Oliveros, Kyle Gio M.

BSPE 5B

PTQ

RISER SYSTEMS

A riser is usually a pipe, which connects subsea pipeline (sealine) to the floating platform
system. Risers are key components of all offshore production facilities having major economic
and safety significance. The riser provides access from the sea bed to the platform facilities for
subsea satellite developments (produced oil and gas, test lines, water and gas injection, and control
umbilical), product import and export pipelines and platform utilities (control and power lines).
Also, riser systems are used to transport hydrocarbons from the seabed to the platform facilities,
and are dynamic systems which operate at both high pressures and temperatures often with highly
corrosive fluids. As a result, they are technically complex and the materials and methods of
manufacture and installation make them very costly. These issues are of course compounded as
depths increase, due to higher loads and lengths involved making riser system selection and
optimization even more complicated.

PROCESS DESIGN FOR DEEPWATER RISER

There are mainly two types of riser: (1) flexible riser and (2) steel riser, which are
available for the deepwater field development from a floating production system.

Steel riser system

 The steel catenary riser design methodology follows six stages with specific components
to completion.
 A starting point of the design process is the definition of the riser internal diameter as a
function of the fluid characteristics and of the required flow rate.
 Static analysis is the fundamental step for preliminary definition of the riser
configuration. The design water depth, the maximum static offsets and the heave motions
imposed by the floater allow the designer to select the most suitable geometry from the
possible alternatives.
 The dynamic analysis of the riser is generally based on a time domain approach with non-
linear structural and loading models, using both regular and spectral wave conditions.
 The need for VIV suppressors should be investigated with respect to VIV effects induced
as part of the riser fatigue damage.
 The total fatigue damage is assumed being generated by the combined action of mean
motions of the vessel, slow-drift motions, wave-frequency motions, and Vortex induced
vibrations (VIV) effects.
 Temporary conditions are generally associated with the life phases of the system before
operation. They include construction, transportation, and installation.

Flexible Riser

Design aspects to be addressed

 Hydrostatic collapse at design water depth (pipe empty condition)

The internal carcass has been designed to provide all of the collapse resistance to
the flexible structure. The pipe must be designed to have sufficient collapse resistance
with the outer sheath damaged.
 Axial compression of the pipe structure due to the reverse end cap load
When a flexible pipe is subject to axial compression, the tensile armor layers
expand radially.
 High tension load in operation of dynamic risers due to pipe weight and dynamic
amplification
Multiple flexible pipe structures are used with a mid-line connection between the
pipes in order to reduce the tension loads on flexible pipe for deep-water applications.
 Installation loads
The pipe structure is checked by stress analysis to verify that it can withstand
combined loading conditions.

Design software for riser systems

Time domain non-linear dynamic analysis:

 Flexcom 3D (developed by MCS International)

 Visual Orcaflex (developed by Orcina)
 Deepline (developed by IFP)
 TIARA (Total Integrated approach to Riser analysis with VIV analysis, developed by
Shell)
 RICOL (developed by Marintek)

Finite Element, Frequency domain, Time domain non-linear analysis:

 ABAQUS
 COSMOS (developed by Structural Research & Analysis Corp)

Vortex Induced Vibration analysis:

 Shear 7 (developed by MIT)

 VIVA (developed by DTCL ltd)

INTERFACE REQUIREMENT

The main interface requirements in the riser design are related to pipeline end terminations,
subsea production system, subsea connection and tie-in methods, lay vessels and methods (e.g. J-
lay, Reel lay and Towing), attachment point on the floating production system, anchoring point at
the seabed.

 With Floating Production System

A hanging device is used to maintain the top of a riser on a support fixed to the
floater, for example at the top of a I or J tube. The I or J tubes are designed to protect the
riser against environmental loads (wave and current) and accidental collisions with
vessel.
 At Seabed
The free hanging (rigid or flexible) catenary riser system is characterized by the
absence of additional hardware components except at the seabed connection to a steel
sealine.
Flexible risers - In order to increase the riser system compliance (particularly in relative
shallow waters), the Lazy "S" or Steep "S" configurations can be adopted. Mid-water
arches are used to support the risers in these configurations.
Top tensioned risers – The riser base is a steel structure mounted on a well template or a
subsea manifolding template and equipped with a male hub facing upwards for
connection to the riser by means of tie-back connector.
Hybrid riser tower - A riser base is placed on the seabed to provide an anchoring system
to resist tension loads. In addition, the riser base acts as a connection point between the
sealine coming from the wells or manifolds to the vertical riser.
RISER SYSTEM REVIEW

