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TAMU - Pemex
Offshore Drilling

Lesson 5A
The Drilling Riser
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Lesson 5A - The Drilling Riser
Riser Components
Riser Tensioning
Fatigue
Kill/Choke Lines
Inspection & Maintenance
Reentry
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Riser system for a floating drilling rig
BOP
RISER JOINTS
KILL AND CHOICE LINES
SLIP JOINT OUTER BARREL
UPPER BALL JOINT
SLIP JOINT INNER BARREL
RISER TENSION
LOWER BALL JOINT
Mudline
Marine riser = drilling riser, get returns to surface, well control, communications link
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Integral Marine Riser Joints
Choke and kill lines are integral with the marine riser , flanged connections; clamp, etc
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Integral Marine
Riser Connector
Flanged connection - 6 bolts

NOTE: Choke and Kill Lines

O-ring type seals
- inspect when running
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Integral Marine
Riser Connector
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Marine
Riser
Flexible
Joint
Flexible joint, binding from high tensile forces, inject lubricant, up to 1,500,000 lbf!
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Upper Section Marine Riser System.
MARINE RISER
DIVERTER
ASSEMBLY
RISER
TENSIONING
LINES
TELESCOPIC
JOINT
KILL AND
CHOKE LINES
FLEXIBLE
JOINT
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Control valve
Vent line
Mud returns
L.P. Annular
A diverter system.
Re-directs flow from rig floor to blooey line (10+), downwind, do not shut in, erosion -10
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Figure 6-6.
Subsea BOP Stack
Vertical steel loops
used for kill / choke
line transition around
the ball joint.
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The Drilling Riser
Schematic diagram of
riser with imposed forces
MEAN WATER LEVEL
RISER ELEMENT
Optimum riser tension to minimize damage to riser and wear-and-tear on tensioners, sag
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Applied tension in riser, kips
Maximum stress
Minimum stress
Tension in riser must be not too low and not too high. Set at 118 kips - will fluctuate 100-136 kips ~ 15%
Mean
tension
Insufficient Tension
(too much sag)
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Combined Effect of Mean
Stress and Alternating Stress
Consider: Max Stress of 40 ksi
Alternating Stress: 10 or 20 ksi
Mean Stress: ?
Life: ?
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Mean stress, ksi
Modified Goodman diagram
30 10 (20-40 ksi) => 10
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; 20 20 (0-40 ksi) => 10
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cycles. If Mean stress is high, alt. low
Yield
strength
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Vessel offset, % of water depth
Need adequate tension: Tensioned to 225 kips for 6% offset: at 3%, 11 ksi; at 10%, 30 ksi.
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The effects of losing one-sixth tensioning
capacity on the riser system of previous slide
(196 * 5/6 = 163)
Need adequate tension: Tensioning to 296 kips looks the most advantageous.
(225 * 5/6 = 188)
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Estimating Pressure Drop
in Choke Lines
It is important to be able to determine if the
pressure drop in the choke line will be a
problem (excessive).

Most drilling fluids are Non-Newtonian.
The Bingham Plastic or Power-Law models
may be used. More about this later.
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Riser Considerations
Riser Metallurgy is very important.
Correct heat treatment is
essential.
80,000 psi min. yield strength and
good toughness is preferred.
Preheating, welding & normalizing
after welding is critical for riser
integrity & long life.
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Riser Considerations contd
No Field Welding on Riser!

Fatigue of riser cannot be measured
prior to some indication of failure.

Routine inspection required.
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Riser Considerations contd
Fatigue is an embrittlement of the
metal. It often starts in the
vicinity of welds or other places
of high stress concentration.

Fatigue is caused by cyclic loading.
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Riser Inspection
Visual Inspection of the riser should
occur every time the riser is run.

Check all the seals
Check all the sealing areas
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Riser Inspection contd
A complete inspection should be made
annually.
Dyes: Will detect cracks. To use
dyes, paint must be removed.
Magnetic Particle Inspection: Sand
blast areas around welds prior to
magnetic particle inspection.
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Riser Inspection contd
Ultra-Sonic Inspection: May detect
cracks below the surface. This test is
run inside pipe. Paint removal is not
necessary.
X-Ray Inspection: Is for cracks inside
the metal. It may miss surface cracks.
No one technique will find all the cracks.
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Riser Instrumentation
Heave Gauge: Pointer attached to
guide line moving in front of
graduated board.

Riser Angle Indicator (at ball joint):
( )
| |
2 / 1
y
2
x
2 1
2 / 1 2
y
2
x
tan tan tan

u u u
u u u
+ =
+ ~

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Riser Instrumentation contd
Accurate Positioning System:
For detecting and monitoring vessel
position.
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Ball Joint
A Ball Joint Angle > 4 degrees is an
indication that something is wrong!

Vessel has excessive offset

Riser tension is inadequate
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Ball Joint contd
Must decrease ball joint angle
before operations are
resumed.

Remedial Action:
Decrease Offset
Increase Riser Tension

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Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System

Guidelines are used for guiding
equipment from the vessel to the
seafloor (except in deepwater)

Selection and care of guidelines is
critical
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Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System contd

Guidelines should not be tensioned
beyond 1/3 of breaking capacity

Butinadequate tension is the
most common cause of failure in
guidelines
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Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System - contd
Tension should be maximum when
landing the BOP stack, or when
landing the riser onto the stack.
When the guidelines are not being
used to run equipment, tension
may be slacked off to ~ twice the
weight of the line in seawater.
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Table 6-1. Recommendations for
Conventionally Used Guidelines
As water depth increases, larger
diameter guidelines must be used.

Higher tensioning is required.

Dont forget to limit tension to < 1/3
of breaking strength.