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.
This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP), to extend the wave force simulation techniques developed under Project No. 2 to include directional wave spreading, shallow water effects, and a general analytical method for the time domain simulation of any specified wave spectrum. The new techniques will aid in determining the structural fatigue life of a structure and will improve the ability to predict their dynamic performance.
The development of a handbook or guide for MMS operations personnel to assess the integrity of drill rig mooring systems. The guide will be both practical and analytical. Robert Walden of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will compile and edit the practical section which will address tests and inspections of mooring components and discuss equipment service life. David Dillon will discuss the strengths and limitations of system loadings. In addition, he will present a simplified example analysis which operations personnel can use to verify the adequacy of mooring designs.
The objective was to study the adhesion and prevention of icing on offshore drilling and production facilities. Hydrophobic coatings, which have suitable visco-elastic properties, will be investigated. These coatings are expected to decrease adhesive strength of ice by 98 percent, thus decreasing enormously the mechanical work required to remove the ice. Other methods, such as self-mending lubricants, will also be considered as different locations on a facility may require various preventive methods.
This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP) that was sponsored by 18 oil companies with MMS. The project addressed the environmental criteria required to study alternative drilling, production, and transportation systems appropriate for permanent development of three Bering Sea Basins: St. George, North Aleutian, and Navarin. The project will provide an identification of major engineering problems, constraints, and information needed to allow development of three stated basins. Project No.
This was a laboratory study to determine the feasibility of gaining control of a blowing well by means of using a cryogen to freeze the oil downhole. This study used a patented pipe configuration where cooling by the cryogen actuates bimetallic fingers which project into the flow stream.
The objective was to perform a theoretical and experimental investigation into the collection of oil from a blowing wellhead.
Investigation of techniques for measuring casing wall thickness.
A study of the cementing practices applied to shallow casings in offshore wells. Survey information shows that annular gas flow associated with cementing defects is a major problem in shallow casing strings offshore as well as in other cemented strings in oil and gas wells. The gas flow hazard to safety, environment, and economics could be reduced by an aggressive program keyed to prevent gas migration. The program components are:
1) historical database,
2) training,
3) research of cement hydration in a long thin column, and
A survey of the methods used and recommendations for new technology to assess the hydrocarbons lost during blowouts.