A riser system must be designed to adapt the following requirements:

1. Provide enough flexibility to allow for FPS motions
2. Acceptable behavior under environmental conditions encountered
3. Satisfy flow assurance requirements
4. Resist to transportation/laying loads

Riser Configurations:
1. Structural properties of the riser section
2. Cross-section complexity
3. General arrangement/configuration

Flexible Riser Systems

 Used for dynamic riser connection seabed flowlines to floating production system
 Static seabed flowlines
 More economic
 Harsh environment or when it is desired to recover the flowline for reuse after a field life

Basic flexible pipe design:

1. Stainless steel internal carcass for collapse resistance
2. Extruded polymer fluid barrier
3. Carbon steel interlocked hoop strength layer
4. Helically wound carbon steel tensile armor
5. Extruded watertight external sheath

Dynamic applications
Extruded polymer or tape polymer anti-wear layers are applied between adjacent steel
armor layers.
Extremely High Pressure
An additional layer of rectangular shaped helical reinforcement over the interlocked hoop
strength layer, or a second set of tensile armor layers, may be applied.

Typical values are 8000psi as a maximum design pressure, about 1500m maximum water depth
and a maximum design temperature of 130°C.

End Fitting
The termination which ensures the seal and the mechanical attachment of the end fitting to
the flexible pipe. Also, it is the connector to allow the connection of the end-fitting to any other
compatible connector. All types of connectors can be supplied with any end-fittings, the most
common being API hubs (formerly "CIW hubs"), hammer unions and flanges.

Bend Stiffener
Used to avoid any over-stressing of the flexible pipe near the end fittings at the
connection with the floating production system.

Bend Restrictor
Is made of several vertebrae which physically limit the curvature of the flexible pipe to
an admissible radius.

Riser Configuration
The choice of the adequate configuration is made according to different parameters such
as: weather conditions, water depth, number of lines, crowding of seabed, surface floater motions,
maximum platform admissible loads, current profile, ease of installation.

Different flexible riser configurations:

1. Free Hanging - This is the configuration of a flexible riser which runs in a catenary shape
from the upper connection point on the floater straight down to the seabed where it can be
connected to any of subsea equipment.
2. Lazy S - This is a configuration where a dynamic flexible riser runs down to the sea bed
in a double catenary shape from the upper connection on the floater via a subsurface
buoy, and a mid-water arch.
3. Lazy Wave - This is a configuration where a loop is formed between the upper
connection and the seabed by clamping buoyancy modules along a given section of the
dynamic flexible riser.
4. Steep S - This is a configuration where a flexible riser runs down to the sea bed in a
catenary from the upper connection on the floater, via a subsurface buoy and mid-water
arch.
5. Steep Wave - This is a configuration where a loop is formed between the upper
connection and the seabed by clamping buoyancy modules along a given section of the
dynamic riser base. The lower part of the riser is connected to a riser base.
6. Pliant Wave - This is a configuration where a loop is formed between the upper
connection and the seabed by clamping buoyancy modules along a given section of the
dynamic flexible riser.

Rigid Pipe Riser System

Provides a technical and cost-effective alternative to the high procurement cost of the
flexible lines which cannot always compensate for their lower installation cost.

Configuration:
1. Top Tensioned Riser Tower - This riser configuration has been implemented by Enserch
Exploration Inc on Green Canyon block 29 (466m WD) in 1988, recovered for refurbishment in
1990 due to reservoir declared non-commercial, and reinstalled on Copper Garden Banks 388
(638m WD) in 1995 in the Gulf of Mexico.
- utilizes a rigid, buoyant production riser with a titanium stress joint at the base. Titanium
was selected for the stress joint material due to its reduced modulus of elasticity (about half
of the steel Young's modulus, which is equal to 207,000Mpa) and its resistance to the
fatigue and the effects of corrosion n sea water.

Components:
Riser base - Consists of a hub profile centered between four radially located posts and four
pile sleeves. Vertical female receptacles surround the hub to provide production/annulus/oil
export line connections to the riser.
Lower riser connection - Provides the structural link between the riser stress joint and the
riser base at the template. The connector will transmit the tensile and bending loads from the
riser to the riser base.
Titanium Stress Joint - Provides required flexibility and stress reduction between the riser
connector and lowermost riser joint.
Riser joint – Long bolt flange to flange steel joint that is constructed on the rigid riser.
Upper riser connector package - Acts as the interface point between the rigid riser and
flexible flowline jumpers to the rig pontoon. It is locked in place by a collet connector at its
lower end.
Riser tether system – Described as a riser centralizer than a riser tensioner. The riser is free
standing and does not depend on the tensioner for structural support.

