Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to offshore platforms. More particularly, it relates to tension leg platforms (TLPs).
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
A tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored floating structure typically used for the offshore production of oil and/or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than about 1000 ft.
The platform is permanently moored by tethers or tendons grouped at each of the structure's corners. A group of tethers is called a tension leg. The tethers have relatively high axial stiffness (low elasticity) such that virtually all vertical motion of the platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on deck (connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers), instead of on the seafloor. This feature enables less expensive well completions and allows better control over the production from the oil or gas reservoir.
A semi-submersible is a particular type of floating vessel that is supported primarily on large pontoon-like structures that are submerged below the sea surface. The operating decks are elevated perhaps 100 or more feet above the pontoons on large steel columns. This design has the advantage of submerging most of the area of components in contact with the sea thereby minimizing loading from wind, waves and currents. Semi-submersibles can operate in a wide range of water depths, including deep water. The unit may stay on location using dynamic positioning (DP) and/or be anchored by means of catenary mooring lines terminating in piles or anchors in the seafloor. Semi-submersibles can be used for drilling, workover operations, and production platforms, depending on the equipment with which they are equipped. When fitted with a drilling package, they are typically called semi-submersible drilling rigs.
The DeepDraftSemi® vessel offered by SBM Atlantia, Inc. (Houston, Tex.) is a semi-submersible fitted with oil and gas production facilities that is suitable for use in ultra deep water conditions. The unit is designed to optimize vessel motions to accommodate steel catenary risers (SCRs).
A variety of TLP and semi-submersible designs are known in the art. The following patents describe various examples.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,000 discloses a tension leg platform that includes a deck supported on the upper ends of three or more columns interconnected at the lower ends thereof by horizontally disposed pontoons. The columns are battered inwardly and upwardly from the pontoons to the deck. Tendons connected at the columns anchor the platform to the seabed. The footprints of the base of the battered columns and the tendons are larger than the footprint of the deck supported on the upper ends of the columns.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,373 describes a tension leg platform with exterior buoyant columns located outside the normal tension leg platform structure. The exterior columns are designed to decrease the pitch period of the tension leg platform away from the point of concentration of the largest wave spectrum energy encountered at a particular marine location. This modification of the pitch period of the tension leg platform is said to reduce the cyclic fatigue stresses in the tension legs of the platform thereby increasing the useful life of the platform structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,040 describes an off-shore oil production platform that includes an upper barge above the level of the sea. The barge is connected to a completely submerged hollow lower base by partially submerged vertical connecting legs forming a buoyancy tank. The legs along their submerged height include at least two successive portions. A first portion with solid walls delimits a closed space and forms a buoyancy tank. A second portion with openwork sidewall has an interior space that is open to the surrounding marine environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,192 describes a heave-suppressed, floating offshore drilling and production platform with vertical columns, lateral trusses connecting adjacent columns, a deep-submerged horizontal plate supported from the bottom of the columns by vertical truss legs, and a topside deck supported by the columns. The lateral trusses connect adjacent columns near their lower end to enhance the structural integrity of the platform. During the launch of the platform and towing in relatively shallow water, the truss legs are stowed in shafts within each column, and the plate is carried just below the lower ends of the columns. After the platform has been floated to the deep water drilling and production site, the truss legs are lowered from the column shafts to lower the plate to a deep draft for reducing the effect of wave forces and to provide heave and vertical motion resistance to the platform. Water in the column shafts is then removed, lifting the platform so that the deck is at the desired elevation above the water surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,401 describes a semi-submersible marine structure for operation in offshore waters that comprises a work deck which is supported by a buoyant substructure. The substructure includes a separable anchor unit which can be lowered to the floor of the offshore site and thereafter weighted in order to regulate the position of the floating structure. Tensioning lines extending between the anchor and the structure draw the latter downward below its normal floating disposition. Outboard anchor lines are used to locate the structure laterally with respect to its position over a drill site.