A semi-submersible drilling platform tidal difference monitoring system

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of semi-submersible drilling platform tidal difference monitoring systems, including laser ranging device, roof, the distance of relative seabed mud surface remains unchanged support ring, and with the data acquisition processing system of laser ranging device connection, laser ranging device is connected in roof bottom, the lifting device is connected in roof bottom, support ring is fixedly connected on the outer circumferential surface of the lifting device, laser emitted by laser ranging device is vertically irradiated on the top surface of support ring.The application carries out ranging by laser measuring point, improves the accuracy of tidal difference measurement, and can also continuously monitor and record ranging data during drilling operation in data acquisition processing system, provides reliable basis and conditions for tidal difference analysis required by other operation links.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of offshore drilling platform position measurement, and more particularly to a tide difference monitoring system for a semi-submersible drilling platform. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the marine oil and gas drilling industry, the drilling platform turntable surface is used as the depth reference surface in the calculation of well depth, the length of drilling tools into the well, the adjustment of the pipe column and other operations. The three legs of a semi-submersible drilling platform are inserted into the seabed, and the drilling platform is relatively immobile with respect to the seabed mud surface. However, the semi-submersible drilling platform moves up and down with respect to the seabed mud surface under the influence of tides and waves, which has an impact on the calculation of well depth and the length of drilling tools into the well after drilling and completion. In actual drilling operations, such as the lowering of the underwater wellhead, the setting of the casing string and the drilling of hard formations, the length of the drilling tools into the well needs to be accurately measured on site, or the change in the regional tide difference needs to be accurately monitored, so as to determine whether the drilling tools have reached the predetermined position or have encountered resistance.

[0003] At present, most offshore semi-submersible drilling platforms use manual rope pulling to measure the tide difference. Specifically, one or more tide difference ropes are pulled on the semi-submersible drilling platform, with one end fixed to the support ring for compensating the riser (the support ring is relatively immobile with respect to the seabed mud surface, and an absolute depth is obtained). The tide difference rope is fixed from the support ring to the pulley at the top of the platform. When the tide is flat, the tide difference rope is pulled straight up to the top of the platform, and one or two marker points are made on the tide difference rope at a distance of 1-2 m above the drilling platform turntable surface, with the marker points serving as the depth reference surface instead of the top surface of the platform. When measuring the length of the pipe column into the well, one person pulls the tide difference rope straight, and a laser pen is used to project a light point on the pipe column at the node position of the tide difference rope, and then the length of the pipe column is measured. This traditional method of measuring the tide difference using a tide difference rope cannot avoid measurement errors caused by individual factors, the non-straightness of the tide difference rope or different angles during the operation, and cannot meet the actual measurement accuracy requirements. In addition, the tide difference rope is prone to knotting and breaking during use, which increases the amount of non-normal operations on site. Furthermore, this method cannot automatically and real-time monitor and record the changes in the position of the semi-submersible drilling platform caused by the tides. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application aims to overcome the shortcomings of the existing tide difference measurement method for semi-submersible drilling platforms, and provides a tide difference monitoring system for a semi-submersible drilling platform, which uses a laser distance measuring device to replace the traditional tide difference rope for precise measurement. The laser distance measuring probe of the data acquisition and processing system is used in the operation process, which can measure a single point, multiple points and the change in the tide difference in real time, and the data acquisition and processing system can analyze and visualize the data information.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme adopted by the present application is:

[0006] The present application provides a kind of semi-submersible drilling platform tidal monitoring system, including laser ranging device, roof, the distance of support ring that relative seabed mud surface remains unchanged, and with the data acquisition processing system of laser ranging device connection, laser ranging device is connected in roof bottom, roof bottom is connected with lifting device, support ring is fixedly connected on the outer surface of lifting device, laser emitted by laser ranging device is vertically irradiated on the top surface of support ring.

[0007] The working principle of the present application is as follows: the roof is the top structure of semi-submersible drilling platform, the bottom of the roof is provided with lifting device, and the support ring is fixed on the lifting device, and the distance of the support ring relative to the seabed mud surface remains unchanged. The bottom of the roof is also provided with laser ranging device, and the laser emitted by the laser ranging device is vertically irradiated on the top surface of the support ring, so that the distance between the roof and the support ring is actually measured. Assuming that the initial calibration distance between the laser ranging device and the top surface of the support ring is A, when the distance between the laser ranging device and the top surface of the support ring changes to B after the tide changes, the heave distance of the roof relative to the initial calibration position can be obtained by comparing A and B, which is the height of the tide change. Furthermore, the present application is also provided with data acquisition processing system connected with laser ranging device, which can monitor the distance data measured by laser ranging device in real time, and pre-analyze, archive or visualize the data. The change of tidal range is displayed in an easy-to-read way such as table or curve, which is convenient for the staff on semi-submersible drilling platform to monitor the change of tidal range.

