Introduction to Oil & Gas and Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Offshore Structures Concepts

Concepts selection

Design Principles

Design Considerations

Mooring Systems

Introduction to Oil & Gas and

Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Floating Structures: a guide for design and

analysis, Edited by N.D.P. Barltrop, Oilfield
Publications Limited, Houston,
http://www.oilpubs.com
Robert Randall: Elements of Ocean
Engineering, Society of Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers, New Jersey 07306
(*) Significant parts of the presentation here
are based on the book: Floating Structures:
a guide for design and analysis, Oilfield
publications
Introduction to Oil & Gas and
Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Most offshore hydrocarbon deposits are expected to be

located under the continental shelf and on the slope
from the shelf down to the deep ocean floor.
The bulk of today's offshore hydrocarbon reserves
originate from developments on the continental shelf in
relatively shallow water.
However as the size of discoveries in the mature basins
diminishes, there is an increasing shift towards
exploration in deeper water.
Typically the edge of the continental shelf is at about
200 meters water depth and the slope extends to 2500
-3000 in.
Therefore future exploration of the continental margins,
down to about 3,000 m may be expected.

Introduction to Oil & Gas and

Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Once preliminary geophysical investigations indicate

the potential for hydrocarbons several major
activities, which may overlap, are required to recover
these hydrocarbons from below the seabed, namely:
exploration drilling, well testing,
pre-production drilling,
early production,
production
export,
storage,
work-over.
Introduction to Oil & Gas and
Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Exploration drilling, to find oil, is performed

offshore using three main classes of drilling
platforms: self-elevating platforms (jack-ups),
semi-submersibles and drill ships.
They all belong to the category of vessels called:
MODUs (Mobile Offshore Drilling Units). Some
drilling is also undertaken from barges.
Typical form of a semi
submerisible platform

source unknown. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Oil & Gas and Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Well testing, to determine:

production rates and field life,

may initially be performed using the drilling platform
but only short (and therefore often unreliable) tests
are practical, owing to the lack of oil storage
extended well testing is carried out using a
production tanker.

Introduction to Oil & Gas and

Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Pre-production drilling, of the large number of

wells required to produce the oil, and the
'completion (installation of tubing, filters, valves
etc.)

It is undertaken from a semi -submersible or monohull

vessel before the main production platform is installed.
This allows oil production to start soon after the production
platform arrives on the field.

Early production: To produce oil soon after it is

discovered, in order to improve cash low. This early
production might be combined with extended well
testing.
Introduction to Oil & Gas and
Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Export: As developments move further offshore or

as field sizes become smaller, it may not be cost
effective to construct a pipeline export system.
Instead shuttle tankers may be used to transport
the product to shore.
Storage of the hydrocarbons temporarily offshore
allows production to continue when export is via
shuttle tanker but no shuttle tankers are on the
field. Storage may be accomplished by:
a permanently moored storage tanker,
a combined production and storage platform, or
using multiple storage/shuttle tankers.
Introduction to Oil & Gas and
Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

Work-over is the maintenance of the well and reservoir

required to keep the oil flowing at a satisfactory rate.

Light work-over involves lowering tools into the well and can be
done from a small, relatively cheap, vessel without a rigid riser (a
pipe connecting the vessel to the sub-sea well).
Heavy work-over, involves e.g. removing down hole tubing, and
must be performed through a rigid riser. This will require a
platform with satisfactory motion characteristics for the time that
work-over operations are required.

If frequent heavy work-over is required it will be

advantageous to have a production platform that can
also undertake the work-over.
If only light or infrequent heavy work-over is required
then a separate platform may be used.
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Offshore Engineering

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Production
Receive the oil from the well and
separate out water, hydrocarbon and
other gases to make the products of
interest suitable for export via
pipeline or tanker
Typically inject water or gas to
maintain the pressure required for
the oil to flow.
In the past, typically had a single
location design life of about 20 years
and thus have not required mobility.
Now shorter life fields are being
developed where the opportunity for
redeployment is possible.
From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,
ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

