Deepwater

The objective was to assess deepwater pipeline technologies for installations in water depths from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. The project will outline:

(1) damage assessment techniques,

(2) repair concepts, and

(3) equipment limitations for ultra-deep pipeline installations.

In addition, the effects of wave and currents during installation and operation were reviewed. Techniques for intervention, both subsea and surface based, for pipelines and flowlines with principal emphasis on remotely operated vehicles (ROV's) systems were also summarized.

This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with 15 participants. The objective was to evaluate the technology, equipment, and procedures used by the offshore oil industry to regain control of blowing wells. Traditional procedures, which are an outgrowth of those used for onshore operations, need to be updated as the industry migrates into deep water operations. This project addressed problems and operational requirements of a deepwater blowout.

The objective was to develop improved damping parameters and methods of representing the effects of damping for the analysis and verification of deep water platforms. The MMS was one of six other participants in this Joint Industry Project (JIP) to improve present practice through use of an alternative to the Morrison equation, called the Inertial Pressure Method (IPM).

The objective was to assess the feasibility of using synthetic-fiber mooring lines for deepwater floating production facilities. The project was a Joint Industry Project (JIP). The research consisted of a laboratory testing program to look at the engineering characteristics of synthetic-fiber mooring lines and the durability and fatigue resistance of their connections. The project conducted a long-term field program to determine environmental effects.

This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to develop and verify engineering analysis guidelines for determining hydrodynamic loading effects for deep water compliant platforms. Both wave and current effects were considered in order to calibrate existing computer models and to validate design concepts used in verification procedures. It used publicly available field, laboratory, and analytical data on hydrodynamic forces to investigate the differences noted between observed data and that predicted by analytical models.

This was a joint project with the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL) to conduct dynamic motion studies for a large-scale compliant platform subjected to real wind and sea conditions. The information from the data acquisition system was used to validate numerical simulations techniques that are currently used and proposed for the analysis and design of compliant offshore platforms. A large-scale platform was constructed by Brown and Root and installed by NCEL in water approximately 3,000-feet deep. The platform will be used on this and other Navy projects.

The objective was to develop a state-of-the- art document detailing the following:

(1) the types of Subsea Production Systems (SPS) proposed by industry;

(2) the nature of the inspection programs formulated with current technology as well as in the future;

(3) the tools and international requirements that are available and not available for Arctic and deep ocean inspections; and

(4) the type of research effort needed to reach a reliable Arctic or deep ocean inspection program.

As oil and gas activities move into deeper and more distant waters, the use of conventional spilled-oil recovery equipment requires further analysis. The prospects are attractive for using large, self-contained collection ships which can deploy subsea collectors over blowing wellheads while remaining on station in heavy weather, recovering oil, and separating out water. An engineering concept and cost analysis of such a system was performed.

The objective was an engineering concept analysis of the effectiveness of a large self-contained oil spill collection ship capable of deploying large skimming booms in the proximity of a blowing oil well. The ship would remain on station in heavy weather, separating large quantities of water from collected oil and storing 2 to 3 weeks of received oil before transferring the oil to another tanker at sea. This type of system is considered particularly applicable to offshore oil and gas activities which are in deeper and more distant waters.

The objective was to characterize the fatigue properties of several high strength steels (yield stress in the range 60-130 ksi) which are being proposed for deep ocean oil and gas facilities. These materials were to be tested under conditions which are applicable to the service status of offshore structures. The materials were characterized according to the influence of environmental and load variables upon their engineering properties. This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP).