OTC 15385

Horn Mountain Spar Risers Evaluation of Tension and Installation Requirements for
Deepwater Dry Tree Risers
E.J. OSullivan, MCS; R.B. Shilling, BP; A.D. Connaire, F.W.A. Smith, MCS
Copyright 2003, Offshore Technology Conference
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2003 Offshore Technology Conference held in
Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 58 May 2003.
This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Offshore Technology Conference or its officers. Electronic reproduction,
distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written
consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print
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abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was
presented.

Abstract
The development of dry-tree vessel technology and the
installation of several Spar systems in increasingly deep water
in the Gulf of Mexico has led to the parallel evolution of
several designs of dry-tree risers, most of which rely on air
cans to provide top tension. These risers typically consist of
multiple concentric pipes, with production risers configured as
production tubing within a single or dual casing steel riser
construction. The tension applied to the top of each pipe must
be enough to prevent damage through buckling of either the
riser or tubing under all installation, operation and workover
conditions, while still providing a margin of safety various
damaged conditions. The sum of these tensions determine the
capacity of the tensioning system required for all relevant
loading conditions, without overstressing the riser or tubing in
design sea states.
To evaluate the tension requirements and the distribution
of tension between constituent pipes, a rational approach has
been developed and successfully applied to BPs Horn
Mountain Spar dual casing riser system, which at 5,423ft
represents the deepest Spar riser system to date. The approach
uses finite element multi-tube analysis to determine the
relative elongation and load sharing between the tubing, inner
riser and outer riser under all load conditions. Riser and
tubing elongation, internal fluid effects, seawater & riser
temperature distributions under installation and operating
conditions are all considered as part of this approach. This
approach implicitly considers the 3-D riser and wellbay
geometry and the wellhead elevation at each of the subsea
well locations.
As part of installation planning, this approach has been
used to confirm the air can tensioning system capacity,
chamber size and redundancy requirements; predict air can
elevations and buoyancy requirements at each stage of riser
installation; and establish riser and tubing tensions along with

relative stretch requirements to land each string in the surface

wellhead system to ensure the appropriate in-service
distributions of tensions for all service conditions.
Horn Mountain Spar
The Horn Mountain field is located 84 miles from Venice,
Louisiana offshore in Mississippi Canyon Block 126 and 127
in a water depth of 5,423ft. This represents the deepest dry
tree production riser installation to-date. Leases for these
blocks are held 67% by BP, and the remaining 33% by OXY
USA, Inc. with BP as the Operator.
The Horn Mountain field is being developed with a
Truss Spar production facility. The 106ft x 555ft Truss Spar
accommodates a temporary completion rig that has robust
sidetrack and workover capabilities, and lightweight
production facilities that allow for 4,700ton single piece deck
lift. A schematic and picture of the Spar are shown in Figure
1. The wellbay, which is 52ft x 52ft in overall dimension, is
in a 4 x 4 type configuration and accommodates 14 production
top tensioned riser (TTR) slots and 2 import steel catenary
riser (SCR) well slots. The seafloor layout was optimized for
pullover drilling as a mirror image of the wellbay with 50ft
between adjacent wells as indicated in Figure 2.
The initial 10 wells [8 production and 2 water injection]
were predrilled using a moored semi-submersible, prior to the
Spar arriving on location and are batch completed using the
Spar completion rig. Each TTR is a weight optimized dual
barrier configuration with a 12 outer riser, a 95/8 inner riser
and a 4 tubing. Tension for each riser is provided by a nonintegral 230 ft long by 12ft diameter air can. The Spar and
riser system is configured to be pulled over approximately
325ft to allow the four remaining wells to be drilled from a
dynamically positioned DP3 semi-submersible. Subsea wells
can be accommodated using the SCR wellbay slots. The
export 12 oil and 10 gas SCRs are hung using flex joints
from a porch at the base of the Spar hard tank and routed in an
external blister to the deck.
Horn Mountain Riser System and Tensioning System
A schematic of the production riser stack-up and of the
riser/air can configuration within the wellbay is shown in
Figure 3. The dimensions of each riser are as follows:
Outer riser 12 OD x 0.440 WT
Inner riser 95/8 OD x 0.435 WT
Production Tubing 4 OD x 12.6 lb/ft

