Written by Carmelo Amalfi Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:22
THE foundations of offshore oil and gas structures are moving into deeper waters off the Western Australian continental shelf.
How they will survive the rigours of distance and pressure at depths of more than 1km is a challenge facing researchers at the University of Western Australia Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems.
Image: Istockphoto
Centre director Mark Cassidy said UWA had signed an agreement with the Lloyd`s Register Educational Trust to help provide solutions to the way future industries harness resources on the seabed.
The LRET is an independent global charity established in 2004 by the 250-year-old Lloyd’s Register Group in the UK. It focuses on advancing transportation, science, engineering and technology education, training and research.
Professor Cassidy said UWA had committed $1.2 million to the initiative, which will provide for a Chair and Research Centre of Excellence in Offshore Foundation Systems, three assistant professor positions and a number of PhD scholarships.
The collaboration also plugged WA into research by local and international oil, gas and renewable-energy industries, and other universities in The LRET network, including the University of Southampton and National University of Singapore’s Centre for Offshore Research in Engineering.
“The oil and gas industry already is pushing off the continental shelf,” Professor Cassidy told ScienceNetwork WA.
“Gorgon is in 1350m, Pluto 800m. We will develop methods engineers can use to build structures and make them safe.”
Professor Cassidy said researchers also would develop technologies to support offshore renewable energy structures such as wind turbines.
“In wind turbine systems in Europe, the foundation systems represent 30 to 40 per cent of the cost,” he said.
"The centre will develop ways to reduce that cost."
LRET director Michael Franklin said exploration firms were looking for innovative technical solutions to working in deepsea environments.
¨Few initiatives are more fundamental to The LRET’s mandate than supporting research and education,” he said.
