The basic design was extensively modified by Resource Technology at their Chepstow office. Twin 10-in. flare pipes and a stainless steel flare tower were added and the buoy hull extended to meet the strict buoy motion requirements.
When in service, the buoy will support twin Coflexip mid-water suspended hoses from the Zafiro Producer. The buoy will be stationed approximately 200 meters northwest of the floating production vessel and will flare in excess of 35 MMcf/d of gas.
The buoy was modified as an emergency measure following the loss of the original flare buoy during installation. This incident stopped production and it was fortunate that the Resource buoy was available.
Temporary measure
During the design and modification phase of the project Mobil Equatorial Guinea recognized that the buoy, though originally intended as a temporary measure, was sufficiently robust to accommodate a 15-year design life.Resource proposed basic design modifications which included moving from a single tether design to a multiple tether buoy exhibiting no pitch motion. This latter design is similar to the field control buoys designed by Resource, such as the East Spar Buoy used off North West Australia (installed October 1996) to control a subsea gas field 60 km offshore.
The use of this design for offshore flare buoys was first considered by Resource for the Svakin field in the Red Sea in a study for Genesis,
but this is the first application of the design concept. Resource said that while this is proof of concept, the purpose-designed flare buoy would be subject to much smaller motions and loadings and is substantially cheaper than currently used buoys.
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