The production riser tether system consists of:

 riser interface sheave package
 riser tether centralizer structure
 wire rope tensioners
 tether control system
 production riser tensioner slipping winches

2. Top Tensioned Riser TLP and SPAR - In a TLP, there is still a small amount of
movement of the risers and platform. Its riser system uses simple tensioning system composed of
hydraulic cylinders. In the case of the SPAR buoy, there are still considerable vertical movements
and buoyancy cans are used instead of the cylinders, taking advantage of the deep draft of the
SPAR hull, which protects the buoyancy cans against the waves/current action. In both cases,
flexible jumper pipes are used to link the trees to the fixed piping of the platform.

Components:
Buoyancy cans - Each riser is independently tensioned by long buoyancy cans (which
volume depends on the riser submerge weight). Stem from the upper can extends upward to the
underside of the surface wellhead providing riser support.
Adjustable riser support structure - Is a tool temporarily used to support a riser when
weight increases are anticipated and at the same time allowing vertical adjustment to prevent
riser over tensioning.
Tieback connector - Is the lowermost component in the production riser string and is
part of a riser subassembly that includes a Titanium stress joint and lower riser transition joint.
By making these items a subassembly, critical flanged connections are made up and fully
pressure tested before they are shipped offshore.
Titanium stress joint - Reduces stresses in the riser and bending moments applied to the
tieback connector due to its flexibility. This is especially critical during lateral offsets for the
drilling operations.
Riser joints – Use TCII threaded-and-coupled connections. This connection creates a
joint efficiency approaching that of L80 pipe in tension and compression with radially energized
metal-to-metal seal
Keel joints - Provides a pressure containing conduit, hull to riser wear surface, and a
reaction point for load transfer between the riser and Spar.
Centralizing riser joints - are standard riser joints with neutrally buoyant 3m long
syntactic foam modules. Like the buoyant riser joints, these foam modules are pre-installed on a
standard riser joint and vertically restrained by thrust collar assemblies.
Waveform joint - provides for riser space-out
using adjustable slips in the surface wellhead. Once the riser is locked to the seafloor wellhead
and tensioned, the proper wellhead is determined, and the waveform slips are set.
Tubing spool - is attached to the wellhead that provides an internal bowl for tubing
hanger support, sealing and lock-down.

1. Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) - is essentially an extension of the pipeline, suspended in a

near-catenary shape from the platform to the seafloor.
2. Hybrid Riser Tower – appears to be an attractive solution for deepwater applications.
Unique features:
- a “compliant” reaction during the slow drift motion of the FPS,
- a versatile concept as the main riser body (neutrally buoyant) can be
extended to any required water depth.

Concept of Hybrid riser tower includes:

Riser base, riser tower, subsea buoy, flexible risers
Riser tower is designed with steel flowlines spread around a central air can
which has the function of:
Providing additive buoyancy
Load resistance by taking tension and bending moment

Typical analysis method of Hybrid Riser:

1. Hybrid Riser System Global Analysis – concerned with:

 Hydrodynamic loads
 Relative dynamic offset between riser and FPS
 Dynamic responses of the system
 Tow to site and upending analysis
2. Mechanical Sizing (based on burst and hydrostatic collapse analysis)
3. Riser Tower Insulation Sizing - used for the purpose of:
 Flowline bundle insulation requirement
 Buoyancy adjustment of the riser tower
4. Subsea Buoy Sizing - dictated by:
 Static equilibrium of the riser system in production mode
 Eigen period analysis
5. Eigen -Mode Analysis – is required to prevent the hydrodynamic coupling
between the riser system and the FPS.

Eigen periods of the Hybrid Riser Tower:

1. Pendulum mode
2. Bending mode

Dynamic response can be of two nature:

1. Inertial response governed mainly by the excitation period
2. Resonant response at a natural period of the system governed by the existing
damping rate

Pendulum resonance mode prevention by proper hydrodynamic design:

1. Subsea buoy tension
2. Flexible riser configuration

INSULATION TECHNIQUES
During transport, the produced fluid could cool down to the ambient seawater temperature as low
as 4°C or less. Studies and experiences have shown that produced fluid at such a low temperature
could cause unacceptable emulsion, hydrate, and paraffin wax deposition problems. Some
problems and solutions are listed below.

