Subsea Diverter System for Blowout Preventer Fluid Diversion
Solution Overview
Problem
Offshore oil well blowouts pose challenges due to high-pressure fluid releases, which can cause environmental damage, disrupt drilling operations, and pose safety risks, as existing diversion systems are complex, time-consuming, and often ineffective in diverting high-pressure fluids away from blowout preventers, leading to boiling action that harms equipment and platforms.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a blowout preventer with a diverter affixed between its upper and lower portions, featuring pressure transducers to automatically open a valve and divert high-pressure fluids through a pipe to a remote location, avoiding boiling at the surface and enabling safer repair operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing diversion systems are used to divert high-pressure fluids from blowout preventers, then fluid diversion capability is provided, but the systems are complex, time-consuming, and often ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The blowout preventer is divided into upper and lower portions with a diverter component positioned between them. This segmentation allows the diverter to independently handle high-pressure fluid diversion while the main BOP structure remains intact for normal operations, improving reliability without requiring a completely complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The diverter and valve are pre-installed and positioned within the blowout preventer structure before a blowout occurs. The pressure transducer and valve are ready to automatically respond when high pressure is detected, eliminating the need for complex real-time decision-making and reducing system complexity while maintaining effectiveness.
2Stress or pressure
If high-pressure fluids are released from the blowout preventer, then pressure relief is achieved, but boiling action occurs that harms equipment and platforms
Solution Approach 1:
A pipe is introduced as an intermediary element to transport the high-pressure fluid from the diverter to a remote discharge location. This intermediary pathway allows pressure relief to occur away from the platform and equipment, preventing boiling action damage while maintaining effective pressure relief.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful boiling action is extracted from the immediate vicinity of the blowout preventer by routing the fluid through a pipe to a remote discharge point. This separation removes the harmful effect from the critical area, allowing pressure relief without damaging equipment or platforms.
3Reliability
If relief wells are drilled to intercept blowout wells, then blowout containment is achieved, but a great amount of time is required
Solution Approach 1:
The diverter system with valve and pressure transducer is pre-installed within the blowout preventer before a blowout occurs. When high pressure is detected, the valve automatically opens to divert the fluid, providing immediate containment without requiring time-consuming relief well drilling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual and time-consuming process of drilling relief wells is replaced with an automatic mechanical system consisting of the pressure transducer, valve, and diverter. This substitution provides immediate response to pressure buildup, eliminating the time loss associated with drilling operations while maintaining reliable blowout containment.
4Reliability
If a diverter system is installed on the blowout preventer, then fluid diversion capability is improved, but the system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The diverter system is segmented as a separate component positioned between the upper and lower portions of the blowout preventer. This modular segmentation allows the diversion functionality to be added without requiring a complete redesign of the BOP system, improving fluid diversion capability while minimizing the increase in overall system complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively diverts high-pressure fluids away from the blowout preventer, reducing the risk of environmental damage and equipment harm, allowing for safer and more efficient containment and recapture of hydrocarbons, and enabling quicker repair operations by releasing pressures at a remote location.
Implementation Method 1
pressure transducers to automatically open a valve and divert high-pressure fluids
Implementation Method 2
divert high-pressure fluids through a pipe to a remote location
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for diverting a fluid from a subsea well has a blowout preventer with an upper portion and a lower portion, and a diverter affixed between the upper and lower portions of the blowout preventer. Each of the upper portion and lower portion of the blowout preventer has a flow passageway extending vertically therethrough. The diverter has an interior passageway extending vertically therethrough in alignment with the flow passageway of the upper and lower portions of the blowout preventer. The diverter has a flowline communicating with the interior passageway and extends outwardly therefrom. The flowline has a valve thereon which is movable between an open position and a closed position. The open position is suitable for allowing at least a portion of the fluid from the flow passageway to pass outwardly of the flowline to a location remote from the blowout preventer.