scholarly journals Evaluation of the Safe and Failure Zones of Mooring and Riser Systems in a CALM Oil Terminal

Author(s):  
Esmaeil Hasanvand ◽  
Pedram Edalat

AbstractThe mooring and riser system is the most critical part of an offshore oil terminal. Traditionally, these two parts are designed separately without considering the nonlinear interaction between them. Thus, the present paper aims to develop an integrated design process for riser systems with a lazy-S configuration and mooring systems in the offshore catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) oil terminal. One of the important criteria considered in this integrated design is the offset diagram and safe operation zone (SAFOP) related to the mooring system and the riser, respectively. These two diagrams are obtained separately by different analyses; therefore, codes or standards are available separately for two components. In this methodology, the diagrams of both risers and mooring lines are incorporated into a single spiral, thus identifying the safe and failure zones of risers and the mooring lines of the oil terminal. This, in turn, leads to substantial benefits in terms of overall system response, cost reduction, and safety to the offshore oil terminal. To implement this process, three different riser lengths with the lazy-S configuration are considered at three different sea depths at the terminal installation site. For each condition, the integrated design of the mooring system and riser is executed according to the derived procedure. Then, coupled dynamic models, wherein both buoys and hoses are included, are developed using OrcaFlex. Results show that the criteria of the relevant regulations are not satisfied by reducing the length of the riser relative to the designed size. Further, as water depth increases, this type of riser configuration shows good coupled performance while interacting with the mooring system. In the cross offset mode, the maximum margin is created between the offset diagram and the SAFOP diagram, while the most critical dynamic response of the tanker and terminal system occurs in the near and far modes. Therefore, with this method, the best position for the riser direction with the tanker direction is 90° in the best case.

Author(s):  
S. Chandrasekaran ◽  
Arvind Kumar Jain ◽  
Syed Azeem Uddin

Abstract Offshore complaint structures dominate the deepwater oil exploration and production due to their adaptive geometric form and well-established construction practices. Semi-submersible is one of the widely preferred, floating production systems due to its form-dominant ability, better stability characteristics, and best constructional features. It is usually position-restrained using a dynamic-positioning system (active-restraining) or mooring system (passive-restraining); being less-sensitive to freak ocean environment is an added advantage. The Semi-submersible, chosen for the present study is based on a similar configuration of a 6th generation deep-water Hai Yang Shi You (HYSY) – 981 platforms, commissioned by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in 2012. A sixteen-point, spread catenary-mooring without submerged buoy (case-1) in the form of chain-wire-chain type configuration is used for position-restraining. Response behavior of the semi-submersible with a conventional spread catenary-mooring system with a submerged buoy (case-2) is compared. API spectrum is used for computing wind loads, while the JONSWAP spectrum is used to represent irregular waves for various directions of wave heading. The effect of non-linearly varying current is considered up to 10% of water depth. Numerical analyses of the semi-submersible are carried out under 10-years, and 100-years return period events using Ansys Aqwa. Under wind, wave, and current loads, motion responses of the Semi-submersible at 1500 m and 2000 m water depths are investigated for both the cases in time-domain. Dynamic mooring tension variations arise from the environmental loads are further investigated for a fatigue failure using the S-N curve approach. It is found that the fatigue life of the mooring lines after the inclusion of the buoy is enhanced. It was also observed that, during failure of mooring lines there is an increase in tension of the mooring lines which are adjacent to the failed mooring lines and this is due to the transfer of mooring load and hence reducing their fatigue life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Liu ◽  
Lance Manuel

As offshore wind turbines supported on floating platforms extend to deep waters, the various effects involved in the dynamics, especially those resulting from the influence of moorings, become significant when predicting the overall integrated system response. The combined influence of waves and wind affect motions of the structure and induce tensile forces in mooring lines. The investigation of the system response under misaligned wind-wave conditions and the selection of appropriate mooring systems to minimize the turbine, tower, and mooring system loads is the subject of this study. We estimate the 50-year return response of a semisubmersible platform supporting a 13.2 MW wind turbine as well as mooring line forces when the system is exposed to four different wave headings with various environmental conditions (wind speeds and wave heights). Three different mooring system patterns are presented that include 3 or 6 mooring lines with different interline angles. Performance comparisons of the integrated systems may be used to define an optimal system for the selected large wind turbine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Dongsheng Qiao ◽  
Binbin Li ◽  
Jun Yan ◽  
Yu Qin ◽  
Haizhi Liang ◽  
...  