Introduction to Oil & Gas and

Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

11

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

Production
Many deep water fields are likely to
have significant volumes of
associated gas, adding to the
difficulty and cost of installing a
production facility to tap the oil
reserves.
The flaring of large volumes of gas is
becoming increasingly unacceptable
on environmental grounds and is
prohibited in some offshore areas. In
some fields gas flaring may be
necessary if oil is to be produced
economically but in the majority of
cases gas must be, exported for sale
or disposed of by re-injection into
the reservoir or an adjacent
formation.
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Offshore Engineering

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Various proposed and actual practical arrangements

of floating production platforms

Large Variety for concepts due

to industry demands:
to search for oil in ever
increasing water depths
To produce oil in areas that do
not have a pipeline
infrastructure for exporting the
oil
To economic oil production
from small 'marginal' fields, with
field lives of only a few years
(that do not justify the expense
of a permanent platform)
To produce very soon after
discovery (oil exploration is
expensive so oil companies can
be more profitable by producing
oil quickly in order to improve
cash flow).

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

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Offshore Engineering

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 source unknown. All rights reserved.

Main Types: (a) Ship shaped vessels, (b) column stabilized semi
Submersible platforms, (c) Spar Buoys and (d) Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs)
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Offshore Engineering

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Drill ships

Floating storage units (FSU's)

Floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO's)

Drill ships form a significant part of the total mobile drilling unit population
of the world but are used predominantly in areas with long periods of calm
weather due to their poor heave response characteristics.
Floating storage units, converted tankers, have been used for many years in
conjunction with both fixed and floating production platforms when
economics dictate that the use of shuttle tankers is most economic or when
pipelines have yet to be completed.
Background:
Over many decades, fixed production platforms dominated and indeed
characterized the offshore oil industry. But the need for floating production
and storage units is growing rapidly.
For some years now, the production of oil and gas has been subjected to
changes. On the one hand the demands on the technology are rising (the
production conditions are becoming increasingly difficult). On the other
hand, the global economys increased demand for oil pushes up the oil
price in the long run, bringing the interest of the oil industry to explore
reserves that, due to their size and location, would previously not have
allowed economically feasible exploitation.

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Offshore Engineering

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Floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO's)

source unknown. All rights reserved.

The

abbreviation stands for floating production, storage and offloading and refers to
special vessels that have onboard facilities to handle crude oil. These units are used:
wherever low-cost solutions are needed (e.g. small fields or as is the case with deepwater
reserves traditional production platforms have reached their technical and economic limits.

FPSOs are not directly comparable with the other platform types (they have storage but no
drilling capability).
In shallow waters, tanker based production systems have been cost competitive against
fixed structures and increasingly they are now being extended into deep water with
relatively easy changes to the mooring and riser system.
FPSOs

are well suited for production activities in fields which do not require frequent
work-over (well maintenance) because in most environments the horizontal and vertical
motions are too great to allow this.
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Offshore Engineering

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Floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO's)

Technical characteristics
Advantages:
ample work area,
deck load and storage capacity,
structural strength,
mobility (if desired) and
relatively cheap construction.
Drawbacks:
Quite significant wave induced
responses, as a result of its large
displaced volume close to the
waterline
Consequence:
The station keeping systems and
dependent systems such as risers
must be designed to accommodate
these motions.
The riser systems therefore need
to be flexible.

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

How the concept works: An FPSO vessel is fixed to a central anchoring point by means of the

mooring system, which permits free rotation of the unit to account for wind and wave action
(weathervane, usually through integral turret mooring) The crude oil is pumped onto the FPSO
vessel via riser lines fastened to the seabed. Once on board, the oil is passed through separators
to separate the gas and to remove water and sand, after which the product is stored.
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Wellhead Barge (WHB) (Bouygues Offshore)

Sea Twin concept (LMG Marin)

source unknown. All rights reserved

Both new-build FPSOs and tanker conversions have a role to play, with selection being
based on the particular field requirements. More hostile environments and longer field
lives favor the new-build but milder environment and shorter field lives are ideal for
conversions, which can be executed very quickly (a site-specific assessment of the
global structural response is required to assess the impact of the fatigue damage). In
broad terms once the 100-year design sea state exceeds 10 meters significant wave
height, the long-term use of a converted tanker results in reduced structural reliability.
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FPSOs
Tanker
Jumper

FPSO,
Barge . ..