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,912 describes an installation for producing oil from an off-shore deposit that includes a semi-submersible platform, at least one riser connecting the platform to the sea bed, and devices for tensioning the riser. The tensioning devices for each riser include at least one submerged float connected to a point on the main run of the riser for hauling it towards the surface, and a mechanism for hauling the riser. The mechanism is installed on the platform and applied to the top end of the riser.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,467 describes a deep water offshore apparatus for use in oil drilling and production in which an upper buoyant hull of prismatic shape has a passage that extends longitudinally through the hull. Risers run through the passage and down to the sea floor. A frame structure connected to the hull bottom and extending downwardly comprises a plurality of vertically arranged bays defined by vertically spaced horizontal water entrapment plates providing open windows around the periphery of the frame structure. The windows provide transparency to ocean currents and to wave motion in a horizontal direction to reduce drag. The frame structure serves to modify the natural period and stability of the apparatus to minimize heave, pitch, and roll motions of the apparatus. A keel assembly at the bottom of the frame structure has ballast chambers for enabling the apparatus to float horizontally and for stabilization of the apparatus against tilting in the vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,744 describes a semi-submersible, deep-drafted platform which includes a fully submersible lower hull, and a plurality of stabilizing columns which extend from the lower hull to an upper hull. At least one column has means adapted to reduce the water plane area within a portion of the dynamic wave zone of the column and to increase the natural heave period of the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,875 describes a deep-water support assembly for a jack-up type marine structure that comprises a support base, pile guides in the base through which piles are driven to anchor the support base to a marine floor, a receptacle containing a grouting material and adapted to mate with the jack-up structure for providing an anchoring foundation, and a support structure for supporting the receptacle at a fixed height below the marine surface. In one version, a tension leg support assembly is provided in place of the tower assembly. The tension leg assembly also comprises a support base structure, means for anchoring the support base structure to the marine floor, and receptacle means containing a grouting material and adapted to mate with the jack-up structure for providing an anchoring foundation. However, the receptacle means is provided with ballasting and de-ballasting chambers which permit the receptacle means to be employed as a tension leg platform which can be supported from the base structure by tension cables acting in opposition to the buoyancy forces created by de-ballasting the platform once the cables have been secured to the ballasted receptacle means during assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,309 describes a floating offshore device that includes a water tight hull, which is adapted to be ballasted to a submerged stage and, when submerged, retained in position by buoying means that can sway relative to the hull. Structural columns fastened to the vessel extend above the water and support a floatable platform above the water when the device is in operable working position. The platform rests on the vessel when the device is being moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,424 describes a tension leg buoyancy structure for use in seas exposed to wave action that includes a buoyancy section, an anchor section which rests on the sea bed, and a plurality of parallel tethers connecting the buoyancy section with the anchor section to permit the buoyancy section to move relative to the anchor section. Design parameters are selected such that the natural period of the buoyancy section for linear oscillation in the direction of wave travel, the natural period of the buoyancy section for linear oscillation in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of wave travel, and the natural period of the buoyancy section for rotational oscillation about a vertical axis of the buoyancy section structure are greater than 50 seconds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,139 describes an offshore well test platform system that comprises a submerged buoy restrained below the surface of the water by a plurality of laterally extending, tensioned cables, a platform structure connected to a submerged buoy with an upper portion that extends above the surface of the water, and a flexible riser that connects the well to a well test platform deck above the surface of the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,756 describes a floating structure with completely or partially submersible pontoons that provide the buoyancy for an offshore drilling platform, with a deck that is located on columns attached to the pontoons. A separate, submerged ballast unit is attached to the pontoons to help stabilize the floating structure and improve its motion in waves. The ballast unit is approximately the same size in the horizontal plane as the extent of the pontoons and is attached to the floating structure at each corner by at least three vertical struts that extend through and below the pontoons. The struts are attached so that they can be connected or removed from a locking device on the top side of the pontoons. At the upper end of the struts, an attachment head is provided which can be connected and removed from a lifting device such as a wire driven by a winch mounted on