Production

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.

The objective was to investigate the vortex shedding induced oscillation of marine structures in ocean currents. Many types of marine structures are susceptible to vortex-induced oscillations and this project will investigate the dynamics of slack cables and the vortex induced hydrodynamic drag of production risers and LTP tethers. The importance of the proposed research centers on the effects of the amplified hydrodynamic drag forces which accompany vortex-induced vibrations. The drag forces in turn produced larger deflections and increased stresses in support member.

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.

Assess the technology for compliant structures and create a basis for understanding and evaluating their behavior and reliability. The study addressed four major areas:

(1) define criteria for load estimation,

(2) investigate the dynamic response of compliant structures,

(3) investigate the behavior of individual structural components for developing inspection techniques, and

(4) develop procedures for estimating structural reliability.

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.

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

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Center for Fire Research has examined fire phenomena resulting from blowouts on offshore drilling platforms and is investigating technologies for suppressing and extinguishing well blowout fires by using water spray instead of flame blowout which is used by the industry.

The objective was a technology assessment and identification of research needed to prevent, suppress, and fight enclosed and open fires on offshore platforms.

Develop technology for sensing hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbon gas on an offshore structure by means of a fluidic gas concentration sensor.