 Emulsion: Installation of crude heaters and/or injection of demulsifying agents on the floater
could be used to breakdown emulsions, but these alternatives required space, weight and cost
on an already congested floating production system.
 Hydrates: Once again, establishing facilities for continuous injection of methanol or glycol
to depress hydrate formation temperatures add burden to the floating production system and
increase operating costs.
 Wax: same impact as above if injection of wax suppressants is implemented.
An insulated flowline (sealine + riser) approach could overcome these problems by keeping
the produced fluid temperature above a required temperature for the different operation
modes: e.g. 40°C for production mode and 13°C for well testing.

Insulation material for steel riser and hybrid riser tower

The most promising thermal insulation material in deepwater applications are syntactic foams
which fall into two groups as described below:

 Pure syntactic foam composed of base polymer as initial constituent with a specific gravity
around 1.0 hence the material is almost neutrally buoyant. The density of the polymer is
reduced by including large numbers of small hollow glass spheres known as microspheres.
The microspheres typically have a diameter of between 100 and 150 microns. Their presence
can result in a reduction of the specific gravity to between 0.5 and 0.6. This material is well
adapted to rigid steel riser.
 Composite syntactic foam where a third component known as macrospheres is added to
further reduce the material density. Macrospheres are typically hollow thermoplastic spheres
with a nominal external diameter of 50mm. Inclusion of the macrospheres can reduce the
syntactic foam specific gravity to between 0.3 and 0.4. This thermal insulation material is
well adapted to hybrid riser.
Insulation material for flexible riser

Several methods are available in order to increase the thermal insulation properties of a flexible
riser. The main methods used at present are:

 Increasing the thickness or changing the material of the thermoplastic layers (double internal
thermoplastic sheath, double external thermoplastic sheath).
 Using a special thermal insulation design based on coiling Cofoam material around the pipe.
Cofoam (about 1500 kg/m3) is an extruded semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam (see
figure 26).
 Using tape wound on the pipe and composed of hollow glass microspheres, in the size range
of 100-200 microns, fibreglass macrospheres 0.124-0.5 inches in diameter and an epoxy,
polypropylene, or polyester resin binder.
It should be noted that the Coflon (thermoplastic material used in flexible riser to cope with high
temperature produced fluid) has a lower thermal conductivity than Polyamide which in turn has a
lower thermal conductivity than high density polyethylene. The thermal conductivity coefficient
of these thermoplastics is very low:

 K Coflon = 0.16 Kcal/m.h.°C at 34°C and 0.14 Kcal/m.h.°C at 104°C

 K Cofoam (Carizite) = 0.13 Kcal/m.h.°C at 70°C
 K Polyamide 11 = 0.288 Kcal/m.h°C (between 50 and 100°C)
 K High density polyethylene = 0.35 Kcal/m.h.°C at 20°C

HEATING TECHNIQUES

The heating techniques may be designed for the following purposes:

 To maintain steady state pipe temperature above the hydrate formation temperature (typically
15-25°C) after planned or non-planned shutdowns. The objective is to start the system prior
to hydrate formation.
 Heating of the pipe, which have been cooled down to the ambient seawater temperature. This
situation might be valid after the unlikely situations of either a very long major electric
power system shut-down, > 10 hours, or after a simultaneous process shut-down and heating
system failure.
 The system could also be used to maintain the required temperature at low production rates.
The following parameters are essential for the design of the heating system:

 Pipeline
- Material/composition thermal data
- Dimensions: diameter/thickness
- Riser insulation: dimensions (thickness), thermal conductivity (with corresponding U-value
and heat capacity)
- Thermal data and dimensions of protection on the riser section resting on the seabed
(surrounding/seabed, including depth of gravel, rock dumping, etc.)
- Thermal properties of the pipe content in different operation modes
- Geometry/length of riser
 Design criteria
- Temperature of seawater
- Sea depth
- Steady state temperature
- Required heating time
- Required melting time
At present, the main techniques proposed by manufacturers to heat up risers are listed below:
-Electrical heating applicable to thermally insulated rigid steel risers
-Hot water circulation heating applicable to flexible and rigid steel risers
Electrical heating

The following techniques based on electric heating may be used:

 Electric heating cables

 Electromagnetic induction heating
 Direct electric heating

The following results can be drawn from the qualification test performed on 8-12" single rigid
steel pipe:

 No problems are foreseen for the concept on pipe dimensions up to 20"

 The typical power requirement is 100-150W/m - The restriction concerning cable insulation
level (36kV) limits the length of heated pipeline to 50km
 No corrosion on normal carbon steel or 13%Cr steel pipes caused by the electric heating
system is observed during qualification tests

VORTEX INDUCED VIBRATIONS

The vortex vibrations are induced by a fluid flow acting on cylinder elements and forcing them
to vibrate by exciting their closest eigen mode.