During the long-term service condition, the mooring line of the deep-water floating platform may fail due to various reasons, such as overloading caused by an accidental condition or performance deterioration. Therefore, the safety performance under the transient responses process should be evaluated in advance, during the design phase. A series of time-domain numerical simulations for evaluating the performance changes of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) with different broken modes of mooring lines was carried out. The broken conditions include the single mooring line or two mooring lines failure under ipsilateral, opposite, and adjacent sides. The resulting transient and following steady-state responses of the vessel and the mooring line tensions were analyzed, and the corresponding influence mechanism was investigated. The accidental failure of a single or two mooring lines changes the watch circle of the vessel and the tension redistribution of the remaining mooring lines. The results indicated that the failure of mooring lines mainly influences the responses of sway, surge, and yaw, and the change rule is closely related to the stiffness and symmetry of the mooring system. The simulation results could give a profound understanding of the transient-effects influence process of mooring line failure, and the suggestions are given to account for the transient effects in the design of the mooring system.


Author(s):  
Jorge Mendoza ◽  
Jacopo Paglia ◽  
Jo Eidsvik ◽  
Jochen Köhler

Mooring systems that are used to secure position keeping of floating offshore oil and gas facilities are subject to deterioration processes, such as pitting corrosion and fatigue crack growth. Past investigations show that pitting corrosion has a significant effect on reducing the fatigue resistance of mooring chain links. In situ inspections are essential to monitor the development of the corrosion condition of the components of mooring systems and ensure sufficient structural safety. Unfortunately, offshore inspection campaigns require large financial commitments. As a consequence, inspecting all structural components is unfeasible. This article proposes to use value of information analysis to rank identified inspection alternatives. A Bayesian Network is proposed to model the statistical dependence of the corrosion deterioration among chain links at different locations of the mooring system. This is used to efficiently update the estimation of the corrosion condition of the complete mooring system given evidence from local observations and to reassess the structural reliability of the system. A case study is presented to illustrate the application of the framework.


Author(s):  
Øystein Gabrielsen ◽  
Kjell Larsen

The Aasta Hansteen spar in the Norwegian Sea is designed to be moored with a taut polyester rope mooring system. The water depth at the field is 1300 meters, and due to the short installation season the most efficient hookup is with pre-installed mooring lines, which require the mooring lines to be laid down on the seabed. DNV certification does not allow seabed contact for polyester ropes unless proven that no soil ingress and damage takes place. To be able to certify the ropes Statoil developed a test method including contact with soil, rope movement and forced water flow through the filter construction. Full scale tests were performed with actual rope and Aasta Hansteen soil, both in laboratory and at site. This paper discusses the certification requirements and presents adequate qualification test together with results from testing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 397-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Romanska-Zapala ◽  
M Bomberg ◽  
M Fedorczak-Cisak ◽  
M Furtak ◽  
D Yarbrough ◽  
...  

The quest for a sustainable built environment brought dramatic changes to architectural design because of the integrated design process. The integrated design process is the modern way to realize “performance architecture,” that is, design with a view to field performance. Integrated design process permits merging of concepts from passive-house designs, solar engineering, and an integration of the building enclosure with mechanical services. In part 1 of this series, the emergence of many new multi-functional materials was discussed. Yet, current innovation is guided by lessons from history. Thermal mass in heavy masonry buildings allowed periodic heating. The authors postulate integration of a hydronic heating system with the walls and the use of smart temperature control of the heating system to modify and optimize the thermal mass contribution. To use the mass of a building, one must accept transient temperature conditions where the indoor temperature varies but is confined by comfort requirements for both summer and winter conditions. On the other side, resiliency requirements dictate that in the absence of electricity the air temperature does not fall below about 12°C over a period of several hours. This requirement implies that summer cooling will likely be separated from the heating systems and that operation of a low-energy building is heavily dependent on the design of smart control systems. Analysis of control systems provided in this article for earth-to-air heat exchangers and cooling of houses with lightweight walls lead us to the requirements of separation between heating and ventilation and needs for different sources of fresh air. Finally, a new concept emerges.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willemijn Pauw ◽  
Remco Hageman ◽  
Joris van den Berg ◽  
Pieter Aalberts ◽  
Hironori Yamaji ◽  
...  

