 2. A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF COMPOSITE RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES – CROSS INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES (Sept 2021) Net Zero Technology Centre Report

Project Team

Academic Team:

Funder :
NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge
Oil and gas infrastructure provides important network of hard substrates that facilitates stepping-stone migration for both native species and non-native marine invasive species. Decommissioning can therefore impact the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function, connectivity between features such as marine protected areas (MPAs) and the emergence and spread of invasive species.

Project Aim
To develop next-generation molecular approaches such as environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to characterise species assemblages on oil and gas infrastructure and infer patterns of dispersal in relation to oceanographic currents and features, established MPAs and existing infrastructure.

Status
We are collating a suite of genome sequences for key native and invasive species to act as barcodes to detect their presence and spread in relation to decommissioning activities.

Project Team

Academic Team:

Funder :

NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

Subsea bundles are complex forms of pipelines usually having large diameters which poses an issue when it comes to decommissioning. Several bundles are larger than 1m in diameter.

Project Aim

To identify a viable approach to decommission subsea bundles. The aspects of cutting bundles is currently being assessed.

Project Outline

Significant challenges are arising in the field of decommissioning of subsea bundles. Several techniques that are currently applied to the traditional pipelines (either for decommissioning or protection) are being discussed in terms of their viability for the decommissioning of the bundles. Some of the techniques considered are removal by cutting and lifting, removal by floating and towing, trenching, and reusing at another location. However, those techniques are still not fully developed and researched to be scaled and applied to the bundles. This project investigates the viability of cutting and lifting the bundles for the purpose of decommissioning.

Status – project complete

  • Finite element analysis was conducted to model cutting a subsea bundle and estimate the required forces
  • The concepts of hydraulic and guillotine shearing were investigated

Project Team

Academic Team:

Funder :

NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

UK legislation gives the Government powers to require oil and gas licensees to provide financial security to prevent taxpayers from funding decommissioning liabilities. The question is: What are the benefits and drawbacks of the accepted instruments to procure financial security?

Project Aim

To provide a comparative assessment of the different instruments to procure financial security for decommissioning liability. UK legislation accepts the following: a charge over an asset, a cash deposit, a performance bond, an insurance policy, a letter of credit, and a trust fund.

Project Outline and Status ( project complete)

A financial simulation model of five oil fields designed to be representative of recent UKCS assets has been built. The model evaluates the effect of oil price uncertainty, decline rates and mothballing. Further work has created a mathematical optimization model to assess the decision to cease production and how this relates to the financial security instruments. Finally, possible solutions for residual liability in perpetuity was explored.

Publications

The potential effects of the Energy Profits Levy (windfall tax) on investment in the UK Continental Shelf (Apr 2023), OEUK Offshore Energies Magazine Issue 55 Spring 2023

Economic impact of the Energy Profits Levy on UKCS investment projects (Feb 2023),
NORTH SEA STUDY OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 148 ISSN 0143-022X

Effects of decline rate uncertainty and financial security obligations on the decision to decommission offshore oil and gas installations: a UKCS case study (2022),
International Association for Energy Economics: Mapping the Energy Future -Voyage in Uncharted Territory in Tokyo

Effects of different oil-price modelling approaches on the economics of financial instruments to procure security for decommissioning (2021), The International Energy Economics Association (IAEE) Online Conference Abstract Proceedings

Modelling offshore oil and gas decommissioning decisions under oil price uncertainty and financial security obligations: a case study of the UKCS (2021), The International Energy Economics Association (IAEE) Online Conference Full Paper Proceedings

Project Team

Academic Team:

Funder :

NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

Mercury (Hg) is a contaminant associated with oil and gas production. Although risks during production are managed, the environmental risks of Hg during decommissioning procedures are less well understood.

Project Aim

To quantify the environmental behaviour of Hg at the marine sediment/water interface.

Project Outline

The mobility of Hg species will be judged on the comparative assessment of their behaviour (leaching, diffusion and fractionation) in marine sediments. The bioavailability of Hg will be monitored by diffuse gradient in thin film (DGTs) and bioluminescent biosensors.