The high inertia value of the rigid pipes involves high natural frequencies, which correspond to
the VIV excitation periods.

VIV generally does not induced high stresses in the rigid pipe riser, but it is damageable to the
system as it reduces its fatigue life by inducing high cyclic loads.

VIV prediction - The VIV prediction is a complex subject, especially for deepwater riser
systems. This vibrating phenomenon can be basically described as follows:

 The riser, immersed in a fluid flow, creates vortices; the two separation points (see figure 30)
oscillate on the riser sides, thus creating forces that oscillate at the vortex apparition
frequency. There are two types of oscillation: (1) oscillation in-line with the velocity motion
and (2) oscillation perpendicular to the velocity vector.
 This vibrating phenomenon becomes critical when the cross flow force frequency is
relatively close to one natural period of the riser. This phenomenon called “lock-in” occurs
(i.e. pipe oscillates at its natural frequency which is closest to the excitation induced by the
vortices) which can result in serious damage by reducing the fatigue life of the system.
Predicting VIV and estimating response amplitude and frequencies are key issues when
determining the fatigue life of a riser system.

The difficulty in predicting VIV occurrence and effects is due to:

 Uncertainties about the environmental conditions that will be encountered by the riser
system, especially current profiles (magnitude and shape variation with depth).
 The inability to fully understand and model the fluid-structure interaction.
 Lack of full-scale response data; the VIV prediction formulae are based on empirical
coefficients which are not well defined as they were determined for some particular cases and
often in laboratory conditions. These empirical coefficients are highly dependent on several
parameters such as the riser system data (diameter, length, shape of the riser, marine growth,
etc.) and the environmental conditions (i.e. current profile).
 Multiple mode VIV that may occur due to the current profile variations with depth, several
natural bending modes may be simultaneously excited into VIV (i.e. the riser experienced
different frequencies of excitation with depth). - The presence of adjacent riser, which
modify the fluid flow and create shedding.
Programs are also available to help in VIV occurrence and effect prediction. The most widely
used is the MIT program SHEAR7.

Vortex suppression devices

If potential VIV effects are detected during the engineering phase of a riser system, one of the
two following solutions may be used:

 Either redesign the riser by modifying the tension, changing its mass or designing another
configuration. This solution is generally costly and may have repercussions on the production
floater.
 add vortex suppression devices.
The main VIV suppression devices are:

 Helical strakes • Fairings

 Perforated or axial rod shrouds
 Splitter plates
The most popular devices are the helical strakes and the fairings.

Both strakes and fairings can dramatically reduce VIV fatigue damage (by over 80%) but
introduce intrinsic disadvantages:

 Both complicate the installation phases as the equipped riser system is difficult to handle.
 Strakes increase the riser drag, which is detrimental to the riser behaviour, and require a
continuous coverage of the VIV sensitive length.
 Fairings can reduce drag loads and only require a partial coverage of the critical length of the
riser, but they need to rotate with current direction, which is a great disadvantage for long-
life utilisation, as efficient anti-fouling devices are required to avoid their gripping by marine
growth.

ARTIFICIAL LIFT REQUIREMENT

Required when the natural reservoir pressure is insufficient to lift the produced fluids to surface
at economic production rates. This can occur in the event of water breakthrough at the wells
(increasing the weight of the liquid column), low pressure at the reservoir or the production of
low GOR heavy crude. Artificial lift also helps to stabilize the fluid flow regime, and hence
eliminate slugging in the production riser
The different artificial lift methods are listed below:
- gas lift
- electrical submersible pump
- hydraulic jet pump
- progressing cavity pump
- multiphase pump
- subsea separation system