Abstract Integrity of mooring system is of high importance in the offshore industry. In-service assessment of loads in the mooring lines is however very challenging. Direct monitoring of mooring line loads through load cells or inclinometers requires subsea installation work and continuous data transmission. Other solutions based on GPS and motion monitoring have been presented as solutions to overcome these limitations [1]. Monitoring solutions based on GPS and motion data provide good practical benefits, because monitoring can be conducted from accessible area. The procedure relies on accurate numerical models to model the relation between global motions and response of the mooring system. In this paper, validation of this monitoring approach for a single unit will be presented. The unit under consideration is a turret-moored unit operating in Australia. In-service measurements of motions, GPS and line tensions are available. A numerical time-domain model of the mooring system was created. This model was used to simulate mooring line tensions due to measured FPSO motions. Using the measured unit response avoids the uncertainty resulting from a prediction of the hydrodynamic response. Measurements from load cells in various mooring lines are available. These measurements were compared against the results obtained from the simulations for validation of the approach. Three different periods, comprising a total of five weeks of data, were examined in more detail. Two periods are mild weather conditions with different dominant wave directions. The third period features heavy weather conditions. In this paper, the data set and numerical model are presented. A comparison between the measured and numerically calculated mooring line forces will be presented. Differences between the calculated and measured forces are examined. This validation study has shown that in-service monitoring of mooring line loads through GPS and motion data provides a new opportunity for mooring integrity assessment with reduced monitoring system complexity.


Author(s):  
Gang Zou ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Feng Zhang

As the offshore industry is developing into deeper and deeper water, station keeping technics are becoming more and more important to the industry. Based on the dynamic positioning system, the thruster assisted mooring system (TAMS) is developed, which consisted of mooring lines and thrusters. The main function of the TAMS is to hold a structure against wind wave and current loads with its thruster and cables, which is mainly evaluated by the holding capacity of the system. The arrangement of the mooring lines (location of anchor or the mooring line angle relative to platform) will directly affect the TAMS holding capacity because of the influence of the directions of the mooring forces. So finding out an optimum arrangement of the mooring lines is essential since the performance of the TAMS depends greatly on the arrangement of the mooring lines. The TAMS of a semi-submersible platform, which is studied in this paper, consisted of eight mooring lines. By fixing the layout of the thrusters and changing the location of each mooring line for every case, the performances of the TAMS are analyzed. The platform motions, mooring line tensions and power consumptions are compared to obtain the optimum arrangement of mooring lines, and thus a thruster assisted mooring system with a better performance can be achieved. Time domain simulation is carried out in this paper to obtain the results.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Ellner ◽  
Nicolas Buchon ◽  
Tobias Doerr ◽  
Brian P Lazzaro

A longstanding question in infection biology is why two very similar individuals, with very similar pathogen exposures, may have very different outcomes. Recent experiments have found that even isogenic \emph{Drosophila melanogaster} hosts, given identical inoculations of some bacterial pathogens at suitable doses, can experience very similar initial bacteria proliferation but then diverge to either a lethal infection or a sustained chronic infection with much lower pathogen load. We hypothesized that divergent infection outcomes are a natural result of mutual negative feedbacks between pathogens and the host immune response. Here we test this hypothesis \emph{in silico} by constructing process-based dynamic models for bacterial population growth,host immune induction, and the feedbacks between them, based on common mechanisms of immune system response. Mathematical analysis of a minimal conceptual model confirms our qualitative hypothesis that mutual negative feedbacks can magnify small differences among hosts into life-or-death differences in outcome. However, explaining observed features of chronic infections requires an extension of the model to include induced pathogen modifications that shield themselves from host immune responses at the cost of reduced proliferation rate. Our analysis thus generates new, testable predictions about the mechanisms underlying bimodal infection outcomes.


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