8 Chiller and Refrigeration System Packages for Johnson Controls: Offshore Platform HVAC from Chinese Fields to Brazil’s Pre-Salt FPSOs
By Qiangbin Chu · Sales Manager & Operations Lead
Between 2012 and 2016, Lmart fabricated eight chiller and refrigeration system packages for offshore oil & gas platforms — spanning CNOOC and CNPC platforms in the Bohai Sea and South China Sea, and Petrobras pre-salt FPSOs in Brazil. Johnson Controls Denmark (formerly York International) served as the system integrator for the international projects, with Lmart providing the complete mechanical skid packages including pressure vessels, piping, structural frames, and instrumentation mounting.
| System Integrator | Johnson Controls Denmark ApS (formerly York International) |
| End Users | CNOOC (中海油), CNPC (中国石油), Petrobras, China Dalian Shipbuilding Industry |
| Industry | Offshore oil & gas — platform HVAC and process refrigeration |
| Project Locations | Bohai Sea (COPE7#, COPE9#, 10#, HTB), Santos Basin Brazil (C-023, C-024, P75, P77) |
| Equipment | Refrigeration systems × 3, Chillers × 4, Air-cooled unit × 1 (8 units total) |
| Platform Types | Fixed jacket platforms (China), FPSO hulls (Brazil) |
| Delivery Period | 2012–2016 (four production campaigns) |
Customer Background and Industry Context
Johnson Controls (through its York International / Johnson Controls Denmark operations) is one of the world’s largest suppliers of HVAC and industrial refrigeration systems. In the offshore oil & gas sector, Johnson Controls supplies complete refrigeration and air conditioning packages to platform operators worldwide — systems that maintain habitable conditions in crew quarters, control rooms, and electrical equipment rooms on platforms operating in tropical and subtropical waters where ambient temperatures routinely exceed 35 °C with high humidity.
Offshore refrigeration equipment faces engineering challenges that land-based HVAC never encounters. Every component must withstand continuous salt spray exposure, platform vibration from drilling and production operations, and the dynamic loading from wave-induced motion on floating installations. Weight and footprint are severely constrained — every kilogram of HVAC equipment displaces payload capacity, and every square meter of deck space competes with process equipment, safety systems, and logistics areas. The refrigeration package must be fully self-contained on a structural skid that can be lifted as a single module by the platform crane, connected to ship-side utilities, and commissioned with minimum offshore labor.
The 2012–2016 period covered by this project coincided with two major offshore development campaigns: CNOOC’s continued expansion in the Bohai Sea and South China Sea, and Petrobras’s massive pre-salt development program in the Santos Basin off southeastern Brazil. The pre-salt fields — discovered in 2006 beneath 2,000 m of water, 1,000 m of post-salt sediment, and 2,000 m of salt rock — represent some of the most technically demanding deepwater developments ever undertaken. FPSOs serving these fields are among the largest floating production units in the world.
Challenges and Engineering Pain Points
Modular Skid Design for Offshore Lifting and Installation
Each refrigeration package must ship as a complete, pre-tested module that can be crane-lifted onto the platform deck through a single lift point. This means the structural skid frame must carry the full operating weight of all vessels, compressors, piping, and refrigerant charge while withstanding the dynamic loads during a marine lift — typically 2.0× static weight for impact factors specified by the platform operator or classification society. The skid must also include integrated lifting lugs, sea-fastening points for transport, and vibration isolation mounts for the compressor, all within an envelope constrained by the platform crane capacity and deck opening dimensions.
Corrosion Protection for Offshore Service Life
Offshore platforms in the South China Sea and Santos Basin operate in Zone C5-M (very high salinity) per ISO 12944. All carbon steel structural members, piping supports, and equipment frames require a multi-coat paint system — typically zinc-rich primer, epoxy intermediate, and polyurethane topcoat — applied to a minimum dry film thickness (DFT) of 320 μm. Stainless steel components exposed to chloride-laden atmospheres must be specified in grades resistant to pitting and crevice corrosion. Every threaded connection, instrument tubing fitting, and electrical gland must be rated for the offshore environment.