The non-integral air can system consisted of 4 major

components:
a lower stem,
b air can,
c upper stem, and
d upper stem head with a work platform.
The concentric stem joints surrounds each riser string
and act as a conduit through the Spar from the surface
wellhead to the keel. The upper stem of dimensions 36 OD,
WT and 87ft in length, supports the surface wellhead of
each riser. The lower stem of dimensions 36 OD, -1
WT and 292ft in length extends through the keel.
Each air can has a total of 12 buoyancy chambers, plus
the stem. The top four air can chambers are sealed and
provide buoyancy to offset the can weight. The bottom 8
chambers are filled with air during the installation process and
produce about 125kips net each. The internal stem is aired
prior to workover and is designed to produce the equivalent of
one additional chamber when 70% full. The stem, however,
can be fully evacuated and provide a total of nearly 200kips
additional buoyancy, if required.
Each air can is capable of providing a net buoyancy force
of 1,200kips, which includes 200kips available from airing the
stem. In the neutral position after riser installation, the top of
each air can is designed to be at 5ft above the mean water line
(MWL). The maximum allowable upstroke and downstroke
for each riser is 15ft and 25ft, respectively.
Air Can System Design
Horn Mountain air can system design boasts several
innovative firsts including:
A light weight single piece construction for buoyant
efficiency,
Dual chamber redundancy,
Compliant guides at the top and bottom of the cans to
cushion impact with the hull,
Extended fiberglass vent tubes from each chamber to
increase air can efficiency during downstroke, and
Several installation aids including auto aligning squnch
joint connections for the upper and lower stem and a
passive alignment system to rotate the air cans while being
lowered to align wear strips with the guides in the hull.
The air can system installation sequence is shown in
Figures 4 thru 10. All ten systems were installed without
incident in little more than 5 days, which significantly
improved safety and greatly reduced risk and overall cost.
The single piece air can construction is weight
optimized, along with the riser system, to provide dual
chamber redundancy. Dual chamber redundancy is desired
because of the difficulty in removing and repairing a damaged
large single piece can. Dual chamber redundancy means that
even if one chamber per air is lost, the system still maintains a
single extra chamber of buoyancy to satisfy top tension
requirements for all service life load conditions. Fiberglass
vent tubes extend from the bottom of each chamber
approximately 17ft down through the adjacent lower chamber
and out the air can. When the chambers are filled, they are
blown dry all the way through the vent tubes. This provides
three distinct advantages:
a The air water interface is maintained in the fiberglass
section providing superior corrosion protection,

OTC 15385

b The air water interface area is minimized reducing the

absorption rate and subsequent need to top off the cans,
and
c The tubes increase the efficiency of the system by keeping
water out of the chamber in all but the most severe
downstroke conditions as seen in Figure 11.
Horn Mountain is the first Spar to design and use
compliant guides to improve fatigue life of the air can system.
The compliant guides, presented in Figure 12, eliminate any
gap between the air can and hull, minimizing the large
slamming impact loads with the hull seen in earlier Spars.
Without the guides, gaps of 1 or greater are required in order
to install the cans within manufacturing tolerances of the
system. With gaps as small as 1, impact loads five times
larger than quasi-static loads have been seen in model tests
and full-scale measurements. Compliant guides eliminate
these impact loads and significantly increase air can and hull
fatigue life as presented in Figure 13. Note, the compliant
guides impart a friction load to the air can. This friction load
always acts as a restraint on the air can vertical movement and
is approximately 25kips in magnitude. This friction load is
accounted for in developing the riser installation procedure,
presented later in this paper.
Dual Casing Riser Tension Factor Selection
The air can tensioning system must be capable of providing
adequate tension to the riser for a range of riser operating
conditions including normal production, workover,
completion, well killed and shut in. Based on the possible
permutations of internal fluids and functional loading of the
riser assembly that can occur in the riser for such operating
conditions, a matrix comprising 13 of those considered most
critical were identified. These 13 cases form the basis for the
evaluation of the tension factor design and tension
distributions within the riser. Note that for this paper, top
tension factor is the ratio of the applied top tension to apparent
weight of the entire riser assembly.
The design load cases matrix for the 13 critical cases are
as shown in Table 1. The top tension factors applicable for
each load case under the two extreme redundancy scenarios
are shown in Table 2. Notably a top tension factor of
approximately 1.6 is available for normal production
conditions. Furthermore, the precise load contribution from
each air can is critical and closely monitored during
installation to ensure that appropriate pre-stretch and slack off
conditions prevail during latching.
Requirements for Inner Riser Pre-Stretch and Tubing
Slack Off
In order to ensure acceptable base tensions of the outer riser,
inner risers and tubing, over the full field life, the following
quantities are critical requirements for riser installation:
Pre-stretch [overpull] of the 9-5/8 inner riser
Slack off of the 4- tubing at the packer
The evaluation of these parameters is vital in ensuring
that the forces at the base of the risers and tubing are within
acceptable levels for the critical load cases outlined in Table 1.
Specifically, under all conditions, except for critical survival
conditions, there is a requirement to maintain tension at the
base of the inner riser and also at the seabed elevation of the
tubing. Effects that must be considered in evaluating these