[0008] Further, the laser ranging device comprises a laser probe, a probe protection cylinder and a probe angle corrector are arranged on the outer periphery of the laser probe, and the laser probe is connected to the inner wall of the probe protection cylinder through the probe angle corrector. The probe protection cylinder is a hollow cylindrical shape, and its length is greater than the length of the built-in laser probe, thereby playing a protective effect on the laser probe. The laser probe is connected to the inner wall of the probe protection cylinder through the probe angle corrector, and when the semi-submersible drilling platform shakes due to sea waves, the probe angle corrector can ensure that the laser probe always emits laser vertically downward, so that the laser can always fall on the top surface of the support ring, avoiding inaccurate measurement results due to inclined measurement. As one of the preferred solutions, in order to ensure the measurement accuracy of the tidal range change and avoid isolated points or outliers affecting the measurement results, the number of laser ranging devices can be 2 to 8 and uniformly distributed, preferably two-point, four-point or eight-point diagonal distribution, and in this case, the projection area of each laser ranging device vertically downward falls inside the top surface of the support ring. The ranging results of each laser ranging device are independent of each other. After the data acquisition and processing system receives multiple ranging data, if the data obtained at a certain measurement point is significantly different from the data of other measurement points, the data acquisition and processing system will judge it as an isolated point or outlier, automatically discard the value and issue a warning.

[0009] Further, an elastic gasket is arranged between the laser ranging device and the top plate. The top plate moves up and down relative to the seabed mud surface due to the influence of tides and waves, so the elastic gasket can buffer the movement of the top plate to reduce the momentum transmitted to the laser ranging device, avoid faults of the laser ranging device due to vibration, and increase the service life of the laser ranging device.

[0010] Further, the outer wall of the probe protection cylinder is provided with a protection cylinder corrector. The main function of the protection cylinder corrector is to control the angle of the probe protection cylinder to avoid blocking the laser emitted by the laser probe.

[0011] Further, the number of probe angle correctors and protection cylinder correctors is a plurality, preferably 2 to 6. The plurality of probe angle correctors and protection cylinder correctors can adjust the angle of the laser probe and the probe protection cylinder respectively, avoiding the fact that one probe angle corrector can only adjust the direction of the laser probe at one angle, or one protection cylinder corrector can only adjust the direction of the probe protection cylinder at one angle, thereby affecting the actual measurement effect. Therefore, the number of probe angle correctors and protection cylinder correctors should be a plurality, and their arrangement should follow the principle of not being in the same plane, that is, triangular arrangement, cross arrangement or horizontal arrangement. As one of the preferred solutions, the number of probe angle correctors and protection cylinder correctors is 4, and they are arranged in a cross shape, which ensures that the probe angle corrector and the protection cylinder corrector can conveniently and quickly adjust the angle of the laser probe and the probe protection cylinder respectively.

[0012] Further, a data transmission cable connecting the data acquisition processing system and the laser ranging device is arranged between the data acquisition processing system and the laser ranging device, the data acquisition processing system can control the opening and closing of the laser ranging device through the data transmission cable, and process the ranging result. In order to improve the durability of the application, the data transmission cable is used as the carrier for data interaction, which has the advantages that on the one hand, it can stably transmit data and avoid signal interference caused by bad weather at sea, and on the other hand, it can simultaneously power the laser ranging device, avoid battery replacement, and enable the laser ranging device to work for a longer time. The data acquisition processing system transmits signals to control the opening and closing of the laser ranging device through the data transmission cable, thereby realizing the conversion of single measurement, multi-point measurement or real-time continuous measurement, and after receiving the ranging data, the data acquisition processing system can pre-analyze, archive or visually process the data, and display the tidal range change through tables or curves and other easy-to-read ways.

[0013] Further, the lifting device comprises a telescopic outer cylinder and a telescopic inner cylinder, one end of the telescopic inner cylinder is fixedly connected with the top plate, the other end is slidably connected with the telescopic outer cylinder, and the supporting ring is fixedly connected on the outer circumferential surface of the telescopic outer cylinder. The telescopic inner cylinder and the telescopic outer cylinder are slidably connected, and the distance between the telescopic outer cylinder and the mud surface remains unchanged. When the semi-submersible drilling platform moves up and down with the tide, the telescopic inner cylinder slides up and down in the telescopic outer cylinder, and in the limit state, the telescopic inner cylinder can be completely retracted into the telescopic outer cylinder. The supporting ring is fixed on the telescopic outer cylinder, so the distance between the supporting ring and the mud surface also remains unchanged.

