Progress Reports: June 2006 December 2005
COMPOSITE RISER EXPERIENCE & DESIGN GUIDANCE
This project is an extension of Comparative Risk Analysis of Composite and Steel Production Risers for a Deepwater Floating Production System
OBJECTIVE: Develop a summary and critical assessment of the lessons and best practices learned in significant recent (since 1995) industry efforts to develop composite risers for deepwater oil and gas drilling and production. Use this information to develop guidance that the MMS can use in evaluate future deepwater projects that involve composite production or drilling risers.INTRODUCTION: In recent years there have been a number of significant efforts to develop composite production and drilling risers. The interest in composite risers results from the high strength to weight ratios inherent in composite materials, and the benefits of lighter risers for deepwater drilling and production. Examples of these efforts include the NIST ATP projects on drilling and production risers, a drilling riser for the Heidrun project, and production risers for the Magnolia project in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, there have been studies by organizations such as OTRC and DeepStar as well as other studies by industry.
This project will seek to compile the design, fabrication, testing, and inspection protocols developed for these and other relevant projects, and then review these protocols and actual project experiences in forums with key players involved in these projects to identify key features and consequences, lessons learned, and significant remaining challenges. Class society guidance and recommendations will also be reviewed.
This information will be summarized and documented in a monograph that is available to the MMS and industry, and will be used as the basis for developing guidance that the MMS can use in evaluating composite risers proposed for future projects.
BENEFITS TO MMS & INDUSTRY: This project will provide the MMS and industry with a convenient and comprehensive summary, in the form of a monograph, of recent efforts on composite risers, a critical assessment of lessons and best practices learned from these efforts, and remaining significant challenges in the use of composite risers in deepwater developments. The guidance developed from this information will be useful to the MMS in evaluating key aspects of composite risers proposed for future projects.
The results will preserve the lessons learned to date, and allow subsequent projects to build upon this knowledge and experience to expedite the further development and application of composite risers.
DEPLOYMENT OF RESULTS: The monograph will be available to the MMS and industry. The guidance report will be provided to MMS for their use and distribution.
ANTICIPATED NUMBER OF PHASES: 1
PROJECT PLAN FOR PHASE 1 (2005-2006):
Scope and Plan: The duration of the project is one year. The project is scheduled to begin in September 2005 and be completed by September 2006. The plan, tasks, and anticipated schedule are described below.
Task 1 - Information Gathering - Gather all available information on significant projects since 1995 and complete a critical review.
Task 2 – Plan Technical Forums - Define a set of issues and for each phase of riser design and manufacturing [e.g., design, material and process selection, fabrication, inspection, & testing). be addressed in forums that will be held in the 2nd Quarter. Generate a list of key players involved in recent (since 1995) composite riser projects and form teams for each phase.
Task 3 - Technical Forums - Conduct separate forums for the various phases. Discuss project information gathered and identify experience, learnings, and key issues for further review and critical assessment.
Conduct a final forum with team leaders to establish agreement on issues and challenges; assess risk and reliability constraints; and use constraints to identify most significant design, fabrication, inspection, & testing issues.
Task 4 - Complete first draft of monograph, issue to MMS and industry representatives for review, revise as necessary, and publish.Task 5 - Develop guidance that will integrate design, material and process selection, fabrication, inspection, and testing issues from initial design to installation stages. Document guidance in a final report for the MMS. Conduct a one-day briefing for the MMS.
Anticipated Results: Project status reports will be issued bi-annually. A monograph summarizing key information, experiences, and learnings from composite riser projects completed from 1995 to date. A report that will provide guidance useful to the MMS in evaluating key aspects of composite risers proposed for future projects.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:
PI’s: Dr. Ozden O. Ochoa (MEEN)
Others: Student Worker
DATE: June 2006
Project Title: Composite Riser Experience and Design Guidance
MMS Project: 490 TO Number: 35985
PI: Ozden Ochoa
COTR: S. Buffington
Estimated Completion Date: 10/31/2006
Project Description:
The primary purpose of the project is to develop and document design guidance for composite production risers based upon the results of the Comparative Risk Analysis (CRA) of Steel and Composite Risers and other recent industry experiences with composite risers. The design guidance will focus on the design considerations that are unique to composite risers, while incorporating the established design and analysis procedures for metallic risers. The guidance is expected to familiarize designers and regulators with composite risers and opportunities to utilize composites most effectively by taking advantage of options to tailor composites to particular design issues. The guidance will also equip designers with better insight into potentially critical design issues and help achieve workable designs more effectively.Progress:
A draft outline has been completed. In addition to results drawn from the CRA study, a comprehensive commentary based on additional fatigue and collapse analyses will be incorporated into guidelines. The effects of mean stress and different S-N curves on the anticipated fatigue life are being examined. The impacts of the material nonlinearity and geometric imperfections of the thin steel liner on design allowables for collapse are being evaluated. Plans are underway to discuss these guidelines with experts from the offshore oil industry and MMS by conducting small round table discussions. These discussions will provide opportunities for both external review, and to capture and incorporate experiences and learnings from other investigations into the design guidance and final report.Publications & Reports:
1. Kim, W., Ochoa, O. O. and Miller, C. A., “Axial and Burst Analysis of Offshore Composite Risers,” Proceedings of the American Society for Composites, Philadelphia, PA, September 7-9, 2005.2. Kim, W., Ochoa, O. O., Ward, E. G. and Miller, C. A., “Structural Response of Composite Production Risers,” Fourth International Conference on Composite Materials for Offshore Operations, Houston, TX, October 4-6, 2005.
DATE: December, 2005
Project Title: Composite Riser Experience and Design Guidance
MMS Project: 490 TO Number: 35985
PI: Ozden Ochoa, MEEN
COTR: S. Buffington
Estimated Completion Date: November 2006
Project Description:
Develop a summary and critical assessment of the lessons and best practices learned in significant recent (since 1995) industry efforts to develop composite risers for deepwater oil and gas drilling and production. Use this information to develop guidance that the MMS can use to evaluate future deepwater projects that involve composite production or drilling risers.Progress:
A thorough documentation of industrial engagements and JIPs since 1995 including NIST ATP programs are under critical review primarily from the ‘lessons learned” perspective. The considerations to date bring forth two principal needs;
a. long term exposure data for composites under load,
b. damage mode allowable at multiple scales consistent with both testing and computational environments. The overall perceived cost issue if confidence level in performance increases will become a non-issue rapidly.
Our findings also indicate that dynamic loading of risers in current practice bring substantial uncertainty to loads. We are also evaluating the impact of Risk Analysis undertaken at OTRC to understand its implications on a composite system.The current emphasis is on planning Technical Forums to address the key anecdotes from industrial engagements on design, material and process selection, fabrication, inspection and testing phases in the last decade. We are generating a list of key players involved in composite riser projects and will bring them together at dedicated OTRC forum during late Summer 2006. The outcome of this forum will be a comprehensive synopsis of challenges in risk and reliability constraints; and how to use these constraints to identify most significant design, fabrication, inspection, & testing issues.
Publications & Reports:
Ochoa, O. O., and Salama, M., “Offshore Composites: Transition Barriers To An Enabling Technology”, International Journal of Composite Science and Technology, 65, pp. 2588-2596, 2005.