Gas Lift Method

The gas lift method principle is to increase the flow rate by reducing the specific gravity of the
producing fluids. For subsea application only gas lift has been widely used as artificial lift method,
due to its intrinsic similarity with onshore' s gas lift method. This similarity comes from the fact
that it is driven by a power fluid using roughly the same components for both onshore and subsea
application. For this reason, gas lift is today seen as the subsea conventional artificial lift method.
a. Internal gas lift using coil tubing - The artificial lift is performed by means of a coil tubing
deployed from the inside of the production riser at the surface. This method is well adapted to
flexible and rigid riser. The gas injection point can be selected by adjusting the length of the
coil tubing.
b. Internal gas lift lines integrated to production riser – The artificial lift is performed by
means of gas lift lines surrounding the production riser. The bottom end terminations of the
gas lift lines are connected to isolation valve (s) controlled from the surface for safety reasons.
This technique is well adapted to flexible risers (i.e. Coflexip Integrated Pipeline Bundle).
c. External gas lift line - The artificial lift of the produced fluid is made using gas lift at the riser
base. The gas injection is performed from the surface to each production riser through a
dedicated line. This technique is applicable for all type of risers.
d. External common gas lift line - In this configuration, the gas injection point is also at the riser
base. The gas is routed from the surface to a retrievable subsea manifold through a common
gas lift line. The gas distribution is then made using hard piping or jumpers connecting the
subsea manifold to the production riser.

Installation Techniques
Selection of methods for installing hybrid, flexible or metallic risers is strongly dependent on field
development type, vessel capability and availability, and riser material.
Type Installation Techniques Vessel Requirements
Non-Offset Hybrid Riser Conventional drilling riser running . Drilling and/or production
techniques and equipment vessel (TLP, Semi-
submersible, Spar)
Offset hybrid riser Surface or Controlled Depth Tow 1. Leading Tug
Method + Upending and flexible 2. Trailing Tug
jumper connection operations 3. Survey vessel
4. Combined flexible lay and
jumper connection vessel
Flexible riser J lay with tensioners 1. Installation vessel
equipped with J lay ramp and
tensioners, or a dedicated
flexible lay vessel
2. Survey vessel
Metallic riser (e.g. SCR 1. J lay with tensioners or collar 1. Lay vessel
hang off points 2. Survey vessel
2. Bottom tow technique + erection 1. Leading Tug
operation 2. Trailing Tug
( 2 x dual 10" insulated flowline in 3. Survey vessel
418m WD on BP Troïka)

INSTALLATION OF FLEXIBLE RISERS

a. Flexible riser in “Free hanging” configuration
A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases
1-3 A messenger line is passed from the floating production facility to the installation vessel
4. The upper end of the riser is transferred from the installation vessel to the FPS with the upper
section of the riser
5. The upper end of the riser is secured to the riser hang off platform by means of clamp
6. The flexible riser is paid out from the lay vessel until reaching the touch down point.

b. Flexible riser in “Lazy S” configuration

A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases
1. A messenger line is passed from the floating production facility to the installation vessel
2. The upper end of the riser is transferred from the installation vessel to the FPS with the upper
section of the riser
3. The mid-water arch is launched and positioned at mid-depth by means of the dead weight while
paying out of the riser continues
4. The retaining swivel is disconnected from the mid-water arch and the lower end of the riser is
laid on the sea bed
5. The flowline is laid in the direction of its final destination

c. Flexible riser in “Lazy Wave” configuration

A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases
1. A messenger line is passed from the floating production facility to the installation vessel
2. The upper end of the riser is transferred with the upper section of the riser
3. The buoyancy modules are attached to the riser as laying proceeds and launched
4. The installation of the riser continues by the paying out of the riser
5. The flowline is laid in the direction of its final destination

d. Flexible riser in “Steep S” configuration

A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases (see figure 40):
1. A messenger line is passed from the floating production system to the installation vessel.
2. The upper end of the riser is transferred with the upper section of the riser
3. The upper end of the riser is connected to the floating production system while paying out of
the riser continues
4. The mid-water arch and the dead weight are launched
5. The dead weight is positioned at a predetermined location. The riser may be abandoned at this
stage for further connection
6. The lower end connection is positioned relative to the riser base by means of a come-along (or
pulling line)
7. The lower end connection is tied-in to the riser base

e. Flexible riser in “Steep Wave” configuration

A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases
1. Lowering of the flexible riser and its automatic connector (vertical entry) at the stern of the
installation vessel
2. Installation of the buoyancy modules at adequate locations on the flexible riser.
3. The flexible riser and its automatic connector is directed towards the riser base by means of
ROV. Perform automatic connection of the flexible riser onto the riser base by means of ROV.
4. Paying out of the remaining part of the flexible riser and the vessel takes its position for the
transfer of flexible riser to the floater.
5. On completion of messenger and pulling lines recovery, connect the pulling line to the pulling
head mounted on the flexible riser and start the transfer ot the flexible riser to the floater.
6. Once load transfer is completed, recover A&R cable, resume pulling the flexible riser and
secure it to the hang off platform.

