DEEP WATER DRILLING RISER TECHNOLOGY, VIV & FATIGUE MANAGEMENT by Dr Hugh Howells 2H Offshore Engineering Limited Drilling Engineering Association (Europe), 4th Quarter Meeting, Paris 1998
SCOPE OF PRESENTATION Deep Water Riser Design Issues AMJIG Guidelines Guideline Applications and Findings Analysis Limitations VIV Prediction and Effects Fatigue Management and Riser Monitoring
DEEP WATER ENVIRONMENTS 35 30 25 20 Voring Basin West of Shetland Gulf of Mexico 15 10 West Africa Campos Basin 5 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 100 yr Surface Current Speed (m/s)
1 YEAR CURRENTS Elevation Above Seabed (m) 1500 1000 500 0 0 1 2 Current Speed (m/s) WoS Brazil GoM Loop West Africa
DEEP WATER CHALLENGES Riser curvature and wear increased Buoyancy effectiveness reduced Mud pressures increased Collapse pressures increased Base/disconnect tension at BOP increased Hang-off deflections increased Running and retrieval takes longer Fatigue damage increased
AMJIG - Deep Water Drilling Riser Integrity Management Guidelines Extension NOT replacement for existing guidance Emphasis on system approach: All components - riser, wellhead, conductor All operations - riser configuration, operations, monitoring, inspection
AMJIG RISER GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT Directed by BP, Shell and Elf Reviewed by operators, drilling contractors and analysis consultants Guidelines in 3 Parts: Analysis Operations Inspection
PART I - RISER ANALYSIS Riser configuration Drilling and survival limits Completion and well test operations Riser VIV Riser-wellhead-conductor interaction Recoil and hang-off Riser, casing and conductor installation
PART II - RISER OPERATIONS Tension and tension variation Installation and retrieval envelopes Drilling and survival envelopes Monitoring operating conditions Recording riser operations Recording riser usage
PART III - INSPECTION Inspection Assessment Service category Usage history Inspection types and frequency Acceptance criteria Provision for inspection Components to be Inspected Inspection Procedures by OCTG
GUIDELINE APPLICATIONS Assess fitness-for-purpose Optimise riser configuration Predict downtime Provide input to operating procedures Predict inspection requirements
DEEP WATER RISER FINDINGS Need thicker walls for internal and external pressures and tension Hang-off requires bare lower riser Soft soils improve LFJ and WH response Retainer valves needed for disconnect High VIV fatigue damage = increased inspection and/or suppression
ANALYSIS LIMITATIONS Only as good as input assumptions: Currents Drag coefficients Uncertainty in effects of drill string tension Requires margin of conservatism Can be costly - VIV
VORTEX INDUCED VIBRATIONS Still subject to research Analysis methods relatively new Do VIV s really happen? What are the effects? How good/bad are our predictions? How are VIV s best managed?
VIV ANALYSIS METHODS DnV Rules Uniform risers in uniform, planar current SHEAR7 Uniform top tensioned risers Sheared, planar, monotonic current profile VIVA Variable riser properties along the length
VIV ANALYSIS APPROACH Analyses conducted with several current profiles Concurrent profiles of varying severity, typically based on exceedence level Fatigue damage factored according to duration of profile More refined selection of profiles at more severe currents
VIV FATIGUE 0.002 VIV Damage Along Riser 0.0015 0.001 0.0005 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Location along Riser (x/l) 0.2 m/s Current 0.4 m/s Current 0.6 m/s Current 0.8 m/s Current 1.0 m/s Current 1.2 m/s Current 1.4 m/s Current Total Damage
VIV DRAG AMPLIFICATION VIV Drag Amplification Factors Drag Amplification Factor 2.6 2.4 2.2 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Location along Riser (x/l) 0.2 m/s Current 0.4 m/s Current 0.6 m/s Current 0.8 m/s Current 1.0 m/s Current 1.2 m/s Current 1.4 m/s Current
VIV UNCERTAINTIES Current profile and direction Slick and buoyant joints Choke and kill lines Drill string tension Damping of multi-string system Conductor interaction
VIV - ACTUAL v PREDICTED Current Profile Riser Displacement 400 350 1 0.9 300 0.8 m above seabed 250 200 150 100 x/l 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 50 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Speed (m/s) 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 RMS A/D Observed Current Corrected Current Monitored Riser Displacement SHEAR7 Riser Displacement
DRILL STRING TENSION 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 x/l 0.6 0.5 0.4 No Drill String Tension 100te Drill String Tension 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 RMS A/D
MODELLING UNCERTAINTIES 400 m above seabed 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Speed (m/s) x/l 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 RMS A/D
IMPLICATIONS OF VIV Resistance: FATIGUE Change tension/buoyancy Higher quality fatigue details in riser and wellhead/conductor More frequent inspection Suppression: Fairings - expensive but reduce drag Strakes - cheaper but increase drag
Objectives VIV FATIGUE MANAGEMENT Minimise conservatism Account for actual environment Reduce modelling uncertainties Options Entirely predictive Analysis predictions used in conjunction with measured environment Monitored environment and response
ENTIRELY PREDICTIVE 0.002 VIV Damage Along Riser 0.0015 0.001 0.0005 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Location along Riser (x/l) 0.2 m/s Current 0.4 m/s Current 0.6 m/s Current 0.8 m/s Current 1.0 m/s Current 1.2 m/s Current 1.4 m/s Current Total Damage
PARTLY PREDICTIVE 1.00E-02 VIV FATIGUE DAMAGE ACCUMULATION Fatigue Damage Per 12 Hours 1.00E-03 1.00E-04 1.00E-05 1.00E-06 1.00E-07 1.00E-08 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 Surface Current Speed (m/s) Top Tension = 700kips Top Tension = 850kips
MOSTLY MONITORED Stress or displacement amplitudes and frequencies Used with predictions to give fatigue damage distribution over riser length Used with current measurements to calibrate predictions Removes environmental and modelling uncertainties
RESPONSE MONITORING On-Line System Hardwired APPROACHES Increased installation time, cable damage Signal transmitted by telemetry Large batteries, expensive Passive System Run with riser, or ROV installed Data processed after unit retrieval Low cost
PASSIVE MONITORING EXAMPLES BP Schiehallion Drilling Riser 360m water depth, 3 monitoring locations VIV up to mode 4 observed Response being evaluated NDP 500-1400m, 5 monitoring locations 3 Fields, Nyk High, Vema and Helland Hansen Small responses
CONCLUSIONS Contents Agenda Deep water presents many challenges AMJIG Guidelines needed to supplement existing codes VIV fatigue significant Analysis may overestimate damage Inspection requirements based on analysis may be overly conservative and costly Monitoring provides more rational approach to fatigue management