TLP

Flexible,
Steep -S

Mooring
lines

Risers
Arrays
Catenary ,
Free Hanging

Catenary ,
Lazy -wave

Technical Description
Typically, the tank capacity is one
million barrels. At regular
intervals, a shuttle tanker collect
the crude oil for processing
ashore. FPSO units may be either
purpose-built vessels or
converted seagoing tankers.

CVAR

In tandem offloading procedure (*)

Side by side offloading procedure (*)

(*) source unknown. All rights reserved.

The operational procedures and

technical facilities must minimize
the risks to people, the
environment and assets, but at
the same time assure economical
operations.
One of the critical risks is
offloading the crude oil to the
shuttle tankers, which involves a
very close approach. Not only is
this maneuver a major challenge
for seafarers, it also makes great
demands on the technical
equipment and machinery.

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Concept description & evaluation

Semisubmersible drilling rig, Pride

North Sea, Aker H3 design, built in
1975 (from http://www.rigzone.com.)

The semisubmersible platform is the general workhorse

of offshore operations.
It is used for drilling, production, work-over, pipelaying, heavy lifts and accommodation.
First semisubmersible: Bluewater 1 was launched in
1961. It was a converted submersible; i.e originally
designed to sit on the sea floor during drilling and to
float at shallow draught in transit between locations, the
change in draught being accomplished by emptying or
filling ballast tanks.
An elderly example of a typical semisubmersible drilling
rig is shown in the Fig. on the left. This rig has two rows
of 4 columns, with each row attached to a long,
submerged pontoon. Diagonal bracings are used to
stiffen the structure. The derrick is located at the middle
of the deck. The deepest draught is usually chosen for
drilling, while a slightly reduced draught is used in
survival conditions in order to increase the air gap and
avoid wave impacts against the underside of the deck.
The pontoons are partly exposed at transit draft, acting
somewhat like a catamaran. This type of design can be
self-propelled.

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Newer production semisubmersibles

tend to be larger, with fewer columns
between deck and pontoons. Since
transit efficiency is of less importance
than for drilling rigs, the underwater
structure need not be streamlined, so
that transverse pontoons are included
to provide a stiff structure without the
same need for bracings.

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

Storage of large volumes of produced

oil or gas is impractical aboard a semisubmersible. Hence, separate export
facilities have to be available online
during production. These will typically
take the form of an export pipeline or
a neighbouring loading buoy and
storage tanker.
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Offshore Engineering

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Hydrodynamics and Hydrostatics

source unknown. All rights

reserved.

As compared to a fixed platform, the main disadvantage of

a floating platform is that it moves with the waves.
Such motions have to be accommodated in all connections
to the sea floor or to adjacent platforms.
This disadvantage is radically reduced in semisubmersibles,
as compared to ships and barges. WHY? Because a large
portion of the displaced volume is located well below the
sea surface, where the wave actions are less. Hence, smaller
motions tend to be induced by the waves.
Thus, semi-submersibles provide an excellent platform for
both drilling and production uses in deeper waters.
The improved motion characteristics are achieved at the
expense of increased structural complexity and sensitivity of
stability and draught to payload
Attractive in using SEMIs is that due to their good motion
characteristics and the fact that they do not need to
weathervane like a ship, they can support a large number of
flexible risers

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Troll B oil production semisubmersible installed in 1995

(from http://www.up.hydro.no/)

Description of construction & installation method

Standard shipbuilding techniques are applied in the construction of steel
semisubmersibles.
Transportation from yard to operational site may be by towing, selfpropelled, or by heavy-lift transport vessel.
On site, the semisubmersible has a good deal of built-in flexibility to
vary the draft during installation procedures.
Anchors and mooring lines may be pre-installed, or installed when the
semisubmersible arrives on site, dependent on water depth,
environmental conditions, mooring equipment and time schedule.
A semisubmersible that is dedicated to production will typically be
hooked up to pre-drilled wells. Additional wells may be hooked up later.
Development drilling and production from the same semisubmersible is
normally avoided, to reduce the weight of topsides equipment.