[0014] Further, the semi-submersible drilling platform tidal range monitoring system further comprises a traction device, one end of the traction device is fixedly connected with the supporting ring, and the other end is fixedly arranged on the drilling platform.

[0015] Further, the traction device comprises a fixed pulley arranged at the bottom of the top plate and a cable, the cable passes through the upper part of the fixed pulley, one end of the cable is connected with the supporting ring, and the other end is connected with a hydraulic tractor, and the hydraulic tractor is arranged on the drilling platform. The hydraulic tractor lifts the supporting ring through the cable, so as to avoid that the weight of the supporting ring and the telescopic outer cylinder connected with the supporting ring is too large to press on the underwater wellhead and damage the wellhead. The hydraulic tractor is fixed on the drilling platform, the upper part of the hydraulic tractor is a liquid cylinder structure, the extension amount of the liquid cylinder can be adjusted by pressure to compensate the position and force effect of the supporting ring, so that the supporting ring can keep the distance to the mud surface of the seabed unchanged.

[0016] Further, the number of the traction devices is double, and is distributed equidistantly in a circle with the support ring as the center. In order to balance the force exerted by the hydraulic traction device on the support ring, the number of the hydraulic traction device is usually two or four. As one of the preferred solutions, the number of the hydraulic traction device is set to four, and is arranged in a cross shape, so that when the hydraulic traction device exerts a lifting force on the support ring, the force is balanced, and the support ring is prevented from being deviated, falling off or being broken. As one of the preferred solutions, two cables are connected to each hydraulic traction device, and the two cables are connected to the support ring after passing through the fixed pulley. In order to overcome the torsion of the force caused by the hydraulic traction device when exerting a lifting force on the support ring, two cables are arranged on each hydraulic traction device, and are independently connected to the support ring after passing through the fixed pulley. At the same time, the use of two cables can better distribute the tension, and prevent the cable from being easily broken due to excessive tension when one cable is used.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] 1. The present application measures the change of the tidal range through one or more laser measuring points, improves the accuracy of the tidal range measurement, and avoids the increase of the on-site abnormal operation caused by the knotting and breaking of the tidal range rope;

[0019] 2. The present application also continuously monitors and records the ranging data during the drilling operation in the data acquisition and processing system, provides reliable basis and conditions for the tidal range analysis required by each operation link, and saves the time required for personnel measurement through the probe ranging compared with the existing manual tidal range change measurement, and improves the real-time mastering ability of the tidal range change of the offshore drilling platform and the base support personnel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 is a structural schematic view of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 is a schematic view of the internal structure of the laser ranging device in the present application;

[0022] Figure 3 is Figure 2 A direction view of the present application.

[0023] The illustration mark is explained as follows: 1-laser ranging device; 2-fixed pulley; 3-cable; 4-support ring; 5-outer cylinder of telescopic joint; 6-inner cylinder of telescopic joint; 7-top plate; 8-data transmission cable; 9-data acquisition and processing system; 10-protection cylinder corrector; 11-probe protection cylinder; 12-laser probe; 13-probe angle corrector; 14-elastic gasket; 15-hydraulic traction device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The application will be further described below in conjunction with the specific embodiments. The accompanying drawings are only used for exemplary description and cannot be understood as a limitation to the patent; in order to better illustrate the embodiments, some components in the drawings can be omitted, enlarged or reduced, and do not represent the actual product size; for those skilled in the art, it is understandable that some well-known structures and their descriptions in the drawings can be omitted.

[0025] The same or similar reference numerals in the drawings of the embodiments of the application correspond to the same or similar components; in the description of the application, it is understood that if the terms "front", "back", "left", "right" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for the convenience of describing the application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, therefore the terms describing the positional relationship in the drawings are only used for exemplary description, and cannot be understood as a limitation to the patent, for those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0026] Embodiment one:

[0027] As shown in Figure 1 The embodiment provides a semi-submersible drilling platform tidal difference monitoring system, which comprises a laser ranging device 1, a support ring 4 with a constant distance from the seabed mud surface, a top plate 7 and a data acquisition and processing system 9 connected with the laser ranging device 1, the laser ranging device 1 is connected at the bottom of the top plate 7, the bottom of the top plate 7 is connected with an inner telescopic joint cylinder 6, the inner telescopic joint cylinder 6 is slidingly connected with an outer telescopic joint cylinder 5, the support ring 4 is fixedly connected on the outer circumferential surface of the outer telescopic joint cylinder 5, and the laser emitted by the laser ranging device 1 vertically irradiates on the top surface of the support ring 4.

