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Deepwater

Damage Mechanisms in the Placement and Repair of Pipelines

The objective was to determine the structural damage mechanism associated with wet buckles that can occur during placement and/or repair of pipelines in deepwater operations. This project included an assessment of conditions associated with buckle propagation. It also assessed the proper placement of valves during pipe laying operations to minimize a major oil spill, if the pipeline was fractured at a later date due to a wet buckle.

Strumming of Risers

This is an adjunct to Project No. 2, Dynamic Response of Offshore Structures. Strumming experiments were conducted on long pipes in a tidal estuary where currents range to 1.5 knots. These experiments will simulate the strumming characteristics of production risers which may be used in deepwater operations. Future plans include possible testing of riser behavior in deep water where they can be vertically oriented.

OSRR-084-Surface Oil Spill Containment and Cleanup

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.

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