Status

The development of a large-scale Hg specific environmental model has helped to bridge the gap between laboratory scale measurements and holistic environmental impacts. The delivery of a newly purchased dedicated Hg analyser is expected to augment and accelerate laboratory work.

Publications

Considerations for future quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modelling for heavy metals – A case study of mercury (Nov 2023), Toxicology Volume 499 153661

An approach to assess potential environmental mercury release, food web bioaccumulation, and human dietary methylmercury uptake from decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure (Apr 2023), Journal of Hazardous Materials Vol 452

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner : Chevron

  • Dr Paul Bireta

Funder : Chevron UK Ltd

Challenge

Corrosion is one of the critical degradation mechanisms for pipelines left in place. Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) have been reported to significantly influence corrosion rates. However, there is limited knowledge on how these microorganisms can influence the long-term structural integrity of decommissioned subsea pipelines.

Project Aim

To develop a protocol for predicting the long-term structural performance of decommissioned subsea pipelines considering the effect of microbiologically influenced corrosion by SRB.

Project Outline

Experiments will be carried out to predict the long-term SRB influenced corrosion of left-in-place structures in a subsea environment. The results from the corrosion experiments together with data from mechanical and metallography tests will be used to conduct detailed parametric numerical analysis of the degradation of the structures.  State of the art reliability analysis techniques will be developed, and used in combination with the results from the experiments and numerical analyses, to formulate a robust framework for predicting the long-term structural performance of left-in-place subsea pipelines.

Status – project complete

  • Preliminary mechanical tests and metallographic analysis have been performed on API 5L X65 material
  • Developed an experimental protocol for SRB induced corrosion tests and laboratory experiments complete.
  • Numerical analyses completed and results have quantified the difference in collapse pressures of pipelines due to non-uniform and uniform corrosion for the same average corrosion depths.
  • Reliability studies to determine how key variables affect structural integrity completed.

Publications

An investigation on the effect of widespread internal corrosion defects on the collapse pressure of subsea pipelines (Nov 2023), Ocean Engineering Vol 287, Part II

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner : Chevron

  • A D Brixton & P Oliver

Funder : Chevron

Challenge

Oil and Gas Structures (OGSs) in the tropics are home to abundant and diverse fish communities.  In the era of decommissioning, the fish habitat value of these structures must be determined to preserve associated economic and ecological benefits. This in turn demands profiling the distribution of structure-associated fishes, using effective acoustic & optic methods.

Project Aim

To develop and implement acoustic & optic methods for surveying the horizontal and vertical distributions of OGS-associated fishes.

Project Outline

Phase One:  Analysis of stereo-video and imaging sonar footage collected on an artificial reef off Perth, Australia.

Phase Two: Deployment of stereo-video and imaging sonar on OGSs in Thailand and Australia.

Status – project complete

Publications

An acoustic-optic comparison of fish assemblages at a Rigs-to-Reefs habitat and coral reef in the Gulf of Thailand (Dec 2023), Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol 295

Quantifying the ability of imaging sonar to identify fish species at a subtropical artificial reef (Oct 2023), ICES Journal of Marine Science 1–13

Sound sees more: A comparison of imaging sonars and optical cameras for estimating fish densities at artificial reefs (Aug 2023), Fisheries Research Vol 264, 106720

The Capacity of Imaging Sonar for Quantifying the Abundance, Species Richness, and Size of Reef Fish Assemblages: A Review (Mar 2023), MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 717: 157–179

 

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner: Chevron

  • Dr T Elsdon, Dr M Marnane & P Oliver

Funder : Chevron

GNPC logoChallenge

Limited research focused on developing unified approach to evaluate interacting corrosion clusters in pipelines, which behave distinctively different from single corrosion defects.

Project Aim

To develop an appropriate and unified framework for the integrity assessment of spatially varying pipeline interacting corrosion defect models to improve reliability estimates by developing computationally efficient modelling schemes.

Project Outline

A multi-stage integrity assessment approach considering the probabilistic and stochastic  finite element-based reliability methods (PFERM & SFERM) will attempt to examine the behaviour of interacting corrosion cluster defects. Machine learning methods would be employed to reduce the computational simulation time.

