Application of SIMULINK to Emulate Subsea Production System (SPS) Control Functions

Subsea control systems in subsea production system (SPS) play a vital role in the safe and productive operation of any oil or gas field. These systems operate in extreme environments, thus making the installation and commissioning the system risky and costly. For a new developer, a better understanding on how the system works is needed to ensure that the system will meet all design specifications and reduce the risk and costs associated with installation and commissioning. Hence, leading oil and gas companies are turning to simulation software where the whole subsea control systems from the Hydraulic Power Unit to the Subsea Control Module can be modeled. This project aims to develop a SIMULINK model for a specific SPS and to assist in ensuring that the system will function accordingly. The scope of the project is to concentrate on the movement of the gate valve in subsea control system where the flow of an oil and gas is controlled. The methodology of the project involves collection of technical details and data regarding subsea control modules, identify elements of the control system, arrangement block diagram notation of the SIMULINK software, the acquisition of the SPS design parameters, and the development of SPS control system equation. Simulation result shows that the gate valve is fully open at 10cm within 0.075s. This will be useful to conduct a sensitivity analysis in the matter of SPS changing key design parameters. Moreover, this project will give lots of advantages to a new developer to understand the system well before developing the actual SPS control system.