f. Flexible riser in “Pliant Wave” configuration

A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases (see figure 42):
1. The first end of the flowline is initiated at the subsea structure and the flowline is laid in the
direction of the dead weight.
2. Installation of the clamp/attachment line sub assembly and the buoyancy modules at adequate
locations on the flexible line Perform the connection of the attachment line to the dead weight
by ROV
3. Recover flexible line to surface to form the loop before resume paying out flexible in the
direction of the floater
4. A messenger line is passed from the floating production system to the installation vessel for
the transfer of the pull in cable.
5. Once the pull in cable is connected to the pull in head mounted on top of the riser, the second
end of the riser is lowered with the A&R cable.
6. On completion of the load transfer and disconnection of the A&R cable by ROV, the second
end of the riser is pulled in I or J tube then secured to the hang off platform.

INSTALLATION OF METALLIC RISERS

a. J lay technique- advantages include; Increased water depth capability, reduced weather
sensitivity, reduced pipe stresses and lower tension due to steeper pipe departure, easier start-
up, termination and abandonment & recovery operations, reduced complexity attaching
buoyancy and ballast during lay, lower horizontal thrust requirement (compared to S-Lay)
allowing the use of DP vessel
A typical installation procedure would consist of the following phases:
1. When the pipelay vessel is about 130m away from the floating production platform, a
messenger line is lowered from the floating production system.
2. A transfer line is lowered from the pipelay vessel at the same water depth to allow ROV to
connect the transfer line to the messenger line.
3. When the messenger line reaches the working platform of the pipelay vessel, it is connected
to the pulling head on top of the flexjoint welded to the steel riser.
4. The steel riser is lowered below the vessel on the pipelay's abandonment and recovery cable
until the riser starts swinging over towards the floating production system
5. After disconnection of A&R cable by means of ROV release hydro-acoustic shackle, a pull-
in, run from hydraulic winch on the platform, is used to finally pull the riser into the receptacle.
6. The pipeline is then free flooded, the spool piece that connects the riser to preinstalled hull
piping is installed and the pipeline system is ready for final testing.

b. Tow out method - Tow out is an alternative method of installing metallic risers. This
necessitates onshore fabrication of the riser, followed by surface, sub-surface or near-seabed
tow to the offshore site.
The installation of a hybrid riser tower is subdivided into three phases:
1. The tow out from the onshore fabrication site where the riser tower is assembled and tested.
2. The upending operation
3. The connection of the tower to the riser base
c. Drilling riser running techniques applied to top tensioned risers - The main technique used
for the installation of top tensioned risers is the conventional drilling riser running techniques
as used for the TLP. Two different riser installations, but also based on drilling riser technique:
(1) top tensioned riser tower deployment from a semi-submersible

APPLICATIONS & LIMITATIONS

For a floating production system, risers provide the link between the floating platform and:
- the oil/gas wells close to or underneath the floating platform
- subsea satellite wells at some distance from the platform
- other floating or fixed platforms
- export facilities, either a pipeline to the shore or to a shuttle tanker loading facility
The risers may handle:
- Drilling or production
- Hydrocarbon imports (from remote wells/platforms)
- Hydrocarbon exports (via pipelines to shore, another platform or a storage unit)
- Water or gas injection (into the reservoir to increase pressure and force the oil up the well)
- Gas lift (gas pumped into the bottom of the well or at the riser base to help the oil to flow more
rapidly up to the floating production system).

Flexible risers
They are suitable, even in high sea states, for use with semi-submersibles and turret moored ships
when rigid risers would be unsuitable. Although flexible flowlines are more expensive than rigid
steel pipes (due to sophisticated plastic materials and manufacturing methods) they are utilised for
the development of short distance between wells to production facilities, and also the development
of deepwater small and marginal fields. In these types of application, the used lines could be
recovered from the sea bottom, transported to onshore base and submitted to inspection and
refurbishment, to assure a safe and efficient reutilization. In predominant seabed irregularities
where flexibility is required flexible pipes are also used.

