The present invention relates generally to a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser, and more specifically to such a telescopic joint having an elastomeric sleeve in the form of a rolling membrane.
During offshore drilling operation with a floating drilling vessel, the vessel is connected to the well head via the drilling riser. The vessel also experiences a heaving motion due to oceanic waves. This heaving motion puts additional stress into the riser and could potentially cause a catastrophic failure.
This problem of riser stress induced by heaving motion is currently solved by inserting a telescopic joint into the riser. The telescopic joint is a mechanism designed to continuously adapt the length of the riser during drilling operations to compensate for the horizontal and vertical displacements of the drilling vessel. To accomplish this, an outer barrel of the telescopic joint is fixed to the riser, and an inner barrel of the telescopic joint slides inside the outer one while the vessel heaves up and down due to wave motion. Such a telescopic joint is also referred to as a slip joint. The vessel is connected to the outer barrel using hydraulic or cable tensioners and a tension ring. The tensioners are used to maintain a nearly constant tension in the riser. A locking mechanism is also used with the telescopic joint in order to fix the inner barrel to the outer barrel during installation, maintenance, and abandonment. A more complete set of requirements for the telescopic joint can be found in API spec 16F, Specification for Marine Drilling Riser Equipment, first edition, August 2004, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC.
In existing applications, the telescopic joint has a rubber packer which, when activated by pressure from a pump, seals between the inner and outer barrels and allows the flow of drilling fluid without leakage from the riser as the drilling fluid returns from the well. In this type of design, the useful life of the rubber packer is limited by the wear due to the sliding action of the inner barrel. To extend the short life of such devices, a backup packer is installed, and the backup packer is activated after the first packer reaches the end of its useful life.
Examples of current commercial telescopic joints are the GE VetcoGray Telescopic Joint and the Cameron Telescopic RD Riser Joint. The GE VetcoGray Telescopic Joint is shown on page 14 of the GE Drilling Systems Brochure, No. 080709, 2009, GE Oil & Gas, Houston, Tex.
Currently the standard sizes of drilling risers used with these telescopic joints are 16″, 18⅝″, 20″, 21″, 22″, and 24″ (406.4 mm, 473.1 mm, 508 mm, 533.4 mm, 558.8 mm, 609.6 mm) in diameter. The inner diameter of the innermost barrel should be no less than the inner diameter of the mating riser pipe. The amount of stroke required for the telescopic joint is based on predicted wave patterns. Among the longer lengths of stroke is roughly 50 feet (15 meters). API spec 16F also lists tension load ratings up to 4 million pounds (17,800 kN). The operating pressures at the telescopic joint are low. The hydrostatic test requirement, per Section 11.6.2.1 of API 16F, calls for pressures of 25, 50, 100 and 200 psi (0.17, 0.34, 0.69, and 1.38 M Pa) to be sustained without leakage for no less than 15 minutes.
It is desired to extend the life cycle of a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser by limiting the wear due to abrasion upon the elastomer seal in the telescopic joint. This can be done by interconnecting the inner and outer barrels of the telescopic joint with a thin tubular elastomeric membrane that is folded over upon itself so that it rolls without wear during sliding motion of the inner barrel with respect to the outer barrel. Because this elastomeric membrane does not experience any wear due to abrasion, the useful life of the elastomeric membrane can outlive the useful life of the telescopic joint. Therefore the lifetime of the elastomeric membrane can be virtually limitless.
In accordance with a first aspect, the invention provides a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser. The telescopic joint includes an outer barrel, an inner barrel, and a tubular rolling elastomeric membrane disposed within the outer barrel. The inner barrel is received in the outer barrel, and the inner barrel has a clearance fit with respect to the outer barrel for sliding of the inner barrel with respect to the outer barrel while maintaining the inner barrel in a coaxial relationship with respect to the outer barrel. The inner barrel and the outer barrel define a central lumen for passage of a drill pipe string through the telescopic joint. The tubular rolling elastomeric membrane is disposed within the outer barrel and has a first end secured to an outer circumference of the inner barrel and a second end secured to an inner circumference of the outer barrel for sealing drilling fluid within the central lumen.
