Experimental Investigation of the Effects of a Pulsating Internal Flow on the Dynamics of a Submersed U-Shaped Flexible Pipe

Author(s):  
Marcio Yamamoto ◽  
Shotaro Uto ◽  
Tomo Fujiwara ◽  
Motohiko Murai

In the past of the offshore petroleum production, each riser had conveyed the hydrocarbon production from a single vertical well; the riser’s internal flow rate was relatively low and only the internal fluid pressure was taking into account for the riser analysis. Other internal flow effects, such as internal fluid’s linear moment, and Coriollis effects, were neglected. However, the paradigm for petroleum production in ultra-deepwater is shifting nowadays. New technologies, such as horizontal wells, have increased the production rate from a single well. In addition, a subsea booster system can increase both pressure and flow rate of the riser’s conveyed fluid. Further, the Offshore Mining is rising as a new industry and will demand riser systems to convey, at high flow rates, the mineral ore’s slurry from the seafloor up to the production support vessel. In a previous experiment, the effects of the internal flow on a vertical riser were investigated. In the current experiment, the main objective is to investigate the effect of the internal flow on the dynamic response of a pipe in “jumper configuration”. The experiment was carried out at the Deep Sea Basin of the National Maritime Research Institute using a 10 m long flexible pipe. The actual “jumper” is a piece of flexible riser, in U-shaped configuration, that connects the main structure of “Self-Standing Hybrid Riser” to the production vessel. During the experiment, fresh water was pumped into the model by positive displacement pump; and an oscillator applies a harmonic vibration on one pipe’s end. Then the pipe’s dynamic response is measured by the Deep Sea Basin’s 3D Visual Measurement System. Results for different internal flows and oscillations are compared.

Author(s):  
Marcio Yamamoto ◽  
Tomo Fujiwara ◽  
Shigeo Kanada ◽  
Masao Ono ◽  
Satoru Takano ◽  
...  

Abstract For the exploitation of seafloor massive sulfides, we have investigated the dynamic behavior of the jumper, a piece of flexible pipe that connects the seafloor mining tool to the subsea slurry pump. In this article, we present the results of the experiment using a 1/5 reduced-scale model of the jumper. This experiment was carried out in Deep-Sea Basin. During the experiment, a slurry fluid was conveyed throughout the jumper’s model. In addition, an oscillator generated harmonic motion on the top end of the model. In terms of instrumentation, we installed load cells on the top and bottom ends of the model and a 3D visual measurement system tracked the motion of measurement stations attached to the model. We present the experimental results measured by the 3D visual measurement system, loads cells, and differential pressure gauges in the cases where a vertically forced oscillation is imposed on the top of the jumper. In this experiment, we could observe the effects of slurry on the jumper reduced-scale model. Since the slurry has a larger density than the single liquid phase, the slurry flow changed, as expected, the static shape of the jumper compared to a jumper conveying only water. The vertical top force average and differential pressure average increase with the volume concentration of solid, while their amplitudes increase quadratically with the forced oscillation frequency.


Author(s):  
Motohiko Murai ◽  
Marcio Yamamoto ◽  
Shotaro Uto ◽  
Tomo Fujiwara

Nowadays, flexible risers are widely deployed in various configurations for the production of hydrocarbons in offshore fields. For example, in the self-standing hybrid risers’ applications, a single riser or a set of risers are suspended by a subsurface buoy called “Can”. Then a piece of flexible riser connects the Can to the production platform conveying the hydrocarbon production stream. This work concerns about this jumper, an experiment using a 10 m long model was carried out at the Deep Sea Basin of the National Maritime Research Institute in Japan. The model was made by three concentric unbonded layers: a silicon made inner layer; a crisscross steel wire layer; and a rubber made outer layer. During this experiment, the model was suspended through both ends; one model’s end was fixed and the other end was connected to an oscillator that generates the oscillatory motion in three different directions. In addition, a positive displacement pump injected fresh water into the model. Further, the model was instrumented with two degrees of freedom accelerometers fixed along its length; and a six degrees of freedom force/torque transducer was also installed at one pipe end. In addition, the Deep Sea Basin’s Visual Measurement System tracks and calculates the motion of several measurement stations along the pipe. A parametric analysis was carried out changing the oscillating frequency and internal flow rate. Discussion and results of numerical simulation are also included.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Shilling ◽  
Y. K. Lou

Transverse vibrations of elastic pipes conveying a fluid have been observed in pipelines and heat exchangers. These fluid-induced vibrations can be a serious problem and in some incidents have caused structural failure resulting in environmental damage and economic loss. For offshore applications such as marine risers, the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant and deep ocean mining vacuums, the problem is compounded by the existence of vortex shedding, wave excitations, currents, and platform motions. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of internal flow rate and the depth of immersion on the dynamic response of a vertical cantilever pipe discharging a fluid. It was found that the internal flow rate and the surrounding fluid have a significant effect on the natural frequencies of the system. Specifically it was found, that depending on the relative value of the forcing frequency, in comparison to the system natural frequencies, an increase in flow rate may not necessarily result in a larger system response. Conversely, an increase in the length of pipe immersion does not necessarily decrease the response of the system. It is also observed that with increasing flow rate, an auspicious increase in the response of the higher harmonics is noted, indicating an increase fluid coupling of the system. System natural frequencies were observed to decrease with increasing flow rate.


