A TLP Solution for 8000 Ft Water Depth

Author(s):  
Xiaoqiang Sean Bian ◽  
Steven J. Leverette ◽  
Oriol R. Rijken

A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) solution is proposed for dry tree applications in ultra-deep water depths (∼8000 ft). Major challenges for a TLP associated with the ultra deep environment are addressed with an innovative air spring – mass vibration absorber (VAB) system introduced by SBM Atlantia. The tendon system for the TLP therefore is able to scale essentially linearly with the water depth, instead of quadratically for a conventional TLP. This paper details the integrated platform design issues, including the hull, tendon design and the coupled motion analysis approach. It also discusses the system weight and dimension scales for typical applications and the constructability in terms of their upper bound limits compared with existing platforms. A design example is presented for the offshore Brazil Santos Basin environment at 8000 ft water depth with consistent current and relatively large fatigue sea states.

Author(s):  
Roger Slora ◽  
Stian Karlsen ◽  
Per Arne Osborg

There is an increasing demand for subsea electrical power transmission in the oil- and gas industry. Electrical power is mainly required for subsea pumps, compressors and for direct electrical heating of pipelines. The majority of subsea processing equipment is installed at water depths less than 1000 meters. However, projects located offshore Africa, Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico are reported to be in water depths down to 3000 meters. Hence, Nexans initiated a development programme to qualify a dynamic deep water power cable. The qualification programme was based on DNV-RP-A203. An overall project plan, consisting of feasibility study, concept selection and pre-engineering was outlined as defined in DNV-OSS-401. An armoured three-phase power cable concept assumed suspended from a semi-submersible vessel at 3000 m water depth was selected as qualification basis. As proven cable technology was selected, the overall qualification scope is classified as class 2 according to DNV-RP-A203. Presumed high conductor stress at 3000 m water depth made basis for the identified failure modes. An optimised prototype cable, with the aim of reducing the failure mode risks, was designed based on extensive testing and analyses of various test cables. Analyses confirmed that the prototype cable will withstand the extreme loads and fatigue damage during a service life of 30 years with good margins. The system integrity, consisting of prototype cable and end terminations, was verified by means of tension tests. The electrical integrity was intact after tensioning to 2040 kN, which corresponds to 13 000 m static water depth. A full scale flex test of the prototype cable verified the extreme and fatigue analyses. Hence, the prototype cable is qualified for 3000 m water depth.


Author(s):  
Madjid Karimirad ◽  
Torgeir Moan

This paper compares the dynamic responses and performance of two spar-type wind turbines, DeepSpar and ShortSpar, in deep and intermediate water depths, respectively. The oil and gas industry has implemented spar platforms in deep water areas. Spar platforms show good hydrodynamic performance due to their deep draft. The same idea is applied to offshore wind turbines to present a reliable concept. Hywind is an example of a successful offshore wind turbine based on the spar concept in deep water. The good performance of spar-type wind turbines motivates us to study the feasibility of using these turbines in moderate water depth. Spar-type 5-MW wind turbines in deep and moderate water depths are compared. The power performance, dynamic motions, tension responses, accelerations, structural shear forces and bending moments are studied. Simo/Riflex/TDHMILL3D is used to perform the coupled wave- and wind-induced analyses. Simo/Riflex, developed by MARINTEK, is a commercial tool for analyzing the coupled wave-induced responses of moored offshore structures. TDHMILL3D, is an external DLL that accounts for spar motions while calculating the aerodynamic thrust at each time step using the turbine characteristics and relative velocities. Different environmental conditions are used to compare the responses. The results show that spar-type wind turbine in the moderate water depth exhibits good performance and that its responses are reasonable compared to those of spar-type wind turbine in deep water. This finding indicates the feasibility of implementing the same rotor-nacelle assembly for both concepts. The total mass (the structural mass plus the ballast) of the ShortSpar is 35% less than that of the DeepSpar, while the statistical characteristics of the power generated are almost the same. The reduced mass of the ShortSpar helps to achieve a more cost-effective solution for floating wind turbines in moderate water depth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 3107
Author(s):  
Yong Wan ◽  
Rongjuan Zhang ◽  
Xiaodong Pan ◽  
Chenqing Fan ◽  
Yongshou Dai

