Drop Away Funnel Decoupling for Subsea Drilling Templates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Subsea drilling templates face challenges in efficiently forming and aligning wellbores and pilings on the seafloor, particularly in maintaining structural integrity and preventing damage during platform deployment, due to the limitations of existing coupling mechanisms that are prone to damage from moment forces and axial impacts.
Innovation Solution
A template system featuring annular wellbore and piling alignment funnels with a coupling mechanism using a main stud and tang/clevis design, allowing for selective engagement and disengagement, which decouples the piling alignment funnel from the frame, thereby shielding the main stud from moment forces and enabling horizontal alignment, and utilizing a remotely operated vehicle for subsea decoupling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the piling alignment funnel is permanently coupled to the frame, then structural stability is maintained, but the template cannot be removed to prevent damage during platform deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling mechanism is segmented into discrete components: a stud that passes through aligned bores in the frame and piling alignment funnel, with separate nuts that can be independently tightened or loosened. This segmentation allows the connection to be easily assembled and disassembled while maintaining structural integrity when connected.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling mechanism transitions from a static permanent connection to a dynamic adjustable connection. The nuts can be tightened to create a rigid stable connection during drilling operations, or loosened to allow easy removal during platform deployment, providing adaptability throughout the operational lifecycle.
2Manufacturing precision
If a rigid coupling mechanism is used to maintain alignment, then alignment precision is improved, but the coupling is vulnerable to damage from moment forces and axial impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The stud acts as an intermediary element that provides alignment functionality without creating a rigid fixed connection. The nuts serve as adjustable intermediaries that can be tightened to provide stability during operations or loosened to allow the funnel to drop away, protecting the alignment mechanism from damaging forces during platform deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling mechanism allows changing the structural parameter from rigid to flexible by adjusting the nut tension. During drilling operations, the nuts are tightened to provide rigid alignment precision. During platform deployment, the nuts are loosened to allow the funnel to become flexible and drop away, protecting against moment forces and axial impacts.
3Manufacturing precision
If the piling alignment funnel remains attached to the frame, then alignment is maintained, but torque requirements for coupling and decoupling increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling is segmented into a stud portion and nut portions that can be independently manipulated. This allows the nuts to be loosened and removed separately from the stud, enabling the funnel to be decoupled with minimal torque requirements rather than requiring complete disassembly of a fixed bolted connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling mechanism transitions from a static high-torque fixed connection to a dynamic low-torque adjustable connection. The nuts can be easily loosened to allow the funnel to drop away under its own weight, significantly reducing the torque required for decoupling compared to unfixed rigid connections.
Data Source
AI summary
A template for use in positioning subsea wellbores that has a drop away funnel that extends laterally from the template. The drop away funnel is used to locate a piling adjacent the wellbores and is selectively detached from the template after installing the piling. A tang and clevis type assembly mounts the drop away funnel to the template, where the tang and clevis are coupled together with a main stud. The main stud is oriented substantially parallel with an axis of the drop away funnel; so that when the stud is removed, the drop away funnel can decouple from the template and slide axially downward along the piling.