Offshore Structures

General Design & Classification Considerations

Introduction Throughout the world, estimated proved reserves of petroleum have been reported to be about 1.29 trillion barrels of oil and about 6,110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. More than 90 percent of these reserves were based on land or near shore. The estimated deepwater oil reserves for selected regions including West Africa, U.S., Brazil, West of Shetlands, and Norway exceed 40 billion barrels. By considering the recent discoveries in deepwater areas such as South East Asia, West of Ireland, The Caspian Sea, Falkland Islands, Alaska and Canadas Arctic waters, Sakhalin Island waters, and Norways and Russias Barents Sea, it can be expected that the total deepwater oil reserves will reach 200 billion barrels. Therefore, as the other oil reserves are declining rapidly, these deepwater oil reserves can be expected to play an important role in the future of the world oil and gas energy.

So, intensive activities for exploration and exploitation of the oceans, especially the growing demand for hydrocarbons, led to the development of a wide range of offshore structures during the last decades. These activities are expanded worldwide in permanently increasing sea-areas and in greater water depths.

The variety of offshore structures concerning the function, size, geometrical configuration and material selection as well as the variability of the environmental factors complicate the development of a unique design procedure. Therefore, the separate investigation of the interaction between the actual structure and the environment is necessary.

On the other hand, offshore structures must have an acceptable margin of safety during all phases of their life, i.e. construction, transportation, installation, operation and retrieval.

The most adverse conditions during the entire life of the structure have to be taken into consideration in its design process. The main steps in the design procedure of an offshore structure can be broadly defined as follows:

Definition of the environment Evaluation of the response to the environment Selection and application of structural design methods Choice of design criteria Evaluation and selection of materials Detailed structural design, including specification of fabrication procedure Specification of inspection and maintenance requirements

In its final design stage, the structure has to fulfil the functional and safety requirements in an economically acceptable manner.

Major Types of Offshore Structures Because of their variability with regard to employment and function, geometrical configuration, size and method of construction, a strict subdivision of the offshore structures is not possible.

For the wide class of offshore platforms the mobility defined as the ability to change the location of operation can be considered as a criterion for the global subdivision in the groups of fixed and mobile (movable) units. Two types of fixed platforms are dominant, the gravity platforms which rest directly on the sea bed by virtue of their own weight and the piled structures.

The mobile offshore structures can be categorized as follows: Jack-up platforms; Semi-submersible platforms; Submersible platforms; Tension Leg Platforms (TLP); Drilling ships; Lay barges; Semi-submersible lay barges; Offshore terminals and storage units; Buoys.

Figure 1: Different Types of Offshore Structures Furthermore, in many cases the separate investigation of the group of the compliant structures in which the effects of their motions significantly affect the structural requirements is efficient. This group includes the moored floating structures, tethered platforms, articulated towers, guyed towers, and single point moorings.

The main factors influencing the selection of the platform types and especially the structural configuration are the utility requirements, the water depth, the lateral and vertica1 loads resulting from the environmental factors and the lateral and vertical resistance of the fluid-structure-soil system (restoring forces, soil resistance).

Furthermore, the fabrication techniques, the towing and installation methods and last but not least the aspects of maintenance and reliability can affect essentially the selection of a structural system.

The utility requirement is reflected in the size of the superstructure needed to support the necessary equipment for drilling and production. Therefore, the most important factor affecting the size of the deck structure is the number of and the productivity of the wells.

Steel piled structures of tubular space-frame construction, the so-called jacket platforms, have been installed and operated in a great number in several sea-areas.

A jacket platform consists of a tall vertical section made of tubular steel members supported by piles driven into the seabed with a deck placed on top, providing space for crew quarters, a drilling rig, and production facilities. It will be fixed to seabed by means of tubular piles either driven through legs of the jacket (main piles) or through skirt sleeves attached to the bottom of the jacket (skirt piles).

Figure 2: A Typical Jacket Platform

The extreme environmental conditions in the North Sea and the increasing water depth led to modifications of the traditional jacket design.

The increased weight and the larger dimensions of the jacket place a practical limit on the towing operation on a pontoon. For this reason, self floating jackets have been designed. Self-contained buoyancy can be produced in the form of large diameter legs. In service, local buckling of these large diameter legs can occur. The dimensioning of these components against buckling becomes important and can lead to a complex analytical procedure.

The structural weight and thereby the capital cost of a fixed steel platform increase exponentially with the water depth. In figure 3, the weight of jackets installed in different offshore regions is plotted as a function of the water depth.

Figure 3: Structural weight as function of the water depth

In evaluating the jacket platform design, the problems associated with the fabrication and installation must not be overlooked.

Technical and economical limits can arise from the installation techniques, especially in connection with platform 1evelling, underwater construction joints, guidance and alignment during installation and difficulties in driving large diameter, long piles in greater water depths.

Concerning the group of the mobile offshore structures, the semi-submersibles can be considered as typical offshore units. Semi-submersibles were introduced initiating from the idea that their wave-induced motions are decreased by lowering a large part of displacement (buoyancy) to a region of less wave excitation. The requirement for reduced motions and accelerations of the floating systems is essential because of the influence of these factors on the process flow in equipment like separation columns, heat exchangers, etc.

