Top tensioned riser adaptor

a technology of adaptors and risers, which is applied in the direction of drilling machines and methods, borehole/well accessories, underwater drilling, etc., can solve the problems of high hang off load on the host facility, high installation cost, and high weight of scr

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-12-14
MENTOR SUS TECH SERVICES
View PDF10 Cites 3 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Installation involves a lay barge, which drives up installation costs, as field welding is required to manufacture the SCR.
The weight of the SCR imparts a high hang off load onto the host facility.
There are also fatigue issues associated with host facility motions being transmitted into the SCR.
However, multiple layers are required to produce the flexible flowlines which typically cause the weight per foot to be higher than the SCR.
Flexible flowlines are expensive to manufacture relative to pipe.
Not only is the manufacturing cost high, but the flexible flowlines have temperature and pressure limitations relative to steel pipe.
For example, if the wells that the TTR's are producing from have their production deplete before the design life of the riser is up, the TTR cannot readily be moved to accommodate another wellhead, as described above.
Because TTR's have not been designed to be tied in from wellheads beyond the normal reach of a TTR, the useful life of TTR's can be limited.
This results in the need to have other types of risers, as described above, which adds to the complexity and cost of an offshore host facility.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Top tensioned riser adaptor
  • Top tensioned riser adaptor
  • Top tensioned riser adaptor

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

Embodiment Construction

[0029] Referring to the drawings, it is seen in FIG. 1 that the invention is generally indicated by the numeral 10. The adaptor 10 for the top tensioned riser is generally comprised of an adaptor spool 12 and an adaptor spool hanger 14. The arrangement of the hanger 14 is optional depending upon the situation.

[0030] Adaptor spool 12 is designed to physically lock to the upper most piece of the subsea wellhead 16 and so is provided with a connector 18 at the lower end for attachment to the wellhead 16. The upper end of adaptor spool 12 is designed to be connected to the tieback connector 20. Thus, the profile of the upper end of the adaptor spool mandrel 12 duplicates the profile of the upper most end of the subsea wellhead 16 and thereby forms a connection for attachment to the tieback connector 20. The tieback connector 20 is essentially the lower end of the riser 23.

[0031] Seals 24 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the adaptor spool 12 and are the same design and profi...

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

An adaptor for a top tensioned riser that allows the riser to be tied in with wellheads beyond the normal range of the top tensioned riser. An adaptor spool attaches between the top tensioned riser and the subsea wellhead. An adaptor spool hanger may land in the adaptor spool. The adaptor spool is provided with a side penetration to which a flow line may be connected. The flow line is provided with a connector that connects to a production line from a remote location. This allows the fluid production to flow from the remote location through the existing top tensioned riser to the host facility. The tieback connector / stress joint may also be provided with a flow line prepared to accept remote field tiebacks, which are also piggable.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application references and claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 689,846 filed on Jun. 13, 2005.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention is generally related to production risers used on offshore structures and more particularly to top tensioned risers. [0004] 2. General Background [0005] In the offshore production of oil and gas (fluids), offshore host facilities can be one of many different types, such as TLP's (tension leg platforms), Mini-TLP's, Spars, Semi-submersibles, etc. These host facilities most often bring production fluid onboard and produce the fluid for export through a pipeline. The fluid comes from subsea wells either directly to the host facility or via manifolds that commingle the production fluid from several different wells, prior to the fluids being brought onboard a host facility. [0006] The means typically used to bring the production fluids to the host facility incl...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
IPC IPC(8): E21B33/00
CPCE21B33/038
InventorBATEN, ROBERT BENSONRICCIARDO, UMBERTOWELTY, JEREMY LYNN
OwnerMENTOR SUS TECH SERVICES