the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,928 describes an ocean platform that has a negatively buoyant pontoon suspended from the balance of the platform to increase the heave resonant period. Tendons suspend the pontoon to a depth where dynamic wave forces do not materially act directly on it in seas of normally occurring periods of up to about 15 seconds but do in seas of periods above about 15 seconds. Columns and an upper pontoon provide buoyancy for the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,958 describes an anchored platform of the Ship Waterplane Area Protected (SWAP) type. This platform is of similar design to a SWAP-type free floating platform with the additional elements of a downward extension of a vertical hollow column, tensioned anchor chains, catenary mooring lines and anchors, a foundation including a pontoon, ballast, anchoring arrangements and a well template.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,178 describes a tension base for a tension leg platform. A buoyant base is submerged below the water surface and is retained with base tendons to a foundation on the sea floor. The buoyant base is attachable to the mooring tendons of a tension leg vessel positioned above the buoyant base. The buoyant base can be selectively ballasted to control the tension in the base tendons. Additional buoyant bases and connecting tendons can extend the depth of the total structure. Mooring lines can be connected between the buoyant base and the sea floor to limit lateral movement of the buoyant base. The buoyant base creates a submerged foundation which is said to reduce the required length of a conventional tension leg platform. The tension leg platform can be detached from the buoyant base and moved to another location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,137 describes a submerged multi-purpose facility which employs anchored tethers and a balanced buoyant/ballast to keep the facility in location. Drift is controlled by tethering the facility to the sea bottom using one or more cables or other slightly flexible tie-down means.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,511 describes a floating system held in position on the sea bed by one or several vertical or nearly vertical tensioned lines made of a material that is not very sensitive to fatigue stresses and the tensioned line or lines are sized in a manner independent of the fatigue phenomena associated with the dynamic behavior of the floating system under the effect of external loadings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,373 describes a pitch period reduction apparatus for tension leg platforms. A tension leg platform is provided with exterior buoyant columns located outside the normal tension leg platform structure. The exterior columns decrease the pitch period of the tension leg platform away from the point of concentration of the largest wave spectrum energy encountered at a particular marine location. Modification of the pitch period of the tension leg platform in this manner is said to reduce the cyclic fatigue stresses in the tension legs of the platform, and thereby increase the useful life of the platform structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,167 illustrates a variety of offshore platforms of the prior art and additionally describes a tendon-based floating structure having a buoyant hull with sufficient fixed ballast to place the center of gravity of the floating structure below the center of buoyancy of the hull. A support structure coupled to an upper end of the hull supports and elevates a superstructure above the water surface. A soft tendon is attached between the hull and the seafloor. A vertical stiffness of the soft tendon results in the floating structure having a heave natural period of at least twenty seconds.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,901 describes an “extendable draft platform” that has a buoyant equipment deck on a buoyant pontoon with elongated legs on the pontoon, each comprising a buoyant float, that extend movably through respective openings in the deck. Chains extending from winches on the deck are reeved through fairleads on the pontoon and connected back to the deck. The chains are tightened to secure the deck to the pontoon for conjoint movement to an offshore location. The chains are loosened and the pontoon and leg floats ballasted so that the pontoon and leg floats sink below the floating deck. The chains are then re-tightened until pawls on the leg floats engage the deck. The buoyancy of at least one of the pontoon and leg floats is increased so that the deck is thereby raised above the surface of the water. The chains are connected to mooring lines around an offshore well site, and the raised deck and submerged pontoon are maintained in a selected position over the site with the winches.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0084336 A1 describes a deck-to-column connection for an extendable draft platform, a type of deep-draft semi-submersible platform. The extendable draft platform has a deck and buoyancy columns installed in leg wells in the deck for vertical movement from a raised position to a submerged position. A connection arrangement secures the columns to the deck when the columns are in the submerged position. In the connection arrangement, a plurality of first guide elements near the top of each column is engageable by a plurality of complementary second guide elements secured to the deck around each leg well when the column is lowered to its submerged position. A locking mechanism is operable between the columns and the deck when the first guide elements are engaged with the second guide elements. The first and second guide elements may be configured so that the connection between the deck and the columns may be enhanced by over-ballasting the columns and/or by welding the columns to the deck.