Concept maturity
A great deal of experience has been accumulated with semisubmersibles, so that this
platform concept is fully mature.
Two notable accidents have occurred, with the Alexander Kielland platform in 1980 and
the Ocean Ranger in 1982.
Analysis and understanding of these accidents has contributed to the design principles
applied to semisubmersibles and provided a good performance record in recent years.
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Offshore Engineering

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Limitations, critical elements, critical

operations:

source unknown. All rights reserved.

Flexible risers are normally used to connect

subsea wells to a production semisubmersible.
The limitations of flexible risers are probably
the major limitation to the application of this
concept in deeper water. This is not an
absolute limitation, but more a question of
cost-effectiveness.

Ordinary, vertical, steel risers have not normally been connected to production
semisubmersibles, because of the difficulty in accommodating platform motions in
severe weather.
Ordinary steel risers are used with drilling semisubmersibles, but they may be
disconnected in severe weather. Steel catenary risers is becoming a viable alternative
in deep water.
Production semisubmersibles are primarily positioned by means of mooring lines and
anchors, rather than by dynamic positioning with thrusters. The installation of
anchors and the weight of the mooring lines provide challenges in deeper water, but
do not normally pose absolute limitations.
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Offshore Engineering

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Project Examples
sgard B

source unknown. All rights reserved.

sgard B is a gas production Semi located in the

Norwegian Sea.
The hull was built by Daewoo in Soruth Korea,
while the topside was designed and built by
Kvrner in Egersund and Stavanger. The assembly
was done at Kvrner Rosenberg in Stavanger,
Norway.
The hull had six columns supporting a deck
fabricated and mated in two sections. The topside
was modularised, i.e. the topside equipment was
located in self containing modules located on the
deck.
The project was troubled with large cost overruns
caused by changes in design basis and reservoir
and utilisation of new technology who proved
challenging.

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Offshore Engineering

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Project Examples
Snorre B

Snorre B is located on the Snorre field on the Norwegian

part of the North Sea. It is a Semi with drilling and was
built as a joint venture between Kvrner and Aker.
The hull was fabricated by Dragados of Spain, while the
topside and assembly was performed at Aker Stord.
The Semi has four columns and an integrated deck, i.e. no
self contained modules.
Snorre B was complete prior to tow out to field, hence the
required offshore hook-up work was minimised and first
oil was achieved very shortly after arrival on field.

source unknown. All rights reserved.

Lessons learned:
Integrated deck design was successful
Completion prior to tow out is obtainable and will allow
early production start

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Offshore Engineering

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Deep Draft SEMI (*)

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

(*) source unknown. All rights reserved.

Spar (*)

A DDF can be either a Spar or a Deep Draft

Semisubmersibles. It is used for drilling,
production and quarters in water depths typically
deeper than 300 meters. The main objective of
this type of floaters is that they have very small
motions and are therefore suitable for surface
trees (well top valve systems) and rigid risers.
They can be designed for both harsh and benign
environments.

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Concept description & evaluation

source unknown. All

rights reserved.

The basic form of the Spar, referred to as the Truss Spar is

shown to the left.
It is a deep draft, floating structure with a fully compartmented
upper section that is buoyant and a lower truss section that is
designed to minimize the heave motions.
The hull has an open centre well (moonpool) where the rigid
risers run through.
If oil storage is required in the lower hull, the truss part can be
substituted by a caisson structure. This type Spar is called the
Classic Spar.
Spar Buoy requires a semi-taut catenary mooring system to
reduce the horizontal offset. Rigid steel production risers are
located within the centre of the platforms.
The riser arrangement permits the use of surface (dry) trees at
the deck level.
The risers are kept in tension by own buoyancy modules
Configured with oil storage and surface completed wells, a Spar
may be able to combine the best characteristics of the TLP and
FPSO for fields where the reservoir can be reached from one
drilling centre.
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Description of construction & installation method

The experience from the construction of the Spar platforms so far installed, shows
that due to their depth, the hull is constructed and assembled horizontally on land.
When structurally and mechanically complete the Spar hull is skidded onto a
suitable Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) for transport to its final destination.
At site the HLV will be ballasted down until the Spar hull is free floating.
The lower hull ballast tanks are then flooded and the platform hull is upended.
The hull is then positioned into a pre-laid mooring system before the deck is lifted
in place. Hook-up and commissioning will follow before the platform is ready for
production. Alternatively the deck can be floated over the hull and thus minimise
the offshore hook-up phase.

