SKF’s S2M magnetic bearings part of award-winning seabed gas compression system

SKF S2M's magnetic bearings were selected to equip the compressors and high speed motors of the Åsgard Subsea Gas Compression System, by Statoil and Aker Solutions, this year's winner of the Innovation Awards at the 2012 Offshore North Sea (ONS) exhibition in Norway.

The compression system, for the Åsgard project in the Norwegian Sea, comprises a large seabed structure with two compressors, pumps, scrubbers and coolers designed to prolong the operating life of the gas field and improve recovery rates, where declining natural gas pressures would in the future be too small to deliver the gas to the surface.

“We congratulate Statoil and Aker Solutions on a development that will not only benefit Åsgard but will pave the way for advantageous subsea solutions for the entire oil and gas community. SKF is delighted that S2M bearings were selected for this innovative project”, says SKF‘s S2M Director, Laurent Clouet. 

The magnetic bearings’ high reliability is derived from their frictionless, oil-free, low maintenance operation and has benefits in terms of high efficiency, long service life and maintainability in the remote, unmanned operating conditions on the seabed floor. Installed at a depth of 200-300 metres, the compressors are too deep for divers and accessible only by remote underwater vehicles (ROVs)".