PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 42, Issue 1, February 2015

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal
Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2015, 42(1): 119122.

RESEARCH PAPER

Calculation method of riser top tension in deep water drilling

YANG Jin*, MENG Wei, YAO Mengbiao, GAO Deli, ZHOU Bo, XU Yunjin
Key Laboratory for Petroleum Engineering of the Ministry of Education, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China

Abstract: Through mechanical analysis, a calculation method which meets the requirements of both the riser stability and the bottom
over-pull margin was deduced. It was verified by an example of ultra deepwater well in South China Sea, and compared with two other
common methods. Based on the related theories of pipe string mechanics, the effects of true axial force and effective axial force on the
riser mechanical behavior were analyzed. The results show that, the bottom tensile force to Lower Marine Riser Package is determined by
true axial force, and the risers stability depends on effective axial force. Through the force analysis of riser which simultaneously bears
the internal and external pressures, the correspondent mechanical model was established, and a new calculation method of top tension was
derived, which remedies the deficiencies of algorithms proposed by American Petroleum Institute and Institute of French Petroleum. Field
application shows that, the value of top tension calculated by this method is basically the same as the value set by field operation, and
moreover, it is more accurate than the value obtained by the algorithms of American Petroleum Institute and Institute of French Petroleum. This method can be used to guide the design and operation of conductor.
Key words: deepwater drilling; riser; top tension

Introduction
By providing constant axial tension force to the riser, the
tensioners control the stress and displacement of the riser.
With the increase of top tension, both the bending moment
and displacement of the riser will decrease significantly, but
the stress will increase[1]. Insufficient top tension might cause
buckling failure of the riser, while excessive top tension might
bring about failure of the lower flexible joint. Therefore, accurate calculation of riser top tension is of great significance
for deepwater drilling operation.
Currently, there is no unified understanding about the riser
top tension, so different calculation methods have been developed[2]. Based on the theory of effective tension put forward by C. P. Sparks[3], two mainstream calculation methods
for the tension have been established: one is API method; the
other is based on residual tension at the riser bottom. According to the API method, the set tension should ensure the riser
stability, ie. the value of effective tension at each part of riser
should not be less than zero[4]; while E. Persent[5], from Institute of French Petroleum, held the effective tension at the
bottom of riser was the residual tension. Both of them have
their limitations, the former one only concentrates on stability,
but ignores the over-pull force required by LMRP (Lower
Marine Riser Package) in field operation. The latter one takes

the requirement of overpull into consideration though, regards

this force as effective tension rather than true tension.
From the point of pipe string mechanics, Gao Deli and Han
Zhiyong[67] divided string axial tension into effective axial
tension and true axial tension, and gave detailed calculation
methods, physical meaning and their relationship. Based on
the theory of pipe string mechanics and elastic mechanics,
through force analysis of riser under internal and external
pressure, considering the conditions of different drilling fluid
density, a new calculation method for top tension has been
established and verified by field application.

Axial force analysis

Take the pipe string (riser of uniform wall thickness) in

simple hydraulic condition (fluids inside and outside the string
are same in density) as an example to analyze the axial force
of riser (Fig. 1).
Cut the pipe string at random section m-m, the force analysis of this part is shown in Fig. 1.
The weight of the truncated part is:
Ws = D s A
(1)
The hydraulic pressure acting on the bottom surface of the
truncated part is:
Fb = D m A
(2)

Received date: 28 Jun. 2014; Revised date: 22 Oct. 2014.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: cyjin1018@vip.sina.com
Foundation item: Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (51434009; 51274215); the Group Project of Natural Science Innovation Research of
China (51221003).
Copyright 2015, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.

YANG Jin et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2015, 42(1): 119122

water and internal force exerted by drilling fluid also have

some effect on riser axial force. Therefore, the axial force
system of risers can be divided into 3 parts: the external pressure acting on risers wall and exerted by external seawater,
the internal pressure acting on the wall but exerted by internal
liquid, and the true axial force.
When only considering external pressure, the external force
of riser can be replaced by buoyancy:
Wwater = out gSout L + Wb
(5)
In a similar way, if internal pressure is considered only, the
internal force of riser is equivalent to the weight of drilling
fluid:
Wfluid = in gSin L
(6)

Fig. 1 Force analysis of pipe string in simple hydraulic condition

Based on the force equilibrium, the axial force can be obtained as:
Fa = Ws Fb = D s A D m A
(3)
This is the basic principle to calculate string axial force by
the pressure-area method. Equation (3) can be finished as[89]:
Fa = D s A ( D + Dm ) m A =

Ws 1 m Dm m A
(4)
s

In Equation (4), Fa is the true force calculated by equilibrium relationship of statics, 1 m s is the buoyancy factor
widely used now; Ws (1 m s ) is the strings submerged
weight, also the effective axial force, obtained by buoyancy
factor method. Dm m A is virtual force. According to Equation
(4), effective axial force is equal to the sum of true axial force
and virtual force. Virtual force has no effect on the strength,
deformation and failure of string[7]; true axial force determines
the tensile force to LMRP, but cannot be used to judge the
strings stability. It is the effective axial force that not only
determines the strength and stability of string but also can be
used as the criterion to judge buckling[8].