In accordance with another aspect, the invention provides a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser. The telescopic joint includes an outer barrel, an inner barrel, and a tubular rolling elastomeric membrane disposed within the outer barrel. The outer barrel has a first end and a second end, and the first end has a load shoulder. The telescopic joint further includes a drilling riser flange secured to the second end of the outer barrel. The drilling riser flange has connections for choke and kill lines. The inner barrel is received in the outer barrel and has a clearance fit with respect to the outer barrel for sliding of the inner barrel with respect to the outer barrel while maintaining the inner barrel in a coaxial relationship with respect to the outer barrel. The inner barrel has a first end and a second end. The second end of the inner barrel has an enlarged outer diameter and a mechanical stop abutting against the outer barrel when the telescopic joint is in a fully extended configuration. The inner barrel and the outer barrel define a central lumen for passage of a drill pipe string through the telescopic joint. The telescopic joint further includes a pipe flange secured to the first end of the inner barrel. The tubular rolling elastomeric membrane has a first end secured to an outer circumference of the inner barrel at the second end of the inner barrel. The tubular rolling elastomeric membrane has a second end secured to an inner circumference of the outer barrel at a middle location of the outer barrel for sealing drilling fluid within the central lumen.
In accordance with yet another aspect, the invention provides a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser. The telescopic joint includes multiple coaxial barrels nested in a coaxial relationship and defining a central lumen for passage of a drill pipe string through the telescopic joint. The multiple coaxial barrels include an innermost barrel and an outermost barrel. Neighboring ones of the barrels have a clearance fit with respect to each other for sliding with respect to each other while maintaining the coaxial relationship between the neighboring ones of the barrels. The telescopic joint further includes a pipe flange secured to the innermost barrel of the multiple barrels, and a drilling riser flange secured to the outermost barrel of the multiple barrels. The drilling riser flange has connections for choke and kill lines. The telescopic joint further includes a respective tubular rolling elastomeric membrane for each neighboring pair of the multiple coaxial barrels for sealing drilling fluid within the central lumen. The tubular rolling elastomeric membrane is disposed in an outermost one of the neighboring ones of the barrels in each neighboring pair of the multiple barrels. The tubular rolling elastomeric membrane has a first end secured to an outer circumference of an innermost one of the neighboring ones of the barrels in each neighboring pair of the multiple barrels, and the tubular rolling elastomeric membrane has a second end secured to an inner circumference of an outermost one of the neighboring ones of the barrels in each neighboring pair of the multiple barrels.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms shown, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
With reference to
In
During drilling operations, the drill pipe string 53 is rotated by a rotary Kelley bushing 55 mounted to the drill floor 52. A diverter 56 is mounted to the underside of the rotary Kelley bushing 55, and a flexible joint or ball joint 57 couples the diverter 56 to the top of the telescopic joint 41. The diverter 56 diverts drilling fluid and cuttings that flow upward from the well bore 54 in the annulus between the drill pipe string and the drilling riser string. The diverted drilling fluid and cuttings from the diverter 56 flow through a return line 58 to a mud processing system 59. The mud processing system 59 removes the cuttings from the drilling fluid, and pumps the processed drilling fluid to a standpipe 60 for injection into the drill pipe string 53.
During the drilling operations, the telescopic joint 41 has a self-adjusting variable length to continuously adapt the length of the riser from the wellhead 43 to the drill floor 52 to compensate for horizontal and vertical displacements of the drilling vessel 42 with respect to the wellhead 43. To accomplish this, an outer barrel 71 of the telescopic joint 41 is fixed to the drilling riser string 47, and an inner barrel 72 of the telescopic joint slides inside the outer one while the drilling vessel 42 heaves up and down due to wave motion. Such a telescopic joint 41 is also referred to as a slip joint. The drilling vessel 42 is also connected to the drilling riser string 47 by hydraulic or cable tensioners 61, 62 and a tension ring 73. The tensioners 61, 62 maintain a nearly constant tension in the drilling riser string 47 through respective wire ropes or cables 63, 64 to support the weight of the drilling riser string 47 and also to keep the drilling riser string 47 relatively straight along a line from the flexible joint or ball joint 57 mounted to the drill floor 52 to a flexible joint or ball joint 65 at the top of the LMRP 46. The tension ring 73 could be mounted to the outer barrel 71 of the telescopic joint 41, for example as shown in
As shown in
The flexible joints or ball joints 57, 65 permit the drilling riser string 47 to pivot when the floating vessel becomes horizontally displaced from above the wellhead 43 so that the drilling riser string becomes inclined with respect to a vertical line from the wellhead 43. This horizontal displacement of the drilling vessel 42 from a location directly above the wellhead 43 also causes some increase in the length of the drilling riser from the upper flexible joint or ball joint 57 to the lower flexible joint or ball joint 65. The inner barrel 72 of the telescopic joint 41 slides further outward with respect to the outer barrel 71 in order to provide this increase in length.
