Modular Pump Skids and Packages

Our customer required a modular, triple-pump skid package for an existing platform in the Norwegian North Sea. The pumped medium is MEG (Mono Ethylene Glycol) and the unit is ATEX Zone 2 and NORSOK compliant. The platform is operational and both access and space are limited, thus presenting the design challenges on which we thrive.

A particularly interesting project was the design and manufacture of two heli-portable well service pump packages. The operating location was on land in an area only accessible by helicopter with a 3.5 tonne lift limit. The design took into consideration the re-assembly process to ensure accurate and easy engagement of the modules.

This modular TEG pump skid is installed on an FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel and operates in an ATEX Zone 2 hazardous area.

Some modular pump skids consist of two modules – essentially two halves of the skid. However, it is quite common for the operating location to require the design to achieve a number of modules as is the case with this TEG pump.

Included as part of this modular high pressure waste injection pump package project was a DA2 (Design Approach 2) Study to model and analyse the acoustics of the pump system and pipework.

This pump package perfectly illustrates three of our company’s skills. We have for many years specialised in high pressure, hazardous area, and modular pump packages. This pump package, as with all the pump packages on this webpage, was designed, built, and tested at our factory in Worcester, UK.

Platform electrification takes two forms. There are new platforms for which we have supplied many process pump packages. Then there are the platforms being retrospectively modified to operate purely on electricity. For these, our modular approach is essential for bypassing crane limits and tight deck-space constraints during installation.

As platforms age, so does the machinery, including rotating equipment such as pump skids and packages. When platforms are built, installation plans allow pump packages to be introduced in sequence with further machinery following. Years, sometimes decades later, as pump packages near their end of life, replacement pump packages need to be installed. With so much machinery already in place, access is highly restricted, making our compact and modular pump packages an increasing requirement year on year.

Platform decommissioning has its own challenges. Limited deck space and often reduced crane lift capacity demand bespoke pump packages. However, modular skids are not always the answer in this application, rather the reduction in weight and size/footprint of units is necessary. In 2016, we developed OffshoreLITE – our range of lightweight and compact pumps, vacuums, and compressors to address this industry need.