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Subsea Blowout Preventer (BOP): Design, Reliability, Testing, Deployment, and Operation and Maintenance Challenges

Shafiee, Mahmood, Elusakin, Tobi, Enjema, Evenye (2020) Subsea Blowout Preventer (BOP): Design, Reliability, Testing, Deployment, and Operation and Maintenance Challenges. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 66 . p. 104170. ISSN 0950-4230. (doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170) (KAR id:81469)

Abstract

Subsea blowout preventer (BOP) is a safety-related instrumented system that is used in underwater oil drilling to prevent the well to blowout. As oil and gas exploration moves into deeper waters and harsher environments, the setbacks related to reliable functioning of the BOP system and its subsystems remain a major concern for researchers and practitioners. This study aims to systematically review the current state-of-the-art and present a detailed description about some of the recently developed methodologies for through-life management of the BOP system. Challenges associated with the system design, reliability analysis, testing, deployment as well as operability and maintainability are explored, and then the areas requiring further research and development will be identified. A total of 82 documents published since 1980's are critically reviewed and classified according to two proposed frameworks. The first framework categorises the literature based on the depth of water in which the BOP systems operate, with a sub-categorization based on the Macondo disaster. The second framework categorises the literature based on the techniques applied for the reliability analysis of BOP systems, including Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Reliability Block Diagram (RBD), Petri Net (PN), Markov modelling, Bayesian Network (BN), Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS), etc. Our review analysis reveals that the reliability analysis and testing of BOP has received the most attention in the literature, whereas the design, deployment, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of BOPs received the least.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170
Uncontrolled keywords: Oil and gas; Blowout preventer (BOP); Deepwater; Design; Reliability; Testing; Deployment; Operation and maintenance (O&M)
Subjects: T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > TA165 Engineering instruments, meters etc. Industrial instrumentation
T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > TA401 Materials engineering and construction
T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery > Control engineering
V Naval Science > V Naval Science (General)
V Naval Science > VM Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Engineering and Digital Arts
Depositing User: Mahmood Shafiee
Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2020 07:50 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 16:57 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/81469 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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