Status – project complete

  • Deterministic assessment of ideal corrosion clusters with novel defect shapes is complete.
  • Studies on the suitability of various machine learning models complete.

Publications

Probabilistic finite element-based reliability of corroded pipelines with interacting corrosion cluster defects (Feb 2024), International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping Vol 207 Volume 207, 105086

Estimation of burst pressure of pipelines with interacting corrosion clusters based on machine learning models (OCT 2023) Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries Vol 85 105176

Machine Learning Based Integrity Decision Management of Pipeline Corrosion Clusters (Conference paper) 2022 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Applications (DASA) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

Academic Team

Funder :

GNPC Foundation

Challenge
The risk of in situ decommissioning to fisheries is a major factor in pipeline decommissioning decisions.  Current fisheries risk assessments generally use fishing data with a low spatial and/or temporal resolution, and do not consider impacts beyond injuries and fatalities. Furthermore, snagging risk factors (gear type, soil condition), and how they translate to different outcomes when snagging occurs are poorly understood.

Project Aim

Develop a fisheries snagging risk model for decommissioning pipelines in the North Sea.

Project Outline

This 3.5-year PhD project will be delivered through four work-packages;

WP1: Quantify snagging events and fisheries interactions with subsea pipelines;

WP2: Analysis of North Sea pipeline properties, fishing and soil conditions;

WP3: Development of a Finite Element model;

WP4: Basin-scale assessment of fisheries impacts and risks under pipeline decommissioning scenarios.

Status – in progress

This project started in January 2023.

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner:

Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (OCT 2023 to present)

Marine Scotland Science (2021 – Jun 2023)

Funder: MSS (now ended), NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

To deliver innovation, impact and technical development in the field of floating offshore wind, which is vital for achieving net zero and energy transition goals.

Project Aim

Investigate and inform approaches to offshore wind development and maintenance that have the potential to bring significant improvements to current processes as well as cost savings to industry.

Project Outline

Develop Simulation of Floating Offshore Wind Marine Operations

Status – in progress

The scope for the PhD project has been finalized and agreed.  Student started February 2023 for 3.5 years.

Project Team

Academic Team:

Company Partner: ORE Catapult

  • Dr Luke Eatough

Funder : ORE Catapult, NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

To deliver innovation, impact and technical development in the field of floating offshore wind, which is vital for achieving net zero and energy transition goals.

Project Aim

Investigate and inform approaches to offshore wind development and maintenance that have the potential to bring significant improvements to current processes as well as cost savings to industry.

Project Outline

Develop Environmental Impact of Floating Offshore Wind

Status – start February 2024

The scope for the PhD project has been finalized and agreed.  Studentship recruitment has started.  Student will start Sept/Oct 2022 for 3.5 years.

Project Team

Academic Team:

  • Prof Ana Ivanovic – a.ivanovic@abdn.ac.uk
  • Prof Richard Neilson
  • Dr Marcin Kapitaniak

Company Partner: ORE Catapult

  • Dr Luke Eatough

Funder : ORE Catapult, NDC (NZTC & UoA)

Challenge

To deliver innovation, impact and technical development in the field of floating offshore wind, which is vital for achieving net zero and energy transition goals.

Project Aim

Investigate and inform approaches to offshore wind development and maintenance that have the potential to bring significant improvements to current processes as well as cost savings to industry.

Project Outline

Develop Multi-objective Optimisation of Floating Offshore Wind Mooring/Anchor Systems

Status

The scope for the PhD project has been finalized and agreed. Student started in February 2023 for 3.5 years.

Project Team

Academic Team:

  • Craig Macnamara (PhD student) – c.macnamara.22@abdn.ac.uk
  • Dr Peter Dunning – peter.dunning@abdn.ac.uk
  • Dr Antonios Karadimos
  • Dr Marcin Kapitaniak
  • Prof Curran Crawford (Uni of Victoria, Canada)

Company Partner: ORE Catapult

  • Dr Daniel Milano

Funder : ORE Catapult, NDC (NZTC & UoA)