OTC 15385

quantities are internal fluid density, pressure, Poisson's effect

and temperature. Particularly, it was found that during late
field life period, a combination of high water cut profile, high
flowing temperature and gas lift in the inner annulus [Case 1,
Table 1] causes compression in the inner riser due to
expansion of the production tubing under high temperature
loading. The controlling temperature profile data for this case
is shown in Figure 14. This represents 50% water cut, with
5,500BOPD late in field life. This and all other loading
critical conditions are analyzed using equivalent riser
assembly finite element models using Flexcom-3D, [1], to
predict tension distributions.
Finite Element Modeling and Analysis
Finite element models the riser system are developed using
Flexcom-3D. The inner and outer riser casings are modeled to
the seabed, while the production tubing is modeled to the total
depth.
The loading effects incorporated into these models for
the load cases are as follows.
Poisson effects on the:
Tubing due to:
applied internal pressure
internal pressure head due to fluid in the tubing
applied external pressure in inner annulus
external pressure head due to fluid in inner annulus
external pressure head due to mud outside tubing from
6,000ft below mudline to packer
Inner riser due to:
applied internal pressure
internal pressure head due to fluid in inner riser
applied external pressure in outer annulus
external pressure head due to fluid in outer annulus
Outer riser due to:
applied internal pressure
internal pressure head due to fluid in outer riser
external pressure head due to seawater
End cap effect on:
Annular area only due to applied pressure in tubing,
Annular area only due to applied pressure in inner
annulus, and
Annular area only due to applied pressure in outer
annulus.
Temperature differentials in each riser/tubing as referenced
to the undisturbed temperature profile.
All appropriate buoyancy effects, taking into account each
annular fluid, and including buoyancy effects on the tubing
in mud below the mudline.
The vertical tension, which is provided by the air can
assembly, is applied to the uppermost node of the model. The
uppermost node is equivalent for the risers and tubing.
Equivalent elongations are calculated, which incorporate the
loading affects and applied as vertical boundary conditions to
the lowermost nodes of the inner tubing and riser. Static
equilibrium analyses are performed to establish the equivalent
elongation of the riser assembly and the resulting tension
distributions.
Analysis Results and Tensioning Distributions
The static equilibrium analyses for all 13 load cases (Table 1)
are performed for a range of permutations of inner riser pre-