As further shown in
As shown in
The inner barrel 72 includes a cylindrical and tubular lower section 86 and a cylindrical and tubular upper section 87. A pipe flange 88 is secured to the top of the tubular upper section 87 of the inner barrel 72. The tubular upper section 87 has an outer locking ridge or ring 89. All of the components of the inner barrel 72, for example, are made of steel, and the components are welded together.
As shown in
As further shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The lock-out tool 100 may be actuated to lock the inner barrel 72 in a fully retracted position with respect to the outer barrel 71 during installation, maintenance, and abandonment. For example, the lock-out tool 100 includes a circular array of dogs 97, 98 that are driven inward in a radial direction to engage the locking ridge or ring 89 on the inner barrel 72 when the lock-out tool is actuated. The cover 93 encloses the dogs 97, 98 in the housing 90 and clamps the housing 90 onto the load shoulder 76. For example, further details regarding a lock-out mechanism including a circular array of dogs for locking a riser slip-joint are found in Lim et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,620 issued Dec. 15, 1987 (FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, item 42), incorporated herein by reference. The lock-out tool 100 could also include a hydraulically-actuated packing seal to provide a backup seal during drilling operations or provide a high-pressure seal when drilling operations are suspended or completed. Such a packing seal could be similar to the packing seal in a conventional riser slip joint, such as the packing seal in Lim et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,620 (FIGS. 13 and 14, item 30).
In an alternative form of construction, a conventional split tension ring (not shown) is used so that the split tension ring can be opened or closed quickly around the outer barrel 71. See, for example, page 17 of the GE Drilling Systems Brochure, No. 080709, cited above. The commercial availability of such a split tension ring permits the telescopic joint 41 to be made and sold without the tension ring 73. The telescopic joint 41 without the tension ring 73 can be installed or replaced at the floating drilling vessel while the split tension ring remains connected to the drill floor (52 in
Conventional offshore drilling operations do not require high pressure to be contained within the telescopic joint 41. As noted above, Section 11.6.2.1 of API 16F, calls for the highest pressure of 200 psi to be sustained without leakage for no less than 15 minutes. Despite the relatively low pressure, the abrasive nature of the drilling mud has limited the useful life of the rubber packing seal used in a conventional telescopic joint. Therefore the telescopic joint 41 uses a different kind of seal 101 for containing the pressure of the drilling mud during normal drilling operations. The seal 101 is a thin tubular elastomeric membrane that interconnects the inner barrel 72 to the outer barrel 71 and folds upon itself and rolls without wear during motion of the inner barrel 72 with respect to the outer barrel 71. Because this elastomeric membrane 101 does not experience any wear due to abrasion, the useful life of the elastomeric membrane can outlive the useful life of the telescopic join 41.
As will be further described below with respect to
For example, a length is allotted for a loop 119 of the membrane 101 that bridges the gap and assumes a shape that is half of a toroid. This loop 119 is most clearly seen in
The elastomer of the membrane 101 can be natural or synthetic rubber or a resilient polymer such as polypropylene. Resilient polymer or synthetic rubber such as oil-resistant acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) or hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene (HNBR) would be used instead of natural rubber if natural rubber would have chemical compatibility issues with the fluid from the wellbore. The membrane 101 can be homogeneous elastomer, or the membrane can have reinforcements embedded in the elastomer, for example as shown in
The circumferential or hoop stresses develop in the loop 119 of the membrane 101 since the remainder of the membrane is supported on inner and outer straight sections of the membrane. Fluid pressure within the telescopic joint 41 keeps the inner straight section of the membrane 101 pressed against the outer circumference of the tubular lower section 86 of the inner barrel 72, and keeps the outer straight section of the membrane pressed against the inner circumference of the tubular central section 81 of the outer barrel 71. Because the loop 119 of the membrane 101 is half of a torus, the pressure-induced hoop stresses are independent of the riser diameter, and depend only on the pressure, radius (Rm) of the torus (typically no more than 1½ inches or 37 mm) and membrane thickness (typically no more than 5/16 inch or 7.9 mm). Hence, even at the maximum required test pressure of 200 psi or 1.38 M Pa, the stresses in the membrane 101 (on the order of 1,600 psi or 11.0 M Pa) would be well below the tensile capability of typical elastomers selected for this application.
