As the general coordinator of the offshore construction operation of the "Shenhai No. 1" ultra-deepwater gas field development project, Hou Jing needs to control the construction of deepwater cables from various aspects such as technology, progress, safety, and quality, and lead the team to race against the construction period. Under her careful arrangement and professional command, the on-site work was in full swing and in an orderly manner.

On June 25, 2021, CNOOC announced the commissioning of the "Shenhai No. 1" ultra-deepwater gas field. This is the crystallization of the dreams and hard work of several generations of CNOOC people, and it is also the result of years of enthusiasm and energy poured into by many engineers like Hou Jing.

Chinese can do it too

From Bozhong Oilfield, Liuhua Oilfield, Liwan Oilfield, to the "Shenhai No. 1" ultra-deepwater gas field, Hou Jing has participated in and witnessed the leaps and bounds of China's offshore oil and gas development for more than 20 years.

At the beginning of 2015, Hou Jing joined the preliminary research and design project team of the "Shenhai No. 1" ultra-deepwater gas field, and undertook the independent R&D and design work of my country's first self-operated ultra-deepwater project.

In order to promote the development of the domestic industrial chain and reduce engineering investment, she and her team made full use of their own resources to design the mooring system, deepwater steel catenary riser, subsea pipeline and subsea production system installation plan.

When designing the steel catenary riser pipe, the project team found that the key material of the pipe is only mastered by foreign manufacturers. "Is it possible to use localization alternatives?" However, as soon as the idea of localization was proposed, the question came one after another - how to break through the design bottleneck? How to solve the construction bottleneck? Can localized equipment achieve innovation?

"What foreigners can do, we Chinese can do too!" Hou Jing was firm in the face of doubts.

Hou Jing and his colleagues immediately started the research on the mechanical properties of pipes and analyzed the comprehensive capabilities of domestic steel pipe manufacturers. After demonstrating the technical feasibility of localization of pipes and systematically formulating localization plans, she proposed to the project team to use domestic steel catenary riser pipes in the "Deep Sea No. 1" project.

Towards this goal, Hou Jing led the team to cooperate with domestic suppliers. After a year of joint research, analysis and trial production of pipes, they finally developed steel pipes with better performance indicators than imported pipes. The domestic steel catenary riser was successfully applied in "Deep Sea No. 1", saving about 20 million yuan.

156 days of continuous fighting

In 2018, CNOOC Research Institute Co., Ltd. established the "Shenhai No. 1" large gas field technical support project team to fully participate in the follow-up construction, construction and commissioning of the large gas field. The experienced Hou Jing was appointed as the deepwater cable department of the project team. manager.

Affected by the epidemic, foreign pipe-laying vessels originally planned to participate in offshore operations could not be placed on time. In order to ensure the progress of the project as planned, Hou Jing immediately proposed to replace the operation by the "Offshore Oil 201" pipe-laying vessel.

By eliminating all kinds of factors that restrict the operation efficiency as much as possible, optimizing the construction technology and innovating the laying method of submarine pipelines, the "Offshore Oil 201" pipe-laying vessel finally created an operation record of laying 3.4 kilometers in a single day, and completed 7 sets in only 5 days. For the installation of the submarine pipeline terminal, the laying of the submarine pipeline was completed 12 days ahead of schedule.

In 2020, when "Shenhai No. 1" was connected to the Yacheng natural gas submarine pipeline underwater under pressure drilling operation, it suddenly encountered that the submarine valve could not be sealed, and a typhoon was about to come.

"Be sure to restore the valve function before the typhoon arrives, otherwise there will be safety risks!" Hou Jing calmly directed at the scene by consulting the valve information, reviewing the drilling operation process, and sorting out the solution step by step.

After more than 80 hours of constant attempts, the valve function was finally restored. At this time, the gust of wind had reached level 9, the waves were constantly beating on the deck, and Hou Jing was soaked all over, but even so, she still waited until the diving bell was safely recovered before returning to the cabin with confidence.

Offshore operation is a collective operation. In order to coordinate a huge operation team and save construction costs, Hou Jing has been sticking to the operation site since the offshore operation of the "Shenhai No. 1" gas field development project has been carried out for two years. Teams work together 24 hours a day.

She updates key operation data as soon as possible every day, plans the operation plan of each ship in detail on the notebook she carries, and takes the initiative to control the details and solve on-site problems. The notebooks of offshore construction operations have witnessed Hou Jing's 156 consecutive days of hard work on the offshore front line, and also witnessed the completion of offshore operations 16 days ahead of schedule, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in costs.

Toughness and delicacy are her strengths

"Although the Spring Festival hasn't arrived yet, as soon as you leave, we feel that the Spring Festival is over." During the Spring Festival in 2021, Hou Jing once again received a notice to set sail with the ship for construction. She picked up the suitcase and failed to deliver on the reunion promise she made to her parents.

Due to work reasons, Hou Jing spends less time with her family. The desire to go home often has gradually turned into an extravagant hope, and the construction site of "Deep Sea No. 1" has become another home for her. "Deep Sea No. 1" is like a city of steel. Most of the time, there is only one female engineer, Hou Jing, on the construction site of this city of steel.

At the Qingdao construction site, she climbed onto the platform to carry out pigging and pressure testing of the riser to escort the offshore commissioning of "Shenhai No. 1"; at the Yantai Dahelong site in the snow, the temperature was as low as minus ten degrees, she and her male colleagues together Tested the riser-lifting device on the platform, with hands and feet frozen to the point of loss of consciousness.

During the epidemic prevention and control period, she worked on a foreign pipe-laying vessel for a total of 68 days, controlling the construction quality and optimizing the construction process, saving a total of 18 vessel days and more than 60 million yuan in costs. The foreign construction director also gave her a thumbs up.

Although women in the marine engineering industry will face all kinds of unimaginable challenges, Hou Jing believes that it is the tenacity and delicacy of women that give her the advantage of better control over the details of her work.

In this city of steel, she looks at everything, takes everything to heart, and pursues the ultimate. She has won the respect and trust of the team with her practical actions, and also proved that women can also shine and become hot in the front line of scientific research and production. . Editor/He Yuting