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,854,570 discloses a pontoonless tension leg platform (TLP) that has a plurality of buoyant columns connected by an above-water deck support structure. The design eliminates the need for subsea pontoons extending between the surface-piercing columns. In certain embodiments, the buoyancy of the columns is increased by the addition of subsea sections of increased diameter (and/or cross-sectional area) to provide the buoyancy furnished by the pontoons of the TLPs of the prior art. A pontoonless TLP has a smaller subsea projected area in both the horizontal and vertical planes than a conventional multi-column TLP of equivalent load-bearing capacity having pontoons between the columns. This reduction in surface area produces a corresponding reduction in the platform's response to ocean currents and wave action and consequently allows the use of smaller and/or less costly mooring systems. Moreover, the smaller vertical projected area results in a shorter natural period which enables a pontoonless TLP according to the invention to be used in water depths where conventional TLPs cannot be used due to their longer natural periods. The absence of pontoons in a multi-column TLP also has the added benefit of providing an unobstructed path for risers to connect with the deck of the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,208 describes an extended-base tension leg substructure for supporting an offshore platform where the substructure includes a plurality of support columns disposed about a central axis of the substructure and interconnected by at least one pontoon. Each column comprises an above water and submerged portion. The substructure also includes a plurality of wings or arms radiating from the columns and/or the pontoons, each wing securing at least one tendon extending from a wing to an anchor on the seabed. It is said that the wings minimize translational movement and rotational flex in the substructure reducing fatigue in the tendons and their connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,317 describes a central pontoon semi-submersible floating platform for use in offshore applications which has a hull configuration that includes vertical support columns, a central pontoon structure disposed inboard of the columns at a lower end thereof, and a deck structure supported at an upper end of the columns. The vertical columns and pontoon structure are constructed substantially of flat plate. The vertical columns are adjoined to the outer periphery of the central pontoon and have a transverse cross sectional shape with a major axis oriented radially outward from a center point of the hull, and a central vertical axis disposed a distance outward from the pontoon outer periphery. Risers can be supported on the inboard or outboard side of the pontoon and extended to the deck, and the structure can be anchored by mooring lines extending along the outboard face of the columns extending radially outward and downward from their lower ends.
The invention may best be understood by reference to certain illustrative embodiments.
TLP 100 comprises a deck 138 which may be configured to suit the particular needs of the owner or operator. A typical deck layout for an oil and gas production operation is shown in
Columns 110 have a generally rectangular transverse cross section and are oriented such that the major axis of the transverse cross section is generally aligned with the central axis of the vessel. As shown in the embodiment illustrated in
Deck structure 138 extends above upper surface 116 of columns 110. In certain embodiments, deck 138 (or cellar deck 140) may be supported on column upper surface 116 whereas in other embodiments, separate deck support means may be provided, as described more fully, below.
Pontoons 112 interconnect adjacent columns forming a pontoon ring which defines central opening 114. In the embodiment of
Pontoons 112 may comprise a plurality of internal compartments (not shown) which may comprise buoyancy tanks, ballast tanks and/or storage tanks as is conventional in the art.
Deck 138 may be a separate, detachable unit thereby facilitating both fabrication and installation. In certain applications, it has been found advantageous to set the deck on the columns of the TLP using heavy-lift barge cranes subsequent to installation of the hull portion of the structure at the operations site.
Deck support members 142 structurally interconnect upper deck 138 and cellar deck 140. In certain embodiments, the upper deck, cellar deck and deck support members may comprise a truss-type structure. The geometry of the deck need not be the same as that of the hull or of the deck support structure.
The distance between the nominal waterline of the platform in its installed condition and the underside of cellar deck 140 is known as the air gap. This distance is typically selected to exceed the wave height of the platform's design storm so that the platform does not experience a possibly catastrophic uplift force which might occur if waves were allowed to strike the deck.
A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
The hull of semi-submersible 200 is of the same configuration as that used in TLP 100, illustrated in
Also shown (in phantom) in
The hull structure, alone, used in TLP 100 and semi-submersibles 200 and 300 (
Deck support posts 468 may connect to both column upper surface 416 and inboard column surface 424 such that column face 424 is a major load-bearing member. In this way, the internal structure of a column may be reduced from that which would be required were deck 438 supported only by upper surface 416.