The 122ft-diameter Genesis hull: Towed out (right),

uprighted (left), with the topside (middle)

source unknown. All rights reserved.

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Offshore Engineering

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Limitation, critical elements, critical operations

source unknown. All rights reserved.

Catenary anchored platforms such as the Spar will

normally encounter challenges with respect to mooring,
risers, drilling, subsea equipment, flow assurance etc. and
the associated installation issues in deepwater such as
3,000 m. The hull and deck/topsides are normally not
influenced by the water depth. We are concerned here
with mooring system challenges
Mooring System:
The critical issue for catenary anchored dry tree units is
to limit the horizontal offset. Typically Spar platforms are
kept at approximately 5-7% of water depth.
For Golf Of Mexico (GOM) this can be achieved using
conventional system; (chain, wire chain) for up to say
2500m, while in West Africa it could probably be extended
to 3000 m.
For North Sea, West of Shetland type environment studies
have been performed up to 1700 m water depth with
acceptable results. However, larger offset than 5-7% must
then be accepted, which results in a more costly riser
system.
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Using syntetic fibre rope will significantly reduce the

horizontal offset and result in a less costly riser system.
Cost of syntetic fibre ropes is believed also to be less
expensive in CAPEX, but also from an installation point of
view.
In summary, syntetic fibre is not required for reasonable
sized Spars in 3000 m water depth environments like GOM
and West Africa. It will however be required in harsh
environment. In all cases the overall costs will be reduced
and hence it is obvious that the industry must fully qualify
this in the near future. Fibre ropes are however in use
today, but not for dry tree units such as Spars.
The installation of mooring systems in water depths up to
3000 m can become challenging especially in the harsh
environments It also limits the number of vessels that can
do this operation. Fibre ropes will partly solve this issue,
but detailed procedures need to be established.

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 source unknown. All

rights reserved.

Concept description & evaluation

The common definition of a TLP (abbreviation for Tension
Leg Platform) is a floating platform moored and positioned
by pre-tensioned vertical tendons.
The platform itself can be quite similar to a semisubmersible with four columns and pontoons or three
columns with ring pontoon.
A TLP is made hydrostatically stable by means of pretensioned tethers.
A TLP is characterised by small vertical and angular
motions which are restricted by the axial stiff tendons while
the platform is quite compliant in the horizontal directions
as the platform moves like an inverted pendulum about the
tendon anchors at seabed.
These characteristics allow ordinary steel production risers
and the well head production trees to be positioned dry on
deck and large motion compensators and jumpers can be
avoided. Import and export risers could be flexibles or steel
catenary risers.
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Design Considerations
The TLP is:
normally designed without storage
capacity
export systems could be via pipeline to
shore or to nearby monohull with
offloading systems.

From: Floating Structures: a guide for design and analysis,

ISBN 1 870553 357 Editor: N.D.P. Barltrop

The TLP is:

preferably designed without large
reserves in deck weight.
Weight flexibility will be costly in terms
of larger hull and mooring system.
The more precise the weight distribution
can be set, the more cost effective
solution will be achieved.

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The layout is governed by the well system which

represent a crucial part of the design and will have a
significant influence on both the deck arrangement
and hull geometry.
Operational aspects established at an early stage
will enable a more optimised layout.
The solutions for process, storage and export are
highly field dependant (e.g. use of spare production
capacity of a nearby structure will often be
economical and lead to the need for a small wellhead
TLP; Requirement for a full processing and export will
need a larger integrated TLP).

source unknown. All rights reserved.

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Environment and water depth

The environmental loads from wind, waves and current yield
motions and forces that govern the dynamic loads in the tether
system.
The required air gap between the sea level and the underside
of the deck is determined by the extreme wave height, the
complex interaction between waves and the hull columns, and
the set-down of the platform caused by the horizontal offset
from the mean position.
The water depth is a major parameter for the design of the riser
and tether system. The TLP is designed to have small vertical
and angular motions in order to have small dynamic loads in
the tether system. In deeper waters the weight of the tether
system becomes important, hence a tether system which is
close to neutrally buoyant is desirable together with high axial
stiffness.
source unknown.
All rights reserved.