Riser mechanical models

The local force analysis of riser is shown in Fig. 2[10]. According to the generalized Hooke law and Lame equation[11],
in axial direction of the riser, besides gravity and buoyancy
caused by fluid, external compression force exerted by sea

The internal and external pressure on upper and lower section of riser is added artificially. In order to meet the force
equilibrium conditions, these forces should be subtracted during axial force analysis. Finally, the force at bottom of the
riser is the effective tension[78]:
Te = Ttrue + pout Sout pin Sin
(7)
Putting the three parts mentioned above together gives the
global load condition of the riser. For the entire riser string,
there is no internal and external pressure on the top of it. So,
the equilibrium equation in global load condition is:
(8)
Ttop = Te + Wriser Wwater + Wfluid

Calculation method for top tension

Based on API method[4], to ensure the riser stability and

avoid buckling failure, the effective tension at the riser bottom
should not be less than zero, so on the basis of Equation (8),
we can get Equation (9):
(9)
Ttop Wriser Wwater + Wfluid
However, this method does not take the tensile force
(over-pull force) of riser to LMRP into consideration, so it is
not ensured that the riser can be disconnected from BOP
(Blow out Preventer) timely and safely. Therefore, base tensile force to LMRP must be considered in actual operation:
Ttrue WLMRP + TLMRP
(10)
It must be noted that the force acting on LMRP is the true
tension Ttrue rather than effective tension Te of the riser. This is
different from the method based on bottom residual tension
put forward by Institute of French Petroleum which regards the
residual tension at the riser bottom as the effective tension[5]:
(11)
Te = Ttop Wriser Wfluid
But it is the true axial tension that balances the entire component force acting on the string in axial direction[8]. So the
force pulls LMRP is the true tension. Based on Equation (7)
and (10), in order to keep stability and meet the requirement
of base over-pull force, the additional top tension is:
Ttrue WLMRP + TLMRP + pout Sout pin Sin
(12)

Fig. 2

Force analysis of riser

Combining Equations (5), (6), (9) and (12), the calculation

method for top tension that can meet both the requirement of
stability and base over-pull force to LMRP is written as:
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YANG Jin et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2015, 42(1): 119122

Ttop max (WLMRP + TLMRP + Wriser Wb ,

Wriser Wwater + Wfluid )

(13)

On the basis of Equation (13), when considering riser inclination caused by platform offset, and assuming the angle of
inclination is , then:
Ttop max (WLMRP + TLMRP + Wriser Wb + sin 2 Wfluid ,
Wriser Wwater + Wfluid + sin 2 Wfluid )

(14)

Application

Fig. 3 Variation of top tension with different drilling fluid density

Take a deepwater well in South China Sea as an example,

the water depth is 1 500 meters. The riser parameters are
shown in Table 1.
According to the requirement of field operation, the
over-pull force for LMRP is 20t. The variation (Fig. 3) of top
tension with different drilling fluid density was calculated by
the method advanced by this paper. It can be seen from Fig. 3:
before drilling fuild density reaching 1.800 g/cm3, the value of
top tension meeting the requirement of over-pull LMRP is
higher than the value keeping riser stable, so the set value of
top tension should abide by the former one. When the drilling
fluid density is over 1.800 g/cm3, the top tension to maintain
riser stability will be even greater, so the value of top tension
should choose the one that can avoid buckling failure.
Considering the inclination of riser, according to the API
recommondation, the rotation angle of lower flexible joint
should be less than 4 degree. Simplifing the riser system as a
linear string, then the effect of drilling fluid density on top
tension is shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen from this figure that
the top tension increases with the increase of riser inclination
Table 1

Riser parameters

Item
LMRP
19.05 mm
Grey Riser
Joint
22.23 mm
Purple Riser
Joint
22.23 mm
Orange Riser
Joint
6 096 mm
Filling Valve
23.81 mm
Blue Riser
Joint
Slick Joint
7 620 mm
Pup Joint
Telescopic
Joint

Quantity/
Joint

(Total/Single (Total/Single Joint) Total

Weight/
Submerged
Joint)
kg
Weight/kg
Length/m

6.31/6.31

129 000/129 000

129 000

27

617.22/22.86

58 428/2 164

187 428

12

274.32/22.86

42 336/3 528

229 764

22

502.92/22.86

36 520/1 660

266 284

6.10/6.10

6 873/6 873

273 157

22.86/22.86

330/330

273 487

45.72/22.86

26 880/13 440

300 367

7.62/7.62

2 644/2 644

303 011

34/34

33 000/33 000

336 011

Fig. 4 Variation trend of top tension with different drilling fluid

density when the riser is inclined

angle; when the drilling fluid density is low, platform offset

has little influence on top tension, when the drilling fluid
density is high, platform offset has larger inflence on top
tension. Therefore, in field operation, the set value of top
tension should leave enough margin to ensure top tension can
meet requirement after platform offset.
The API method, IFP method and the method proposed in
this paper were used to calculate top tension respectively,
when the roatation angle of lower flexible joint is 0, the
results were compared (Fig. 5). It can be seen from Fig. 5 on
the premise of stability and 20t over-pull on LMRP, the
calculated top tension after installing BOP by the method
proposed in this paper is 4557 kN (about 1025 kips), which is
basically consistent with the top tension (1000 kips) taken in
field operation, while there are much larger deviation between
the field set value and results calculated by API and IFP
methods.

Fig. 5 Comparison of results obtained by different calculation

methods

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YANG Jin et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2015, 42(1): 119122

Conclusions

WLMRPsubmerged weight of lower marine riser package, N;

Based on force analysis and effect of platform offset, this

paper proposed a new calculation method for top tension of
riser in deepwater condition by remedying the defects of API
and IFP methods. The new method can meet both the requirement of riser stability and bottom over-pull force to LMRP.
Compared with the API and IFP methods, the results calculated by the proposed method is in better agreement with the
field set value and can guide the design and operation of riser
in deepwater.

TLMRPrequired over-pull force of LMRP in field operation, N;

inclination angle of lower flexible joint caused by platform
offset, ().

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