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeters represent a new method of microwave remote sensing for ocean wave observations. The adoption of SAR technology in the azimuthal direction has the advantage of a high resolution. The Sentinel-3 altimeter is the first radar altimeter to acquire global observations in SAR mode; hence, the data quality needs to be assessed before extensively applying these data. The European Space Agency (ESA) evaluates the Sentinel-3 accuracy on a global scale but has yet to perform a detailed analysis in terms of different offshore distances and different water depths. In this paper, Sentinel-3 and Jason-2 significant wave height (SWH) data are matched in both time and space with buoy data from the United States East and West Coasts and the Central Pacific Ocean. The Sentinel-3 SWH data quality is evaluated according to different offshore distances and water depths in comparison with Jason-2 SWH data. In areas more than 50 km offshore, the Sentinel-3 SWH accuracy is generally high and less affected by the water depth and sea conditions (root-mean-square error of 0.28 m and correlation coefficient of 0.98); in areas less than 50 km offshore, the SWH data accuracy is slightly affected by water depth and sea conditions (especially the former). Compared with Jason-2, the observation ability of the Sentinel-3 altimeter in nearshore areas with water depths of 0 m-500 m is greatly improved, but in some deep water areas with stable sea conditions, the Jason-2 SWH data accuracy is higher than that of Sentinel-3. This work provides a reference for the refined application of Sentinel-3 SWH data in offshore deep water areas and nearshore shallow water areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Teichert ◽  
Martin G. J. Löder ◽  
Ines Pyko ◽  
Marlene Mordek ◽  
Christian Schulbert ◽  
...  

AbstractThere is an increasing number of studies reporting microplastic (MP) contamination in the Arctic environment. We analysed MP abundance in samples from a marine Arctic ecosystem that has not been investigated in this context and that features a high biodiversity: hollow rhodoliths gouged by the bivalve Hiatella arctica. This bivalve is a filter feeder that potentially accumulates MPs and may therefore reflect MP contamination of the rhodolith ecosystem at northern Svalbard. Our analyses revealed that 100% of the examined specimens were contaminated with MP, ranging between one and 184 MP particles per bivalve in samples from two water depths. Polymer composition and abundance differed strongly between both water depths: samples from 40 m water depth showed a generally higher concentration of MPs and were clearly dominated by polystyrene, samples from 27 m water depth were more balanced in composition, mainly consisting of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. Long-term consequences of MP contamination in the investigated bivalve species and for the rhodolith bed ecosystem are yet unclear. However, the uptake of MPs may potentially impact H. arctica and consequently its functioning as ecosystem engineers in Arctic rhodolith beds.


Author(s):  
Reginaldo M. de Oliveira ◽  
Rubens A. de Oliveira ◽  
Sanzio M. Vidigal ◽  
Ednaldo M. de Oliveira ◽  
Lorença B. Guimarães ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cauliflower is a brassica produced and consumed in Brazil, whose cultivation depends on the adequate supply of water and nutrients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of irrigation depths and nitrogen doses on the production components and water yield of cauliflower hybrid Barcelona CMS. The treatments consisted of five irrigation water depths (0, 75, 100, 125 and 150% of the crop evapotranspiration) combined with five nitrogen doses (0, 75, 150, 300 and 450 kg ha-1). The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with a split-plot arrangement. The effects of these factors were evaluated using the response surface methodology. The water yield of the crop decreases with increasing irrigation water depth; therefore, the yield is higher when water replenishment is lower than the recommended. The highest estimated total inflorescence yield is 24,547.80 kg ha-1, with a inflorescence mean diameter of 19.60 cm, a inflorescence mean height of 12.25 cm, and an inflorescence fresh weight of 858.90 g plant-1, obtained with an irrigation water depth equivalent to 132.09% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and a nitrogen dose of 450 kg ha-1. The highest inflorescence diameter and height are obtained with an irrigation depth equivalent to 128.70 and 108.20% of ETc, respectively, and a nitrogen dose of 450 kg ha-1. Therefore, the best productivity response of the Barcelona CMS cauliflower hybrid can be obtained using an irrigation depth greater than the crop evapotranspiration, regardless of the nitrogen doses.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Zhang ◽  
Lei Xing ◽  
Mingyu Dong ◽  
Weimin Chen

Abstract Articulated pusher barge vessel is a short-distance transport vessel with good economic performance and practicability, which is widely used in the Yangtze River of China. In this present work, the resistance performance of articulated pusher barge vessel in deep water and shallow water was studied by model tests in the towing tank and basin of Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute. During the experimental investigation, the articulated pusher barge vessel was divided into three parts: the pusher, the barge and the articulated pusher barge system. Firstly, the deep water resistance performance of the articulated pusher barge system, barge and the pusher at design draught T was studied, then the water depth h was adjusted, and the shallow water resistance at h/T = 2.0, 1.5 and 1.2 was tested and studied respectively, and the difference between deep water resistance and shallow water resistance at design draught were compared. The results of model tests and analysis show that: 1) in the study of deep water resistance, the total resistance of the barge was larger than that of the articulated pusher barge system. 2) for the barge, the shallow water resistance increases about 0.4–0.7 times at h/T = 2.0, 0.5–1.1 times at h/T = 1.5, and 0.7–2.3 times at h/T = 1.2. 3) for the pusher, the shallow water resistance increases about 1.0–0.4 times at h/T = 2.7, 1.2–0.9 times at h/T = 2.0, and 1.7–2.4 times at h/T = 1.6. 4) for the articulated pusher barge system, the shallow water resistance increases about 0.2–0.3 times at h/T = 2.0, 0.5–1.3 times at h/T = 1.5, and 1.0–3.5 times at h/T = 1.2. Furthermore, the water depth Froude number Frh in shallow water was compared with the changing trend of resistance in shallow water.