stretch values and tubing slack off values at installation. It is

found that in order to meet the requirement of positive tension
in the inner riser during the late life production load case
[Case1, Table 1] a pre-stretch of 22 is required on the inner
riser during riser installation. Furthermore it is established
that a slack off of 10kips at installation to land the tubing head
in the surface hanger on board the Spar is required once the
tubing has been run and the downhole packer set.
The corresponding tension distribution under these
conditions of pre-stretch and slack off, are outlined in Table 3.
The top and base tensions in the outer riser, inner riser and
tubing for each load case are shown in Figures 16 and 15. The
base tension, which is the critical parameter to consider is
shown to be within allowable limits in all cases for the inner
riser, with the notable exception being for Case 10. This case,
whereby inner riser and tubing leaks with an internal pressure
of 5,500psi in both annuli, is considered a survival case with
very low probability of occurrence. Hence, the level of
compression seen in the inner riser is not considered sufficient
to cause system failure and is therefore acceptable.
Some other key results from Table 3, which improve the
understanding of the multi-pipe system, are as now discussed:
Case 1: The minimum tension in the tubing is caused mainly
by lack of buoyancy from the gas in the inner riser.
Case 5: The buoyancy loads are largest for the inner riser
with nitrogen in the inner riser and 3.5ppg in the
tubing. This leads to a maximum top tension case
for the inner riser.
Case 10: The high pressure induces a hoop load on the outer
riser. The associated Poissons effect tends to
induce a negative elongation. This reduces tension
from the inner riser.
Case 13: The minimum tension occurs in the outer riser.
Case 13 is the heaviest with the BOP connected,
treated seawater and mud in the risers and tubing for
completion conditions. As the outer riser is the
stiffest member, it carries the most load.
In order to demonstrate the importance of maintaining
tight tolerances during installation, particularly during inner
riser pre-stretch, the effects of a variation of 3 in the
recommended value of 22 for the critical condition [Case 1,
Table 1] are shown in Table 4. Under these conditions,
tensions are within the allowable levels with 6.1kips reported
for the inner riser for a pre-stretch of 18.
Required Installation Mechanism and Procedure
To ensure the appropriate in-service distribution of tension
between outer and inner riser casing and production tubing,
the meticulous planning and execution of an installation
sequence of the riser system is vital. Many analyses were
performed using the models and accounting for the effects
described in Finite Element Modeling and Analysis section
earlier. The importance of the careful planning of each stage
lies in the necessity to have adequate tension provided by
either a combination of air-can, completion rig and friction
effects of air-can compliant guides while ensuring appropriate
relative elongation between each riser and tubing.
Further to these requirements, it is noted that with each
step the relative contribution of each of these effects will alter.
For example when the hook load is removed from the inner
riser after the inner riser is connected to the outer riser, the air

cans and friction loads from the air-can guides will be forced
to support the inner riser. This in turn would cause the
elongation of the entire assembly to reduce, the cans to drop
and hence the air can load to increase due to increased
pressure. Such complex interaction will affect the relative
elongation between inner and outer riser [and between tubing
and inner riser], which we have we have seen from Analysis
Results and Tensioning Distributions section earlier to be such
important quantities.
For each stage of installation the following quantities
must be accurately predicted at design stage and carefully
monitored during installation:
Top tensions in outer riser, inner riser and tubing
Tensions at seabed in outer riser, inner riser and tubing
Tension in tubing at packer
Load being provided by the rig to riser or tubing
Air can load being applied to riser assembly
Friction load and direction of action
Once these quantities are known prior to a given
installation stage, the amount by which they will alter during
the stage are calculated. The installation sequence is followed
stage-by-stage within the constraint of the underpinning
limitations until the installation is complete and relative
elongations between each riser exist.
Specifically, for the Horn Mountain installation, 43
stages define the installation sequence for each riser. Much of
the earlier stages are concerned with the installation of the
outer riser and initial transfer of outer riser load to the air cans.
This aspect of the installation is not dealt with in this paper.
The stages of most interest in the context of this paper are
those in which elongation in applied to inner riser [and tubing]
and the load transfer occurs from the rig to air can assembly.
Specifically Stage 30 to Stage 41 are described below. For
critical stages, summary figures illustrate the process.
Stage 30: The inner riser is latched into the subsea wellhead
with the internal tieback tool, and using the rig a
tension is applied at the top end until such a time
that the inner riser experiences an elongation of 22,
(Figure 17a)
Stage 31: The riser is then subjected to an additional
elongation of 13 to facilitate the landing of the
adjustable surface wellhead hanger with the
appropriate support ring. The support ring is put in
place.
Stage 32: The additional elongation is now reduced and the
inner riser moves downwards until the support ring
landed in the surface wellhead system. Both the
inner and outer risers are now latched together.
Stage 33: The cans are then aired and contribute some tension
to the inner riser via the hanger support ring. The rig
hook load is however maintained during this stage,
(Figure 17b).
Stage 34: The hook load is slowly removed and the air cans
now become the primary source of tension on the
riser, (Figure 17c).
Stage 35: The air can buoyancy is increased to 1050kips in
preparation for completion.
Stage 36: The BOP and telescopic joint are added.
Stage 37: Seawater is displaced with completion fluid in inner
riser. The well is now ready for completion.