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Offshore Engineering

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TLPs designed and built up to now has been made with

elastomeric flex joints at the top and bottom ends of the
tethers, and the engineering and manufacturing efforts
required for these components have been challenging.
Further developments may utilise stiff tether/hull
connections since tether angles may be smaller in deeper
waters.
Because the tethers link the platform to the sea bed, there is
interaction between the tethers, the platform and the
foundation, all of which the designer must take into account
when designing the tether system.
A major challenge is to achieve sufficiently low TLP natural periods in heave, roll
and pitch. This is important to keep the TLP natural periods outside the wave
spectrum range which are essential for the dynamic loading and fatigue of the
tethers.
In this context, tether stiffness is essential, and the corresponding required
cross-sectional steel area cannot be achieved for larger water depths without
having a tether which is too heavy.
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 source unknown. All

rights reserved.

A tether is neutrally buoyant with a constant diameter (D) to

wall thickness (t) ratio of about 30.
However, such a tether will collapse from hydrostatic pressure
in water depths deeper than 600 meters. The solution is to have
stepped tethers with varying diameters and wall thickness which
can be made almost neutral buoyant. Hydrostatic pressure can
also be compensated for by pressurising the steel tether.
Such tethers have been considered for water depths beyond
1000 meters. Hollow steel pipes are the preferred tether
materials down to at least 1000 meter water depth.
When moving to deeper waters, other materials are considered.
Extensive work has been done to qualify composite tethers
formed from bundles of small diameter carbon fibre rods. Such
tethers are spoolable and could be installed by reelships in
single lengths up to 1800 meters or more.
The cost of composites is in average twice the cost of
equivalent steel components. This can be balanced by increased
payload (composites half the weight) and reduced maintenance
and handling requirements.
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The tether seabed foundations may consist of piled

steel templates or concrete foundations or a
combination of these. Piling at 1000 1500 meters
water depth is not considered to be a technical
problem with existing equipment.
As the experience and confidence with TLPs increases,
it is expected that the number of tethers can be
decreased by avoiding the one tether missing design
case. Along with reduced measurements and inspection
requirements, this will give significant cost reductions.

source unknown. All rights reserved.

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Description of construction & installation method

Construction and Mating
The most common preferred construction method is to fabricate the deck including
the main structural frame (MSF) and topside facilities in parallel with the hull which
can be done at separate yards.
Joining of the deck and hull is achieved through a marine mating at a deep-water
sheltered location. The MSF is connected to the upper section of the columns to
achieve a clean mating interface, therefore the column tops will be fabricated as part
of the deck at ground level on flat land or across a dry-dock. This also gives the
opportunity of effectively utilising the column tops as equipment space.
For certain geographical areas (e.g. US Gulf of Mexico) a marine deck/hull mating
operation has to be carried out offshore due to the lack of suitable deep sheltered
sites. An offshore mating operation requires expensive temporary positioning and
ballasting and control systems and becomes critical due to the requirement for a
suitable weather window.
For smaller TLPs an inshore deck installation could be performed by lifting the
topside modules onto the MSF. In such cases, the MSF would be part of the hull
fabrication. The modules are arranged and split according to function; typically
process, power/utility, wellbay, drilling and living quarters. By using a small number of
large pre-outfitted and pre-commissioned modules the required lifts and intermodule hook up can be minimised.
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Offshore Engineering

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Installation
A variety of methods are possible for TLP installation including co-installed or pre-installed
tethers. For harsh environments, pre-installation of the tethers is a preferred method due
to the limited weather windows for installation. Segmented tethers to be vertically stalked
at the field or tow out and upending of tethers in full lengths from shore is possible.

When the TLP arrives at the

offshore location, tugs are used to
pull the tethers outwards and the
TLP manoeuvred into position.
The tethers are eased back
towards the TLP and pull-in lines
are connected to each tether
bundle for consequent positioning
of the tethers into porches on the
lower hull. The transition from
free-floating to TLP mode is
achieved by de-ballasting of the
platform.
Tethers pre-installation

Ready for TLP

Installation

source unknown. All rights reserved.

TLP Installation

Introduction to Oil & Gas and

Offshore Engineering

2/11/2012

40