Author(s):  
Roberto Bruschi ◽  
Lorenzo Bartolini ◽  
Caterina Molinari ◽  
Giulio C. Vignati ◽  
Luigino Vitali

Coming and future Deep and Ultra-Deep Water project developments involve the use of many Subsea Rigid Jumpers used to connect well heads, manifolds or riser base with Flowline End Terminations. Generally, Subsea Rigid Jumpers are short and flexible pipe sections assembled in a variety of spatial configurations to accommodate the installation tolerances, the Flowline End Terminations translation and settlement guaranteeing the continuity and the flexibility needs of the subsea pipe layout. These Subsea Rigid Jumpers are critical components as they are subject to fatigue damage due to Vortex Induced Vibrations induced by the bottom currents and/or Flow Induced Vibrations induced by the high internal flow rate, often coupled with slugging flow conditions. In this paper, a Subsea Rigid Jumper design approach based on basics of Vortex Induced Vibrations is presented, and outcomes on a few typical multi-planar Subsea Rigid Jumpers discussed.


Author(s):  
Marcio Yamamoto ◽  
Tomo Fujiwara ◽  
Shigeo Kanada ◽  
Masao Ono ◽  
Satoru Takano ◽  
...  

Abstract In the Deep-Sea Mining, the seafloor mining tool is connected to the subsea slurry pump by a piece of flexible pipe named jumper. The jumper’s shape is similar to a steep-wave flexible riser. Compared to a flexible riser, the jumper is a reinforced hose and has a shorter length. Numerous studies shed light on the dynamic behavior of flexible riser; however, all studies were carried out by the way of numerical analysis. We carried out, in the Deep-Sea Basin, an experiment using 1/5 reduced scale model of the jumper. Unhappily, the model’s bending stiffness had to be distorted. During the experiment, an oscillator generated harmonic motion on the top end of the model and a centrifugal pump circulated water throughout the model. In addition, we installed load cells on the top and bottom ends of the model. Our Basin is equipped with a visual measurement system. Thus, we measured the displacement of targets attached to the model. The initial results show that axial tension amplitude increases with the frequency of the top end oscillation. This response is due to the drag force on the lower bend increases with the frequency of top motion. We also could observe that the internal flow may increase the vertical motion amplitude. The jumper’s motion generates an oscillation on the internal differential pressure between both ends and the flow velocity. The differential pressure amplitude increases with the top oscillation frequency, but it is proportional to the top end oscillation amplitude. We will use these experimental results to validate our numerical models. Further, it is important to understand the internal flow effects to design the actual pump used to convey the slurry through the jumper.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1182
Author(s):  
Seung-Jun Kim ◽  
Yong Cho ◽  
Jin-Hyuk Kim

Under low flow-rate conditions, a Francis turbine exhibits precession of a vortex rope with pressure fluctuations in the draft tube. These undesirable flow phenomena can lead to deterioration of the turbine performance as manifested by torque and power output fluctuations. In order to suppress the rope with precession and a swirl component in the tube, the use of anti-swirl fins was investigated in a previous study. However, vortex rope generation still occurred near the cone of the tube. In this study, unsteady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes analyses were conducted with a scale-adaptive simulation shear stress transport turbulence model. This model was used to observe the effects of the injection in the draft tube on the unsteady internal flow and pressure phenomena considering both active and passive suppression methods. The air injection affected the generation and suppression of the vortex rope and swirl component depending on the flow rate of the air. In addition, an injection level of 0.5%Q led to a reduction in the maximum unsteady pressure characteristics.


2013 ◽  
Vol 842 ◽  
pp. 530-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeng Meng Zhang ◽  
Yong Jun Gong ◽  
Jiao Yi Hou ◽  
Han Peng Wu

The water hydraulic reciprocating plunger pump driven by linear motor is suitable to deep sea application with high efficiency and variable control. Aiming to study the principle structure and working characteristics of the pump, two patterns of valve and piston distribution were designed. And the control method and the performance were analyzed by simulation based on the AMESim model. The results show that the pressure and flow pulsation of piston type pump are much smaller than the valve type, even though the piston type is large in scale and works at low flow rate. Compared with a valve distribution tri-linear-motor reciprocating plunger pump (VDTLMP), as the flow rate of the piston distribution double linear motor reciprocating plunger pump (PDDLMP) is decreased from 36.7 L/min to 21.2 L/min theoretically, the pressure pulsation amplitude is decreased from 46% to 2%, and the flow pulsation rate is also decreased from 0.266 to 0.007. These results contribute to the research on deep-sea water hydraulic power pack and direct drive pump with high efficiency and energy conservation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcio Yamamoto ◽  
Tomo Fujiwara ◽  
Joji Yamamoto ◽  
Sotaro Masanobu

Abstract One key technology for Deep-Sea Mining is the riser system. The riser is already a field-proven technology in the Petroleum Industry. However, several differences exist between a petroleum production riser and a riser for Deep-Sea Mining, mainly related to the internal flow. The ore-slurry has a larger density than the hydrocarbons and shall be pumped with a much higher flowrate. The current software tools for riser’s dynamic analysis may include the internal fluid hydrostatic pressure and the centrifugal and Coriolis forces imposed by the bent pipe’s internal flow. However, the internal pressure drop is not calculated. The internal pressure alters the pipe’s effective tension and can alter the pipe’s bending moment changing its mechanical behavior. This article describes a computational script’s development to run embedded in a commercial software for riser’s dynamic analysis. Our script calculates the internal viscous pressure drop along with the jumper. This pressure is then converted into wall axial tension (buckling) and imposed on each node of the jumper’s numerical model. Each simulation case was calculated twice with and without the internal flow viscous pressure drop. The comparison with experimental data revealed that the jumper’s average position has a good agreement among all cases. However, the amplitude caused by the top oscillation showed some discrepancies. Experimental data has the highest amplitude in the horizontal direction, while the simulation without viscous pressure calculation had the smallest. The simulation with our embedded script had intermediary amplitude in the horizontal direction. The vertical direction amplitudes have the same behavior for all cases, but the experimental data showed the highest amplitude.


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