Robust Health Aware Operation of a Subsea Gas Compression System

In this paper we apply health-aware control ideas to the optimal operation of a subsea gas compression plant. Subsea systems operate in harsh environments and under uncertain and varying operation conditions. Because they are very difficult and expensive to access, an optimal operational strategy that tries to maximize hydrocarbon production must ensure that no unplanned shutdowns due to premature equipment failures occur. In this paper we apply two stochastic optimization approaches in order to maximize the economic profit, while ensuring that the subsea compression plant remains operational until the next planned maintenance. We consider a min-max robust optimization approach and a scenario-based optimization approach with recourse. Although both methods avoid unplanned shutdowns, the scenario-based method results in a less conservative solution at the cost of a larger problem size.