Multiple Certification Frameworks Across Geographies
The eight units in this project span Chinese domestic offshore regulations (for CNOOC/CNPC platforms) and international classification requirements (for the Brazil FPSO projects). The Chinese platforms require compliance with GB/T 150 and CNOOC/CNPC engineering standards, while the Petrobras FPSOs require compliance with the certifying classification society’s rules (typically DNV or BV), ASME where specified, and Petrobras’s own technical specifications (N-series standards). Managing parallel documentation packages, inspection protocols, and material certification requirements across these frameworks requires a quality system capable of multi-code execution.
Tropical Operating Conditions and Heat Rejection
Both the Bohai Sea platforms and the Brazilian FPSOs operate in warm-water environments where seawater cooling temperatures range from 20–32 °C. The air-cooled unit for COPE7# (Item 2) must reject heat to ambient air at temperatures reaching 40 °C with near-100% relative humidity — conditions that dramatically reduce air-side heat transfer coefficients and require oversized condenser coils or increased fan capacity. For the water-cooled chillers, the high seawater inlet temperature reduces the available temperature differential across the condenser, pushing condensing pressures higher and affecting compressor power consumption and COP.
Why Johnson Controls Selected Lmart
Complete skid fabrication capability. Johnson Controls required a single-source fabricator capable of delivering finished, tested skid packages — not individual components. Lmart’s workshop handles structural steel fabrication (skid frames, pipe racks, equipment supports), pressure vessel manufacturing, piping prefabrication and installation, and surface treatment under one roof, eliminating the coordination overhead of multi-vendor assembly.
Proven offshore delivery track record. The initial 2012 order for the COPE9# refrigeration system established Lmart’s capability for offshore-grade fabrication. Successful execution led to follow-on orders in 2013 (three units for Chinese platforms), 2014 (two units for Brazilian FPSOs), and 2016 (two units for GE Energy/Petrobras P75 and P77) — a pattern of repeat business spanning four years and two continents.
Multi-code quality management. Lmart’s ISO 9001 quality system, ASME U Stamp, and six classification society approvals (DNV, BV, CCS, ABS, LR, NK) enabled concurrent production of units under different certification frameworks without quality system conflicts. The 2014 Brazil orders and 2013 Chinese platform orders were in production simultaneously, each following its respective code and inspection regime.
Cost-competitive positioning. For an OEM like Johnson Controls procuring skid packages across global supply chains, China-based fabrication offers significant cost advantages on structural steelwork, piping, and labor-intensive assembly operations — provided the fabricator can meet international quality standards. Lmart’s combination of competitive pricing and certifications made it a viable alternative to fabricators in Korea, Singapore, and the Middle East for this class of work.
Engineering and Manufacturing Solution
The eight units were produced across four campaigns, each building on the engineering and fabrication lessons of the previous order. The core manufacturing scope for each package included:
Structural skid frame. Hot-rolled steel sections (H-beams, channels, angles) welded into a rigid base frame with integrated lifting lugs designed per platform crane capacity. Each frame was stress-analyzed for transport loads (road, sea, and crane lift) and coated to NORSOK M-501 or equivalent offshore paint specification. Vibration isolation mounts were incorporated at compressor mounting locations to limit transmitted vibration to adjacent equipment.
Pressure vessel components. Refrigerant receivers, oil separators, economizers, and liquid/suction accumulators fabricated to the applicable code (GB/T 150 for Chinese platform units; ASME VIII Div. 1 or classification society rules for Brazil-bound units). All vessels hydrostatically tested and stamped before installation on the skid.
Piping and instrumentation. Complete refrigerant piping, cooling water piping, and oil piping systems prefabricated and installed on the skid with full NDE (radiography or UT on butt welds, DPT on socket welds and fillet welds). Instrument connections, gauge roots, and control valve manifolds installed per the P&ID with tag numbering matching the platform’s DCS I/O schedule.
Surface treatment. Multi-coat paint system applied in Lmart’s blast and paint facility: Sa 2.5 surface preparation, zinc-rich primer (75 μm DFT), high-build epoxy intermediate (200 μm DFT), and polyurethane topcoat (50–75 μm DFT). Stainless steel components pickled and passivated. All fasteners in 316 stainless or hot-dip galvanized as specified.