[0028] The top plate 7 described in this embodiment is the top structure of the semi-submersible drilling platform at the wellhead position. The top plate 7 is equipped with a telescopic joint extending into the sea, inside which is the drilling pipeline. The telescopic joint consists of an outer cylinder 5 and an inner cylinder 6, which are slidably connected. The distance between the outer cylinder 6 and the seabed mud surface remains constant. When the semi-submersible drilling platform moves up and down with the tides, the inner cylinder 5 slides up and down within the outer cylinder 6. The support ring 4 is fixed to the outer cylinder 6, so the distance between the support ring 4 and the seabed mud surface also remains constant. A laser ranging device 1 is also provided at the bottom of the top plate 7. The laser emitted by the laser ranging device 1 is perpendicularly irradiated onto the top surface of the support ring 4; therefore, the laser ranging device 1 measures the distance between the top plate 7 and the support ring 4. Assuming the initial calibration distance between the laser rangefinder 1 and the top surface of the support ring 4 is A, and the distance changes to B after tidal changes, the rise and fall distance of the top plate 7 relative to the initial calibration position can be obtained by comparing A and B. This distance is the height of the tidal change. Furthermore, this embodiment also includes a data acquisition and processing system 9 connected to the laser rangefinder 1, which can monitor the distance data measured by the laser rangefinder 1 in real time, and perform pre-analysis, archiving, or visualization processing on the data. The tidal range changes can be displayed in an easy-to-read manner, such as tables or curves, facilitating the monitoring of tidal range changes by personnel on the semi-submersible drilling platform.

[0029] Example 2:

[0030] like Figure 1 or Figure 2 or Figure 3 As shown, based on Embodiment 1, the laser ranging device 1 includes a laser probe 12. A probe protective cylinder 11 and a probe angle corrector 13 are provided around the laser probe 12. The laser probe 12 is connected to the inner wall of the probe protective cylinder 11 via the probe angle corrector 13. The probe protective cylinder 11 is a hollow cylinder, and its length is greater than the length of the built-in laser probe 12, thus providing protection for the laser probe 12. When the semi-submersible drilling platform sways due to wave action, the probe angle corrector 13 ensures that the laser probe 12 always emits laser light vertically downwards, allowing the laser to always fall on the top surface of the support ring 4, avoiding inaccurate measurement results due to tilted measurements.

[0031] Meanwhile, a protective cylinder corrector 10 is provided on the outer wall of the probe protective cylinder 11. The main function of the protective cylinder corrector 10 is to control the angle of the probe protective cylinder 11 and prevent its cylinder wall from blocking the laser emitted by the laser probe 12.

[0032] To further optimize the adjustment effect of the protective cylinder corrector 10 and the probe angle corrector 13, there are four protective cylinder correctors 10 and four probe angle correctors 13, and they are all arranged in a cross shape. This ensures that the probe angle corrector 13 and the protective cylinder corrector 10 can easily and quickly adjust the angles of the laser probe 12 and the probe protective cylinder 11 respectively, and ensures that the laser probe 12 always emits laser vertically downwards, so that the laser can always fall on the top surface of the support ring 4.

[0033] Example 3:

[0034] like Figure 1 As shown, based on Embodiment 1, the number of laser ranging devices 1 is four, evenly distributed around the inner cylinder 6 of the expansion joint, and the vertically downward projected area of ​​each laser ranging device 1 falls on the top surface of the support ring 4. The laser ranging devices 1 are connected to each other via data transmission cables 8, which are also connected to a data acquisition and processing system 9. The data acquisition and processing system 9 can control the opening and closing of the laser ranging devices 1 via the data transmission cables 8 and process the ranging results. The ranging results of each laser ranging device 1 are independent of each other. The data acquisition and processing system 9 can control the laser ranging devices 1 to perform single measurements, multi-point measurements, or real-time continuous measurements. After receiving the ranging data, the data acquisition and processing system 9 can perform pre-analysis, archiving, or visualization processing of the data, displaying the tidal range changes in an easily readable manner such as tables or curves. Simultaneously, after receiving multiple ranging data points, if the data obtained from a certain measuring point differs significantly from the data from other measuring points, the data acquisition and processing system 9 determines it as an isolated point or an outlier, automatically discards the value, and issues an alarm.