A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
An embodiment of the invention having tapered columns is illustrated in
An embodiment of the invention having the pontoon structure of TLP hull 500 (see
A sixth embodiment of the invention is shown in
A seventh embodiment of the invention, shown in
A plurality of buoyant pontoons 1212 are connected between adjacent columns 1210, the pontoons having a generally rectangular cross section and an outboard, generally vertical surface 1252 connected to a side surface 1228 of an adjacent column at a location that is inboard of the outboard surfaces 1226 of column 1210.
Tendon porches 1230 may be mounted to one or more of outboard surfaces 1226a, 1226b and/or 1226c. In yet other embodiments, tendon porches may be mounted to column side surfaces 1228 outboard of the juncture of column surface 1228 and pontoon surface 1252. Such tendon porches may be in addition to or in lieu of the tendon porches on outboard surfaces 1226a and 1226c or 1226b.
A plurality of buoyant pontoons 1312 are connected between adjacent columns 1310, the pontoons having a generally rectangular cross section and an outboard, generally vertical surface 1352 connected to a side surface 1328 of an adjacent column at a location that is inboard of the outboard surface 1326 of column 1310. The inboard surfaces of the pontoons may be flush with the inboard surfaces 1324 of columns 1310. In this embodiment, the pontoons 1312 are comprised of substantially straight sections.
Tendon porches 1330 may be mounted to one or more of outboard column face 1326 and side surfaces 1328a and/or 1328b outboard of the juncture of column surface 1328 and pontoon vertical surface 1352. It will be appreciated that a TLP according to the present invention permits tendon porches to be located on adjacent faces of a column when a plurality of tendon porches are connected to a single column.
Referring now to
A plurality of buoyant pontoons 1512 are connected between adjacent columns 1510, the pontoons having a generally rectangular cross section and an outboard, generally vertical surface 1552 connected to a side surface 1528 of an adjacent column at a location that is inboard of the outboard surface 1526 of column 1510. The inboard surfaces of the pontoons may be flush with the inboard surfaces 1524 of columns 1510. In this embodiment, the pontoons 1512 are comprised of substantially straight sections and the two pontoons connected to each column—e.g., 1512a and 1512b—are of unequal length.
Tendon porches 1530 may be mounted to one or more of outboard column face 1526 and side surfaces 1528a and/or 1528b outboard of the juncture of column surface 1528 and pontoon vertical surface 1552. It will be appreciated that a TLP according to the present invention permits tendon porches to be located on adjacent faces of a column when a plurality of tendon porches are connected to a single column.
In the embodiment shown in
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other 4-column embodiments of the invention (including those illustrated in
A plurality of buoyant pontoons 1712 are connected between adjacent columns 1710, the pontoons having a generally rectangular cross section and an outboard, generally vertical surface 1752 connected to a side surface 1728 of an adjacent column. The inboard surfaces of the pontoons may be flush with the inboard surfaces 1724 of columns 1710.
In TLP hull 1700, a radial extension 1794 is attached to the lower, outboard portion of each column 1710. In the illustrated embodiment, extensions 1794 are parallelepipeds comprising an upper panel 1795, an opposing pair of side panels 1796 and an outer panel 1797 that together define an enclosed space which may, in certain embodiments, contain ballast and/or buoyancy tanks or house other equipment. In yet other embodiments (not shown), extensions 1794 may comprise an open framework of structural members.
Tendon porches 1730 may be mounted to outboard panel 1797 and/or side panels 1796. It will be appreciated that a TLP according to the present invention permits tendon porches to be located on adjacent faces of a column extension when a plurality of tendon porches are connected to each corner of a hull. Column extensions 1794 permit tendon porches 1730 to be located farther from the central vertical axis of hull 1700 thereby enhancing the stability of the platform.
Although the embodiment of the invention illustrated in
Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, they are not intended to limit what this patent covers. Those skilled in the art will understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as literally and equivalently covered by the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/175,502 filed Jul. 1, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13175502 | Jul 2011 | US |
Child | 13468738 | US |