For example, the telescopic joint 41 in
As further shown in
For use with pressures greater than 200 psi when the membrane 101 includes reinforcement, hose clamps such as clamping rings can be used to further secure the ends of the membrane to the inner barrel 72 and the outer barrel 71. For example,
Next, an inflatable collar 117 would be used for the case where the elastomeric membrane 101 in its natural state is a cylindrical tube so the inner diameter of the upper end 103 of the elastomeric membrane matches the outer diameter of the tubular lower section 86. The inflatable collar 117 would be slid up and around the lower end 102 of the elastomeric membrane 101. In this case, inflation of the collar 117 through a tube 118 would be used to expand the outer diameter of the upper end 103 of the elastomeric membrane to match the inner diameter of the tubular central section 81 of the outer barrel 71. Such an inflatable collar 117 would not be used for the case where the elastomeric membrane 101 in its natural state is a conical tube so that the outer diameter of the upper end 103 of the elastomeric membrane would already match the inner diameter of the tubular central section 81 of the outer barrel 71.
Next, the upper end 103 of the elastomeric membrane 101 is grasped by hand and pulled down and folded over the rest of the membrane 101, resulting in the configuration shown in
Next, adhesive (107 in
After the adhesive cures, for the case where the inflatable collar 117 is used, the inflatable collar 117 is deflated and removed, resulting in the configuration of
Then, if the tension ring is to be mounted to the outer barrel 71, the tension ring (73in
Most drilling riser connections are of proprietary design. Since the flanges 85, 88 can be welded on, any requested type of flange, regardless of whether it is of a proprietary nature or not, can be attached as long as it is weldable.
A pipe flange 131 is welded to the top of the third inner barrel 124. A drilling riser flange 128 is welded to the bottom of the outer barrel 121. The drilling riser flange 128 has connections for choke and kill lines, and these connections include a choke-line gooseneck pipe 129, and a kill-line gooseneck pipe 130. If a tension ring is to be mounted to outer barrel 121, then a tension ring 136 is mounted to the outer barrel 121 to apply tension to the outer barrel. A lock-out tool 132 is mounted to the top of the outer barrel 121. The lock-out tool 132 can be similar to the lock-out tool 100 described above with respect to
A first membrane 125 is secured to an outer barrel 121 and to a first inner barrel 122, a second membrane 126 is secured to the first inner barrel 122 and to a second inner barrel 123, and a third membrane 127 is secured to the second inner barrel 123 and to a third inner barrel 124. The first membrane 125 is disposed within the outer barrel 121, the second membrane 126 is disposed within the first inner barrel 122, and the third membrane 127 is disposed within the second inner barrel 123.
In general, neighboring ones of the multiple barrels 121, 122, 123, 124 have a clearance fit with respect to each other for sliding with respect to each other while maintaining the coaxial relationship between the neighboring ones of the barrels. A lower end of each of the inner barrels may also have an enlarged outer diameter and a mechanical stop (133, 134, 135 in
In contrast to the double-barrel telescopic joint 41 of
In an extreme marine environment, it may be necessary to accommodate vertical displacements of the drilling vessel in excess of the stroke of the double-barrel telescopic joint 41 or the multi-barrel telescopic joint 120. Although the stroke can be made longer by increasing the length of the barrels of the telescopic joint, this would ultimately result in a telescopic joint that would so long that it would exceed the limits of the handling and installation equipment at the drilling vessel. In general, this problem can be solved by combining two or more of the telescopic joints in series. This provides a series combination of telescopic joints having an effective stoke equal to the sum of the strokes of the telescopic joints in the combination. In such a series combination, the telescopic joints should match the same intended riser diameter.
The double-barrel telescopic joint 140 has a lock-out tool 142 but the double-barrel telescopic joint 140 does not have a tension ring. Instead, tension would be applied to the tension ring 132 of the multi-barrel telescopic joint 120, or the multi-barrel-telescopic joint 120 would not have a tension ring and tension would be applied to a tension ring mounted to the upper riser joint of the drilling riser string. In general, if a number of the telescopic joints are connected in series, then tension from the tensioners (61, 62 in
In general,
In view of the above, there has been described a telescopic joint for a marine drilling riser. The telescopic joint has an outer barrel and an inner barrel defining a central lumen for passage of a drill pipe string through the telescopic joint. The inner barrel is received within the outer barrel and has a clearance fit with respect to the outer barrel for sliding of the inner barrel with respect to the outer barrel while maintaining the inner barrel in a coaxial relationship with respect to the outer barrel. A tubular rolling elastomeric membrane is disposed within the outer barrel and has a first end secured to an outer circumference of the inner barrel and a second end secured to an inner circumference of the outer barrel for sealing drilling fluid within the central lumen. As the inner barrel slides with respect to the outer barrel, the elastomeric membrane rolls with respect to the inner barrel and the outer barrel without friction from the barrels so that wear of the seal due to abrasion is eliminated.
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