Figure 4: IRAN-ALBORZ Semi-submersible, GVA-4000 Class

Semi-submersibles are multi-hull column-stabilized structures: an elevated rectangular platform deck is supported above the water on an array of vertical columns of minimal water plane area, which are connected to caissons or longitudinal hulls with interconnecting truss-like structural members below the water surface. These structures often comprise of two submerged horizontal pontoons which provide the main buoyancy for the platform but act as catamaran hulls when moving location at low draft. Typically, four to eight vertical surface piercing columns are connected to these pontoons. The columns themselves may have cross and horizontal bracing to provide structural strength and triangulated rigidity for the platform. The deck of the platform is located at the top of the columns.

In the class of compliant structures the tension leg (or tethered) platforms are important developments as alternatives to the fixed platforms that become extremely expensive for water depth over 100m.

The Tension Leg Platform (TLP) consists of a floating structure (semi-submersible) with excess buoyancy which is restrained by tautly moored vertical or inclined cables (tension legs). The cable network limits platform motions and provides restoring force to maintain position. The economical applicability of the tension 1eg platform concept begins at locations where conventional platforms cannot be used.

Interaction Structure-Environment A rigorous analysis of the fluid-structure-soil interaction is extremely complex and expensive. For design purposes, the acceptable simplifications concerning the interaction modes as well as the mathematical models for idealization are necessary.

Environmental Conditions An accurate knowledge of the environmental parameters is fundamental to the sound design of marine structures. In order to calculate the loads likely to be imposed by the natural phenomena and to predict the resulting motion and structural response characteristics under normal and extreme conditions various meteorological and oceanographical parameters (metocean parameters) have to be established. Metocean parameters important for the design analysis of marine structures are:

Wind:

Mean Wind Speed Mean Wind Direction Wind Power Spectral Density Function Variation of Wind Speed above the Sea level

Wave:

Significant Wave Height Mean Wave Period Wave Amplitude Spectral Density Function Mean Wave Direction Wave Directional Spreading Function Identification of effect of currents, seabed topography and other factors likely to modify the above parameters

Current:

Surface Current Speed Surface Current Direction Current Profile (speed and direction) Tidal Current Speed and Direction Identification of low frequency components in current velocities

Tide:

Astronomical Tide Storm Surge

Ice: Marine Growth:

The extent of snow and ice accumulation The extent to which marine growth may form on the submerged sections of the marine vessels

Most metocean parameters vary with time in a random manner, and extreme values to be used in design can only be selected on a probabilistic basis.

Regulatory Framework

(i) Mobile Units Most (though not all) maritime authorities require that mobile offshore units comply with an internationally accepted safety standard and, as with ships, the most effective way to comply is to be in class such that the classification society can issue the necessary certificates.

The most commonly used safety standard at the present time is the Code for the Construction & Equipment of Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODU Code). Prior to the introduction of the MODU Code in 1979, surveys and certification for mobile units were carried out under SOLAS and MARPOL. Once a mobile unit is located on station and is engaged in the exploration or exploitation of oil and gas, it becomes subject to the regulations that apply in the waters of the coastal state. These will be the same as those that apply to fixed installations in the same waters although it is usual for mobile installations to also maintain their class and statutory survey regime whilst on location for the sake of convenience when it comes to moving on.

(ii) Fixed Installations Fixed installations, as their name implies, do not move from location and there is therefore no international dimension to their operations. They are regulated solely by the legislation that is in force in their coastal state and this can vary from virtually zero in some countries to the sophisticated goal setting and safety case based regulations such as those currently in force in UK waters. The structure of much coastal state legislation is such that there is very little to drive an operator into class. Most classification societies offer rules and regulations for the classification of fixed offshore installations but very few such installations are classed. In a few of the third world coastal states where there is no offshore legislation in place, insurance companies, as a condition for their insurance, sometimes specify class requirement.

In response to ever-growing demands of Iranian offshore industry to tackle the concern over problems encountered in offshore installations, including fixed and floating ones, ACS Research Centre is working on the establishment of the technical standards in relation to the design, construction and survey of offshore structures.

However, it seems that implementation of HSE and risk management systems in Iranian offshore oil and gas activities can be considered as reliable alternatives to achieve occupational health and safety and protection of marine environment at an acceptable level.

In addition to the international conventions addressing marine environment protection, regional conventions and programs such as Kuwait Convention 1978 and Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME) in Persian Gulf area and Tehran Convention 2003 and Caspian Environment Program (CEP) in Caspian Sea area, if supported by national law and incorporated into classification rules and regulation, can enhance the protection rank of offshore industry among other activities.

References "Advanced Aspects of Offshore Engineering", West European Graduate Education Marine Technology, Technical University Aachen "Offshore Design: Overview of Basic Concepts", A. Incecik, School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, UK "International Petroleum Encyclopaedia", PennWell Corporation, Oklahoma, USA "Handbook of Offshore Engineering", Chakrabarti, S. K., ELSEVIER. Asia Classification Society (ACS) "Rules for Building and Classing Offshore Units and Structures", under review for publication