Author(s):  
Jairo Bastos de Araujo ◽  
Roge´rio Diniz Machado ◽  
Cipriano Jose de Medeiros Junior

Petrobras developed a new kind of anchoring device known as Torpedo. This is a steel pile of appropriate weight and shape that is launched in a free fall procedure to be used as fixed anchoring point by any type of floating unit. There are two Torpedoes, T-43 and T-98 weighing 43 and 98 metric tons respectively. On October 2002 T-43 was tested offshore Brazil in Campos Basin. The successful results approved and certified by Bureau Veritas, and the need for a feasible anchoring system for new Petrobras Units in deep water fields of Campos Basin led to the development of a Torpedo with High Holding Power. Petrobras FPSO P-50, a VLCC that is being converted with a spread-mooring configuration will be installed in Albacora Leste field in the second semester of 2004. Its mooring analysis showed that the required holding power for the mooring system would be very high. Drag embedment anchors option would require four big Anchor Handling Vessels for anchor tensioning operations at 1400 m water depth. For this purpose T-98 was designed and its field tests were completed in April 2003. This paper discusses T-98 design, building, tests and ABS certification for FPSO P-50.


Author(s):  
Vasiliki Katsardi ◽  
Chris Swan

This paper describes a new series of laboratory observations, undertaken in a purpose built wave flume, in which a number of scaled simulations of realistic ocean spectra were allowed to evolve over a range of mild bed slopes. The purpose of the study was to examine the distribution of wave heights and its dependence on the local water depth, d, the local bed slope, m, and the nature of the input spectrum; the latter considering variations in the spectral peak period, Tp, the spectral bandwidth and the wave steepness. The results of the study show that for mild bed slopes the statistical distributions of wave heights are effectively independent of both the bed slope and the spectral bandwidth. However, the peak period plays a very significant role in the sense that it alters the effective water depth. Following detailed comparisons with the measured data, the statistical distributions for wave heights in relatively deep water are found to be in reasonable agreement with the Forristall [1] and Glukhovskii [2] distributions. For intermediate water depths, the Battjes & Groenendijk [3] distribution works very well. However, for the shallowest water depths none of the existing distributions provides good agreement with the measured data; all leading to an over-estimate of the largest wave heights.


Author(s):  
Rodrigo A. Barreira ◽  
Vinicius L. Vileti ◽  
Joel S. Sales ◽  
Sergio H. Sphaier ◽  
Paulo de Tarso T. Esperança

A new conceptual design of a deepwater MONOBUOY, named DeepWater MultiColumn Buoy (DWMCB), patent PCT/BR2011/000133, was developed by PETROBRAS/CENPES. The DWMCB was designed to be part of an offloading system for a Spread Moored Floating Production Offloading Unit (FPSO). The offloading system principle consists of Oil being exported from the FPSO to a Shutle tanker passing through Offloading Oil Lines (OOLs) that are supported by the DWMCB. The system is designed to operate at a water depth of 2,200 meters, with expected in site life duration of 25 years. The geometry of DWMCB was defined after an optimization process in order to minimize its motions. This paper describes the development of this concept and discusses the results from some design verifications done with the help of a model tests campaign. An equivalent traditional shaped monobuoy was also tested for comparison purposes.


Author(s):  
Marius STAN ◽  
◽  
Valentin Paul TUDORACHE ◽  
Lazăr AVRAM ◽  
Mohamed Iyad AL NABOULSI ◽  
...  

Riser systems are integral components of the offshore developments used to recover oil and gas stored in the reservoirs below the earth’s oceans and seas. These riser systems are used in all facets of the development offshore process including exploration and exploitation wells completion/intervention, and production of the hydrocarbons. Their primary function is to facilitate the safe transportation of material, oil and gases between the seafloor oceans and seas and the marine platform. As the water depth increases, the working conditions of this system becomes challenging due to the complex forces and extreme environmental conditions which are impacting the operational mode as well as the stability. In this paper several aspects concerning riser mechanics and the behaviour of the riser column will be evaluated against different operational situations.


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