Numerical Model of Towing Line in Sea Transport

Towing as a specific type of sea transport is often used for installing objects for drilling and exploitation of underwater gas and oil wells. Also, towing proved to be a cost-effective solution for the installation of the offshore wind turbine electric generators at sea locations. Because of the mass of these objects the need for towing increases progressively. Time domain numerical model for the wave-induced motions of a towed ship and the towline tension in regular head seas is presented in this paper. For the sake of simplicity, one end of the towing line is attached to ship’s bow and another end has prescribed straight line motion. All considerations are done in the vertical plane so the ship is modeled as a rigid body with three degrees of freedom. Hydrodynamic loadings due to waves are taken into account along with added mass and damping. Dynamics of the towing line is described by finite elements. Due to the nonlinear properties of the problem calculations are done in time domain. Comparison of the obtained numerical results is made with previously published results.

Nonlinear Drop Simulations of a Christmas Tree in Deep Waters

This paper presents an investigation of the still water sink trajectories of an accidentally dropped Christmas Tree (XT). A 3D coupled nonlinear dynamics/hydrodynamics model of the XT is constructed and simulations executed from surface to seabed. XT initial water entry orientations are randomly varied in a Monte-Carlo simulation to predict the seabed impact zone. Still water simulation results are compared to simplified cone-angle type method predictions. The effect of XT flat panels on excursion mitigation is investigated. Finally, the influence of non-uniform current effects is studied.

Development of Deep Water Multicolumn Buoy

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.

Optimized Mooring Line Simulation Using a Hybrid Method Time Domain Scheme

Dynamic analyses of slender marine structures are computationally expensive. Recently it has been shown how a hybrid method which combines FEM models and artificial neural networks (ANN) can be used to reduce the computation time spend on the time domain simulations associated with fatigue analysis of mooring lines by two orders of magnitude. The present study shows how an ANN trained to perform nonlinear dynamic response simulation can be optimized using a method known as optimal brain damage (OBD) and thereby be used to rank the importance of all analysis input. Both the training and the optimization of the ANN are based on one short time domain simulation sequence generated by a FEM model of the structure. This means that it is possible to evaluate the importance of input parameters based on this single simulation only. The method is tested on a numerical model of mooring lines on a floating off-shore installation. It is shown that it is possible to estimate the cost of ignoring one or more input variables in an analysis.

Model-Based Risk Assessment of Offshore Operations

Safety and dependability are major design objectives for offshore operations such as the construction of wind farms or oil and gas exploration. Today processes and related risks are typically described informally and process specification are neither reusable nor suitable for risk assessment. Here, we propose to use a specification language for processes. We integrate this specification language in a generic modeling approach in combination with an analysis tool and a tool to construct health, safety and environment (HSE) plans — a mandatory document for granting a construction/operation permit. Specifically, for each planned scenario a process is modeled, describing the detailed operation of the involved actors as well as the interaction with resources and environmental conditions. We enrich this process model with hazardous events which is facilitated by integration with an offshore operation generic hazard list, thereby giving access to expert knowledge for the specific situation to be planned. This in turn allows us to perform an automatic quantitative risk assessment using fault tree analysis. We exemplify our approach on a standard offshore operation of personnel transfer from an offshore building to another naval unit by modeling, annotating with hazards, performing the fault-tree analysis, and finally generating HSE plans.

Simplified Model for the Weight Estimation of Floating Offshore Plant Using the Statistical Method

The weight information of a floating offshore plant, such as an FPSO, is one of the important data to estimate the amount of production material and to determine the production method for its construction. In addition, the weight information is a key factor which affects in the building cost and production period of the offshore plant. Although the importance of the weight has long been recognized, the weight has been roughly estimated by using the existing design and production data, and designer’s experience. To improve this task, a simplified model for the weight estimation of the offshore plant using the statistical method was developed in this study. To do this, various past records to estimate the weight of the offshore plant were collected through the literature survey, and then the correlation analysis and the multiple regression analysis were performed to develop the simplified model for the weight estimation. Finally, to evaluate the applicability of the developed model, it was applied to some examples of the weight estimation of topsides of the offshore plant. The results showed that the developed model can be applied the weight estimation process of the offshore plant at the early design stage.