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Stage 38: The tubing is run through the inner riser and spaced
out to set the down-hole packer.
Stage 39: The down-hole packer is set and a slack off of
10kips is applied to the tubing at packer to land
tubing head in surface hanger. The hanger should
now be locked down, (Figure 17d).
Stage 40: The hook-load off the tubing is relieved, (Figure
17e).
Stage 41: The BOP is removed and x-mas tree added. Control
lines are terminated.
Figure 18 presents the tension variations and load
distributions for risers, tubing, air cans and hook for the
sequence of stages. In all cases the air can and hook
combination is sufficient to provide the tension required to
give the correct distribution in risers, which in turn are
compatible with the relative elongations necessary for
acceptable tensions for a range of in-service conditions.
This procedure has been successfully applied to the Horn
Mountain dry tree riser system. The installation occurred in
the autumn of 2002 with first oil achieved in November 2002.
Conclusions
A rational approach is presented for evaluating the riser and
tubing tensions for any dry tree multi-tube riser system. This
finite element analysis methodology, which considers actual
3-D riser geometry, avoids simplifications capable of leading
to inaccuracy with simpler approaches. Multiple pressure,
temperature and axial loading effects are incorporated in the
static equilibrium analysis of the multi-tube model.
This approach is applied to the Horn Mountain Spar dry
tree riser system, which incorporates innovative efficient air
cans with dual chamber redundancy, single piece construction
with compliant guides to cushion impact with the hull.
Extended fiberglass vent tubes from each chamber increase air
can efficiency during downstroke. The air cans are capable of
providing adequate tension to the risers for a range of riser
operating conditions including normal production, workover,
completion, well killed and shut in.
Relative elongations between risers and tubing are
calculated for the installation sequence, to ensure that
individual pipe compression does not occur at or above the
mudline. To meet this requirement in late life production, a
pre-stretch of 22, with a tolerance of 3 is required on the
inner riser during riser installation. In addition a slack off of
10kips when landing the tubing head in the surface hanger on
board the Spar is required once the downhole packer has been
set.
The detailed riser and tubing installation procedure has
been successfully used on Horn Mountain, with first oil
achieved in November 2002.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Metin Karayaka, Alan
Cordy and Wade Mallard of Technip-Coflexip, who were
involved in the air can and compliant guide system
development, for the air can and compliant guide system
specific details and selected figures included in this paper.
References
1.

Flexcom-3D, Three Dimensional Nonlinear Time Domain

Offshore Analysis Software, MCS International, Galway,
Ireland.

OTC 15385

Table 1 Load Case Matrix

Case

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Load Case

Outer Riser
Density Pressure
(ppg)
(psi)
9.00
200
9.00
200
9.00
200
9.00
220
9.00
220
9.00
200

Producing
Well Killed
Well Killed N2
Max Shut In with Kill Fluid
Max Shut In with N2
Max Shut In Surface
Tubing Leak
Shut In Inner Riser Gas
Lift Leak
Shut In External Riser
Evacuation
Shut In Internal Riser
Evacuation
Surface Inner Riser &
Tubing Leaks
5
Workover Through 9- /8
Workover Shut In Well
Control
Completion

Inner Riser
Density
Pressure
(ppg)
(psi)
2.00
1,900
10.80
200
0.02
200
10.80
220
0.02
220
10.80
5,500

Tubing
Density Pressure
(ppg)
(psi)
7.00
2,250
10.80
0
10.80
0
3.50
5,500
3.50
5,500
3.50
5,500