Complete Equipment Reference List
| # | Year | Equipment | Qty | Purchaser | End User / Platform | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012 | Refrigeration System | 1 | YORK Marine | COPE9# Platform | Bohai Sea, China |
| 2 | 2013 | Air-Cooled Unit | 1 | CNOOC Tianjin | COPE7# Platform | Bohai Sea, China |
| 3 | 2013 | Chiller | 1 | China National Petroleum Offshore | Platform No. 10 | China Offshore |
| 4 | 2013 | Chiller | 1 | China Dalian Shipbuilding Industry | HTB Platform | China Offshore |
| 5 | 2014 | Chiller | 1 | Johnson Controls Denmark | FPSO C-023 (Estaleiro Atlântico Sul) | Santos Basin, Brazil |
| 6 | 2014 | Chiller | 1 | Johnson Controls Denmark | FPSO C-024 (Estaleiro Atlântico Sul) | Santos Basin, Brazil |
| 7 | 2016 | Refrigeration System | 1 | Johnson Controls Denmark | GE Energy P75 (Petrobras FPSO) | Santos Basin, Brazil |
| 8 | 2016 | Refrigeration System | 1 | Johnson Controls Denmark | GE Energy P77 (Petrobras FPSO) | Santos Basin, Brazil |
Project Execution, Quality Control, and Delivery
The four-year production program followed a progressive learning curve. The 2012 COPE9# unit established Lmart’s baseline fabrication procedures for offshore refrigeration skids. Each subsequent campaign incorporated refinements in weld procedure qualification, dimensional control, and paint system application based on feedback from Johnson Controls’ field commissioning teams.
Key QC milestones for each skid package:
- Incoming material verification: mill certificates cross-checked against material requisition, PMI on all alloy materials, and dimensional verification of structural sections
- Skid frame fabrication: fit-up inspection, full-penetration weld joints per AWS D1.1, dimensional survey at four-point level check before equipment installation
- Pressure vessel fabrication: welding per qualified WPS, NDE per applicable code (RT or UT on longitudinal and circumferential seams), hydrostatic test to 1.3–1.5× design pressure
- Piping installation: isometric verification against P&ID, weld NDE (RT/UT on butt welds ≥ 2″ NPS, 100% DPT on socket and fillet welds), pneumatic leak test at 1.1× design pressure
- Surface preparation and coating: Sa 2.5 blast profile verified by Testex tape, DFT measurement at minimum 5 points per square meter, adhesion pull-off test per ASTM D4541
- Pre-shipment inspection: dimensional survey, coating inspection, preservation verification (nitrogen blanket on vessels, flange covers on all open connections), shipping saddle and sea-fastening bolt pattern verification
The Brazil-bound units (Items 5–8) were containerized and shipped via ocean freight to Estaleiro Atlântico Sul shipyard in Suape, Pernambuco (for C-023/C-024) and to GE Energy’s integration facility (for P75/P77). Lmart provided shipping engineering including container loading plans, shock and vibration protection, and desiccant dehumidification for the trans-Pacific voyage.
Results and Business Impact
Eight refrigeration packages were delivered across four production campaigns without schedule delays or quality non-conformances requiring rework after shipment. The repeat-order pattern — from a single unit in 2012 to paired orders in 2014 and 2016 — demonstrates the progressive confidence Johnson Controls built in Lmart’s fabrication capability.
The Brazil FPSO deliveries (P75, P77, C-023, C-024) are particularly significant as international references. These are Petrobras pre-salt production platforms operating in water depths exceeding 2,000 m — the most technically demanding offshore environment in the global oil & gas industry. Having Lmart-fabricated equipment operating on these platforms validates the company’s quality system against the most stringent international standards.
For Lmart, this project series marked the company’s entry into modular skid fabrication for the offshore sector. The capabilities developed during these four years — structural frame engineering, multi-coat offshore coating systems, integrated skid assembly, and international shipping logistics — became the foundation for subsequent skid projects with Wärtsilä, Burckhardt, TGE, and other system integrators that now constitute a major portion of Lmart’s order book.
Deepen Your Knowledge
Customer Voice
Johnson Controls Denmark placed four separate orders with Lmart over a four-year period, progressively increasing the technical complexity and international scope of each campaign. This sustained procurement relationship is the clearest indicator of fabrication quality and delivery reliability.
“The skid packages arrived at the shipyard ready for installation. The dimensional accuracy and piping quality consistently met our specifications across all deliveries.”
— Johnson Controls Denmark project team (paraphrased from project review)
Note: Lmart respects client confidentiality. Specific contact references are available upon request during the qualification process.