Steel risers
The use of risers made of rigid pipe become more economical for deepwater applications as:
- the rigid pipe has no specific limitation concerning the water depth (the limits are mainly fixed
by the laying capacity of the installation vessel, the deck space and load of floating production
system)
- the reduction of the difference between the installation cost of rigid riser and flexible lines in
deepwater, combined with a lower fabrication cost for the rigid line, turn the rigid pipe riser
into a cost effective alternative
- the flexibility of the overall riser in production phase increases with the water depth (i.e.
increased riser length induces increased flexibility).
At present, the steel pipe is mainly used in three types of riser configuration:
1. top-tensioned riser- designed for small or marginal fields that could drain a reservoir and then
move on to a new location
2. steel catenary riser - offer advantages over risers made of flexible pipe since steel catenary
risers are much less expensive, need no heave compensation, no subsea connections, and no
flexible jumpers to transition to fixed piping at the production deck.
3. offset hybrid riser tower- not very sensitive to the water depth as increasing the length of the
steel bundle and the wall thickness of the lower part are the main required operations to
increase the range of use of a hybrid riser tower in terms of depth.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

Configuration Advantages Disadvantages

Free hanging catenary -Simple configuration -Liable to rapid wear at seabed touch down point
(for flexible and rigid -Very simple installation -Unsuitable for shallow water (rigid pipe)
pipe) -Simple pipeline connection at seabed -High static load at top end connection
Lazy S -Simple pipeline connection - Potential wear at seabed if buoy tension is
-Good possibilities for multiple line insufficient
applications -Need to control bending at end terminations and
-High mid-water velocities may be at mid-water buoy
counteracted by a large mid-water buoy with -Mid water buoy must be configured so that it
high tension and lateral stiffness does not move adversely in high mid-water
velocities
Steep S - Wear at seabed eliminated
- Good possibilities for multi-line application - More complex connection at seabed
- Possible yaw instability of midwater buoy
- Seabed unit must resist upward forces
Lazy Wave -Less complex seabed connection -Potential for rapid wear at seabed touchdown
-Mid-water support stable (greater than for lazy S but may be less than for
-Simple installation and pipeline connection free hanging catenary
- Wear at seabed can be exacerbated by
fluctuations in oil density or slugging causing
repeated lift-off and set-down.
Steep Wave -Wear at seabed eliminated - More complex connection at seabed
-Mid-water support stable - Susceptible to high transverse current velocities
-Possibility for multi-line application when - Seabed unit must resist upward forces
used with spacer frames
Pliant Wave - Movement restricted and hence potential for - Seabed unit must resist forces from riser
wear at seabed reduced - Restraint attachment to riser adds complexity
- Seabed approach may be specifically
designed to resist wear
- Mid-water support stable
Hybrid Riser - Combines advantages of rigid and flexible - Overall complexity and cost may limit
risers to improve performance under vessel applications to deepwater systems
motion and environmental loading - Potential of flow induced vibrations particularly
- Lower rigid section relatively stable and for multi-line applications
requiring minimum maintenance - May require more facilities for installation and
- Compliance assists connection to a floating work-over of upper and lower units
unit with a wide motion envelop (FPSO or
semisubmersible)
A - Top tensioned - Long lengths are achieved by assembling - Top tensioning system limits number of risers
riser tower (semi- shorter, identical lengths particularly on semi-submersible
submersible) - If one element is damaged or suffers wear, it - Complex and heavy subsea manifolding in case
can be changed out of multiple wells and import/export lines
- Ease of intervention access for traditional regrouped on the same riser
drilling and well workover equipment - Difficult option in case disconnection is
required in severe weather
B - Top tensioned - Riser system constrained to move - Top tensioning system is simpler due to small
riser (TLP) approximately on the same arc as the floating stroke requirement
unit particularly for Spar and TLP - Multiple risers are practical
- Long lengths are achieved by assembling - Cannot be disconnected in severe weather
shorter, identical lengths
- If one element is damaged or suffers wear, it
can be changed out
C - Top tensioned - Riser system constrained to move - Top tensioning system replaced by buoyancy
riser (Spar) approximately on the same arc as the floating cans (passive)
unit - Cannot be disconnected in severe weather
- Long lengths are achieved by assembling
shorter, identical lengths
- If one element is damaged or suffers wear, it
can be changed out
Deck level tie-off - Longer catenary therefore greater compliance - Full wave forces and motions must be resisted
- Access for installation, inspection and through the splash zone
maintenance are simpler - Difficulty in releasing coupling in severe
- No requirement for underwater connection weather when the floater is displaced from its
central location
- FPS stability and payload reduced
Pontoon tie-off - Reduced wave loading on riser - May require diving for riser installation and
- Better FPS stability spool connection
- Access for inspection and maintenance
activities is: not simple, limited to calm sea
conditions and may require diving