Experimental Assessment of the Offshore Launching Operation of a Jack-Up Unit

Recently, an experimental campaign was carried out to assess the feasibility of the launching operation of two jack-up units using a barge as the launching platform. This experimental study was divided in four stages. In stages 1 to 3, a series of preliminary model tests were performed in order to provide scientific understanding of the mechanics of the operation, and investigate systematically the influence of launching parameters. The experimental approach developed for testing this operation and the results of the preliminary launching tests have been discussed in detail in a previous paper [1]. Based on the analyses of the experimental results of stages 1 to 3 and, the results of numerical simulation tools, in stage 4, a final launching condition was designed and a new set of model tests were specified to check the safety of the operation. This paper presents the results and analyses of the experimental tests in stage 4. The conditions tested in this stage covered the expected real launching condition and possible deviations in some launch parameters. The tests results include the 6-DOF motions and trajectories of the launched jack-up and the launch barge, and the reaction forces on the barge rocker arms. Later on, the success of the launching operations of P-59 and P-60 jack-up units confirmed the experimental investigation results and the feasibility of this novel launching procedure. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the experimental approach efficiently served as a tool for the assessment of high risk operations.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Seakeeping Performance for Sea-River Ships With Different Hull Fullness

Commercial vessels under 5000 dwt, specifically sea-river vessels, constitute a substantial part of the world’s merchant fleet. These vessels are as a rule running between sea, estuary and river ports. Mostly these vessels are restricted in operation by areas, seasons, distance from port of refuge, wind and wave conditions. In this connection the operational safety of such vessels, which are mainly engaged in carriage of oil products, is a critical issue. This paper addresses integrated studies on seakeeping of sea-river vessels starting from the early design stage with preliminary CFD estimates and model experiments in wave basin up to the operational sea trials. The wave conditions for analytical and experimental studies are chosen to be as close as possible to the specific ship profile and expected area of operation. Some conclusions regarding the effect of block coefficient on seakeeping performance of sea-river vessels are made, estimations and experimental data are compared for a ship with extremely large block coefficient and wider operation area (beyond coastal waters), as well as seakeeping performance data recorded at sea during operational voyage of the vessel on the Black sea and Mediterranean sea are given.

Best Practices for Minimizing Mooring Failures at the Fairlead

Although preventive maintenance is not a new concept when dealing with mooring systems, experience shows that the implementation is not always successful. As important as new technologies are in improving mooring integrity, it is equally important to ensure that well-established best practices remain in place. As the industry approaches a period where extending service life of floating structures is desirable, but the existing mooring system has reached the twilight of its service life, the need for properly maintaining the mooring system is more acute. With time on their side, the prudent operator can implement small regular steps to extend mooring system service life. This paper presents methodologies to maximize design life by highlighting design and operational best practices, maintenance and monitoring, and identifying common reasons why these best practices are not implemented.

Hydrodynamic Forces Acting on Objects in a Moonpool

Traditionally, it has often been assumed that the flow conditions in a moonpool are only moderately altered when an object is introduced therein. Moreover, the hydrodynamic forces acting on the object has typically been estimated by Morison’s equation for small volume structures, using the fluid kinematics of the empty moonpool as a basis and applying correction factors for the confined flow conditions, as for an object in a tube or a channel. To investigate the validity of the traditional approach, an experimental study on the forces acting on objects in a moonpool was performed at NTNU/MARINTEK in Trondheim, Norway in 2013. The experiments were done using a simplified 2-dimensional moonpool model which was given a forced heave motion. Two objects, both with square cross sections but of different sizes, were put inside the moonpool one at the time. The resulting wave elevations inside the moonpool and the forces acting on the objects were recorded and analyzed. To get a deeper understanding of the flow characteristics in the moonpool, PIV measurements were used to obtain the fluid velocity fields. The experiments revealed that even moderately sized objects (relative to the size of the moonpool) change the fluid motions in the moonpool to a large extent; the overall wave elevation amplitude is strongly reduced and the resonance period is altered. A consequence of this is that there is a large discrepancy between the hydrodynamic forces acting on the objects measured in the experiments and the forces calculated using the traditional approach. The PIV results showed the formation of vortices at the inlet of the moonpool and at the edges of the objects, which is the main source of non-linear damping of the wave elevation inside a moonpool.