[0035] Example 4:

[0036] like Figure 1As shown, on the basis of the first embodiment, the top plate 7 is provided with a fixed pulley 2 and a cable 3, the cable 3 passes through the upper part of the fixed pulley 2, one end of the cable 3 is connected with the support ring 4, and the other end is connected with a hydraulic tractor 15. The hydraulic tractor 15 lifts the support ring 4 through the cable 3, so as to avoid that the weight of the support ring 4 and the telescopic joint outer cylinder 5 connected with the support ring 4 is too large to press on the underwater wellhead and damage the wellhead. The hydraulic tractor 15 is fixed on the drilling platform, the upper part of the hydraulic tractor 15 is a liquid cylinder structure, the extension amount of the liquid cylinder can be adjusted by pressure, so as to compensate the position and force effect of the support ring 4, and the distance between the support ring 4 and the sea bed mud surface can be kept unchanged. In order to balance the force applied by the hydraulic tractor 15 to the support ring 4, four hydraulic tractors 15 (only one hydraulic tractor 15 is shown as an example in the figure) are arranged on the semi-submersible drilling platform at equal intervals in a circle with the support ring 4 as the center, so that when the hydraulic tractor 15 lifts the support ring 4, the unbalanced force does not occur, and the support ring 4 is prevented from deviating, falling off or breaking. Meanwhile, two cables 3 are connected with each hydraulic tractor 15, the two cables 3 are connected with the support ring 4 after passing through the fixed pulley 2, and the function of the two cables 3 is to overcome the force torsion caused by the hydraulic tractor 15 lifting the support ring 4. In addition, the use of two cables 3 can better distribute the tension and prevent the cable 3 from being easily broken due to too large tension.

[0037] In the specific contents of the above specific embodiments, any inconsistent combination of technical features can be combined, and in order to make the description simple, all possible combinations of the above technical features are not described, however, as long as the combination of technical features does not exist, it should be considered as the scope of the present application.

[0038] Obviously, the above embodiments of the present application are only examples for clearly illustrating the present application, and are not intended to limit the implementation modes of the present application. Based on the above description, other different forms of changes or variations can be made by those skilled in the art. Here, all the implementation modes are not enumerated. Any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A semi-submersible drilling platform differential tide monitoring system, characterized by, The utility model relates to a laser ranging device (1), top plate (7), the support ring (4) of the distance of mud surface of seabed is kept invariant, and the data acquisition processing system (9) of the connection with laser ranging device (1), laser ranging device (1) is connected in the bottom of top plate (7), the bottom of top plate (7) is connected with elevating gear, support ring (4) is fixedly connected on the outer circumferential surface of elevating gear, the laser of laser ranging device (1) is vertically irradiated on the top surface of support ring (4), and the elevating gear includes telescopic section outer cylinder (5) and telescopic section inner cylinder (6), and one end of telescopic section inner cylinder (6) is fixedly connected with top plate (7), and the other end is slidably connected with telescopic section outer cylinder (5), and support ring (4) is fixedly connected on the outer circumferential surface of telescopic section outer cylinder (5), and further include traction device, one end of traction device is fixedly connected with support ring (4), and the other end is fixedly arranged on the drilling platform, and the traction device includes fixed pulley (2) and cable (3) being located in the bottom of top plate (7), and cable (3) passes through from the upper portion of fixed pulley (2), and one end of cable (3) is connected with support ring (4), and the other end is connected with hydraulic tractor (15), and hydraulic tractor (15) is arranged on the drilling platform, and the number of traction device is double, and is distributed in the form of equidistant circle with support ring (4) as the center.

2. The semi-submersible drilling platform tidal difference monitoring system of claim 1, wherein, The laser ranging device (1) comprises a laser probe (12), and the outer periphery of the laser probe (12) is provided with a probe protection cylinder (11) and a probe angle corrector (13); the laser probe (12) is connected to the inner wall of the probe protection cylinder (11) through the probe angle corrector (13).

3. The semi-submersible drilling platform tidal difference monitoring system of claim 2, wherein, An elastic gasket (14) is arranged between the laser ranging device (1) and the top plate (7).

4. The tide monitoring system for a semi-submersible drilling platform according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The outer wall of the probe protection cylinder (11) is provided with a protection cylinder corrector (10).

5. The tide differential monitoring system for a semi-submersible drilling platform of claim 4, wherein, The number of the probe angle corrector (13) and the protection cylinder corrector (10) is plural.

6. The semi-submersible drilling platform differential tide monitoring system of claim 1, wherein, A data transmission cable (8) connecting the data acquisition processing system (9) and the laser ranging device (1) is arranged; the data acquisition processing system (9) can control the opening and closing of the laser ranging device (1) through the data transmission cable (8) and process the ranging result.

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