Turbine first for FPSO vessel

Fred. Olsen Production ASA has chosen UK engineering company Peter Brotherhood Ltd to supply two condensing steam turbine driven generator sets for the Knock Allan FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel for the Olowi field off the coast of Gabon. The turbines are the most powerful to be installed on an FPSO vessel.
Each of the two 27 MW sets consists of a turbine, gearbox and generator, all mounted on a common bedplate which incorporates the oil system. The turbines will accept steam from gas fired boilers on the vessel and will exhaust to a separate condenser also supplied by Peter Brotherhood.
The two steam turbine driven generator sets have recently been tested on steam at Peter Brotherhood's manufacturing facility and will be delivered to Dubai Drydocks for installation on the top deck of the Knock Allan FPSO vessel. Engineers from Peter Brotherhood will be employed to commission the machines on board the vessel.
The vessel is currently being converted from a trading tanker to an FPSO at Dubai Drydocks. Once operational, it will be able to store one million barrels of oil and produce 22,000 barrels per day.
Fred. Olsen Production chose Peter Brotherhood because of the company's extensive experience in manufacturing steam turbine driven generator sets for installation on FPSO vessels. These sets have to incorporate features to enable them to operate reliably in a floating environment where they can be affected by, for example, the pitch and roll of a ship.
Peter Brotherhood's managing director, Stephen Fitzpatrick, said: "Winning this order has strengthened the company's position as a world-class supplier of steam turbines for FPSO vessels worldwide. The combination of Peter Brotherhood technologies and FPSO experience provide an exclusive and superior solution for our customers."