Top
Tension
(kips)
960
1,050
960
1,050
960
1,050

BOP

Temp.
Profile

No
No
No
No
No
No

Hot
Cold
Cold
Cold
Cold
Cold

9.00

1,900

2.00

1,900

7.00

2,250

960

No

Cold

0.02

0.02

7.00

2,250

960

No

Cold

9.00

200

0.02

7.00

2,250

960

No

Cold

9.00

5,500

10.80

5,500

3.50

5,500

1,050

No

Cold

9.00
9.00

200
200

10.80
10.80

0
2,250

N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A

1,050
1,050

Yes
Yes

Cold
Cold

9.00

200

10.80

10.80

1,050

Yes

Cold

Table 2 Top Tension Factors

Case
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Load Case
Producing
Well Killed
Well Killed N2
Max Shut In with Kill Fluid
Max Shut In with N2
Max Shut In Surface Tubing Leak
Shut In Inner Riser Gas Lift Leak
Shut In External Riser Evacuation
Shut In Internal Riser Evacuation
Surface Inner Riser & Tubing Leaks
5
Workover Through 9- /8
Workover Shut In Well Control
Completion

Intact
1.49
1.42
1.52
1.46
1.58
1.46
1.49
1.87
1.55
1.46
1.47
1.47
1.32

2 Chambers Damaged
1.23
1.04
1.26
1.08
1.31
1.08
1.23
1.58
1.28
1.08
1.04
1.04
0.94

Note: Factors were calculated with 6.5% weight penalty margins, actual tension factors are higher.

Table 3 Tension Distribution Results for Critical Pre-stretch and Slack Off Loading Conditions
Case

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Tension at Top
(kips)
Outer
Inner
724
116
549
285
538
222
576
305
616
277
624
295
619
172
469
310
549
231
802
116
616
336
650
302
508
257

Tube
93
187
173
141
130
103
142
154
153
105
N/A
N/A
187

Tension at Mudline
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube
331
18
4
157
35
124
146
158
61
184
55
103
223
214
44
232
45
65
226
74
52
371
61
56
156
167
55
409
-133
67
224
86
N/A
258
52
N/A
115
7
122

Tension at Packer
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube
N/A
N/A
-92
N/A
N/A
7
N/A
N/A
-60
N/A
N/A
34
N/A
N/A
-30
N/A
N/A
-4
N/A
N/A
-44
N/A
N/A
-41
N/A
N/A
-42
N/A
N/A
-2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
6

Apparent Weight
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube
393
98
185
393
250
180
393
64
233
393
250
107
393
64
160
393
250
107
393
98
185
98
250
195
393
64
195
393
250
107
393
250
N/A
393
250
N/A
393
250
181

Tension at Mudline
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube

Tension at Packer
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube

Apparent Weight
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube

Table 4 Sensitivity Case Results

Prestretch
25
18

Tension at Top
(kips)
Outer
Inner
Tube
713
734

128
104

92
94

320
342

29.9
6.1

2.9
4.5

N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A

-93
-92

393
393

98
98

185
185

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Figure 1 Horn Mountain SPAR

Figure 2 Horn Mountain Wellbay and

Seafloor Layout for Pullover Condition

Figure 3 Horn Mountain Riser and Air Can System

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HEERAMAC BALDER

Single Lift Air Can

Air Can Hung Off at Spar

Deck

Lower Stem Hung off in

Air Can

Figure 4 Air Can Installation Sequence

Lower Stem Installed

Upper Stem Installed

Air Can Lowered and

Installed

Figure 5 Air Can Installation Sequence continued

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Figure 6 Air Cans with Upper and Lower Stems on Barge

Figure 7 Air Can Lowered thru Alignment funnel to Spar Deck

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Figure 8 Air Cans Hung off at Spar Deck

Figure 9 Lower Stem Lifted, Lowered and Hung off at Spar Deck

10

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Figure 10 Upper Stem Lifted, Lowered and Squnch Joint Latched

1120

120
New design

1100
Difference between designs

100

1080

1040

60

1020
40
Current design
1000
20
980
Assume 1100 kips provided by 230 kips air c an
960

