Jan Arne Austnes
Groner Akustikk AS, P.O. Box 322, N-1322 Hovik, Norway
Noise abatement requirements are an inevitable content of the statutory safety standards for offshore production/exploration platforms. The Norwegian authorities are strictly following up all acoustical aspects of concern to a safe operation of the facility. Project planning has a key role in the implementation of a successful platform noise control. Its specific scope of work shall be covered by an accurate set of cost time resource (CTR) plans. To maintain engineering feasibility at its maximum, all phases of the project design have to be monitored by an acoustic specialist engineer. He shall be permanently present as a part of the project design team. The IDC routing of documentation and purchase specifications is his main ``trains'' of giving inputs to the acoustic performance. The agreed noise control technologies are implemented by the system disciplines/manufacturers. The acoustic engineer does the verification calculations through noise prediction reporting by three to five revisions throughout the project. During commissioning, phase measurements are performed to state the ``as-built'' performance. These headlines of the paper roughly describe the quality assurance procedures normally followed during a topside design/construction/commissioning project. The lecture is illustrated by case histories from 15 years of design/construction/retrofit experience.