This Gigantic Floating Oil Platform Is Steam Powered | Richard Hammond's Big

this multi-billion dollar platform delivered its first oil in 2019 it's called the appomattox after the town in virginia where the american civil war came to an end and it's one of the most extreme deep water projects ever attempted weighing a colossal 124 000 tons almost 10 times the weight of the brooklyn bridge it draws hydrocarbons like oil and gas from under the seabed separates them and pumps them ashore down here almost at sea level at the pace of one of the hull columns is the first time i've got a real sense of just how exposed to the elements the platform is i mean there's the sea and out there is the weather which is today admittedly perfect but that can't be taken for granted particularly during the infamous late summer hurricane season since 1900 hurricanes hitting the us from the gulf of mexico have killed more than 9 000 people one of the most devastating was hurricane katrina in 2005 that year alone hurricanes destroyed over 100 offshore platforms and damaged more than 50 others so how does this giant man-made floating structure survive such brutal forces when some other structures fail well according to project manager mano de jong small design decisions can make a big difference we um put it this high up from the sea water level to make sure that even the largest baits don't actually hit our platform and it's as simple as that is to stay out of the way of the rough sea it is to stay out of the way of the rough sea it does take a lot of matte ocean data better data to actually notice and a lot of calculation to make sure that it then actually happens because the force with which that water could come through in a bad storm is mind-blowing isn't i mean coming through here just with immense sport that would be indeed immense and worthy to have equipment at that low level it would certainly be washed away easily if we would have a heavy tropical storm hence we lift the whole platform up to a safe height and that's just done by adjusting the buoyancy in these huge buoyancy columns that's right all of these four columns have a lot of buoyancy and we adjust the levels on each one of them by playing with the level of fluid inside them very large waves also have the power to capsize anything that's floating but that can't happen here because of another clever feature of the whole columns here they're close together they're each close to the central gravity which means slightest imbalance doesn't work the solution to that it simply take exactly the same whole columns but they're each further from that center of gravity and it's much much more stable same weight same amount of structure but look at that that is inherently stable as well as the 24 7 catering and the relentless processing of oil and gas this industrial rabbit warren purifies its own water produces its own nitrogen and pumps chemicals into the wells all of which requires an enormous amount of power uniquely on this platform all of that power comes from electric motors they're everywhere even the giant cranes on the four corners they're electric does that make the appomattox a vegetarian running a burger shop the only way the platform can get all the electricity it needs is by generating it and uniquely among platforms like this the appomattox does that using four jet engines turbine engineer don lyon is going to show me one of them oh yes there it is this is an aeroderivative engine it could be used as an aircraft engine but in this case it's used in an industrial application so this is the kind of engine you might see slung under the wing of an airliner you fly absolutely you built this module for the most part i built the power module here that's a really big job and i'm guessing you don't look up you know the building structures on the internet to construct this do you it's not no traditional offshore facilities use generators and buy in countless liters of diesel to run them but these jets are fueled by a more innovative solution this comes from our process gas we clean it and compress it send it up here so that's done here that's done here so this is for free it's free power yes the appomattox is fueled by natural gas from its own wells makes sense when you think about it how much power are you making in the module that you built so we have the capability to make 150 megawatts for that context so 150 megawatts on a normal day in america could power a hundred thousand homes but then there's another level to this right so the hot exhaust is recuperated above you know you know one time through steam generator that in that steam generator water's boiled to make steam and that steam is transmitted to the other side of the platform to the steam turbine so you could say that to an extent this incredible cutting edge right at the forefront of technology platform is steamed yeah steam or not this is one of the most efficient offshore platforms ever built so that steam turbine is using the by-product of those jet engines which are using the by-product of the process correct it's absolutely brilliant and unique this is the first of its kind it is it's my last night here and i can't help marveling that an industrial installation this big can operate day in day out so isolated from the rest of civilization on arriving and seeing this place for the first time it looks bit yeah but also strangely inert it doesn't move outwardly there's little sign of anything actually going on at all but having spent some time here i've learned the fact that it doesn't move is incredible it's floating on the scene and i've met the team of people who call themselves a family because they spend more time together here than they do at home it generates its own power using jet engines and steam it does a job that would otherwise be impossible it is right now and who knows as the world changes maybe forever one-of-a-kind

Channel: Discovery Australia

Views: 1,403,167

Rating: 4.9103222 out of 5

Keywords: discovery australia, discovery aus, australian videos, australian youtube videos, discovery australia youtube, richard hammond's big, richard hammond's big oil platform, richard hammond's big oil rig, appomattox shell, appomattox oil platform, how do oil platforms float, how do oil platforms get energy, how do oil rigs float, how do oil rigs stay in place, rhmm, steam powered oil platform

Id: il_N5ziD7jg

Length: 7min 26sec (446 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 12 2020