0
0

10

15

20

25

stroke (ft)

Figure 11 Air Can Performance with and without Extended Vent Tubes

30

Tension difference (kips)

Tension provided (kips)

80
1060

OTC 15385

11

Figure 12 Compliant Guide

Surface Tree 5518ft

Wellbore Temperatures - Gas-Lift above SCSSV

400

Upper Stem Joint

Spar Deck (0 gap)

300

Spar Top 5473.0ft

Tubing Fluid
Tubing
Tubing Annulu
Casing1

2000

Air Can Top 5428.0ft

200

4000

MWL=5423ft
5375.0ft

100
0

8000
TVD (ft)

Compliant Guides

-100
5250ft

Air Can Base 5198ft

Hull Guides (1 gap)

Casing1 Annu
Casing2
Casing2 Annu
Undisturbed

6000

0000

-200

2000

-300

4000

Heave plate 3 5167ft

Heave plate 2 5091ft
Heave plate 1 5013ft

-400
50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

6000

100

Spar Keel (1 gap) 4913ft

8000
30.0

45.0

60.0

75.0

90.0

105.0

Lower Stem Base 4908.0ft

Figure 13 Compliant Guide Configuration and Response

120.0 135.0 150.0 165.0 180.0 195.0 210.0

Temperature (deg F)

225.0 240.0 255

Figure 14 Temperature Profiles

500

900

800
400
700
300
600

B ase
Tension
(Kips)

200

Top
Tension
(Kips)

500

400

100

300
0
200
-100
100

-200
Case 1 Case 2
Outer Casing

331

Inner Casing
Tubing

Case 3 Case 4

157

146

223

232

18

35

124

158

55

214

45

61

103

44

65

Case
10

Case
11

Case
12

Case
13

Case
10

Case
11

Case
12

Case
13

371

156

409

224

258

115

Outer Casing

724

549

538

576

616

624

619

469

549

802

616

650

508

74

61

167

-133

86

52

Inner Cas ing

116

285

222

305

277

295

172

310

231

116

336

302

257

52

56

55

67

Tubing

93

187

173

141

130

103

142

154

153

105

Case 5 Case 6 Case 7

184

226

Case 8 Case 9

122

Figure 15 Base Tension Distribution Results for Critical Prestretch and Slack Off Loading Conditions

Case 1 Case 2

Case 3 Case 4

Case 5 Case 6 Case 7

Case 8 Case 9

187

Figure 16 Top Tension Distribution Results for Critical Prestretch and Slack Off Loading Conditions

12

OTC 15385

Taircan = 632kips
25kips due to friction now
acts downwards
ull-Point 95ft above MWL

Thook = 333.4kips
(plus 80kips for handling
equipment)

Taircan = 784kips
25kips due to friction
acts downwards

Thook = 333.4kips
(plus 80kips for handling
equipment)

Null-Point 95ft above MWL

Null-Point 95ft above MW L

Stem Base at 511.8' below

MWL

Stem Base at 512.8' below

MWL

a) Sample Stage 30

Taircan = 784kips
25kips due to friction now
acts upwards

Stem Base at 513.6ft below

MW L

b) Sample Stage 33

Taircan = 1050kips
5kips due to friction now acts
pwards

Thook = 178.9kips
(plus 80kips for handling equip

c) Sample Stage 34

Taircan = 1050kips
25kips due to friction now acts
upwards
Null-Point 95ft above MWL

ull-Point 95ft above MW L

Stem base is 513.5 below

MWL

tem base is 512.5 below MW L

15685.5ft

15685.5ft

d) Sample Stage 39

e) Sample Stage 40

Figure 17 Sample Stages from Installation Sequence of Riser and Tubing

1600

Tension Provided by Hook

1400

Tension Provided by Aircan Assembly

Outer Casing Top Tension

1200

Inner Casing Top Tension

Tension (Kips)

Tubing Top Tension

1000

800

600

400

200

Stage Number of Installation Sequence

Figure 18 Re-distribution of Tension in Outer and Inner Riser and Tubing During Critical Stages of Installation