The riser system selection and sizing is one of the most challenging design issues of the subsea world specifically for deepwater applications. Bundle riser towers have been used for few deep water developments since the late 1990s and have demonstrated their capacity to meet the operational constraints in terms of field layout congestion, flow assurance, mechanical design, fabrication and installation etc.
From the pioneer application in the Gulf Of Mexico (Green Canyon 29 – 1988) to the 2nd generation systems in Western Africa (GIRASSOL to Rosa or CLOV), the design of Hybrid Riser Towers has evolved to improve mechanical robustness, installation efficiency and operability. This article reviews the past evolutions and gives an overall view of the performance achieved so far, mainly in West African sectors. The move of the offshore industry towards ultra-deep (WD > 1800m) and/or marginal fields may trigger some additional design evolutions which are highlighted in the article, with a focus on the water depth increase considering environmental conditions met on previous projects. The feasibility in harsher conditions is not addressed in this document.
In addition, the challenges raised by the engineering of such deepwater Hybrid Riser Tower concepts are discussed:
• Structural models of different scales shall be used to properly account for potential couplings between the global behavior of the whole tower with the local responses of each individual component;
• Top and bottom assemblies as well as the rigid or flexible spools, the piping and connectors shall be introduced into the FE models to define correct boundary conditions to the HRT;
• Slug or severe internal flows shall be considered for fatigue issues requiring complex models which combine CFD and structural calculations;
• Risks of hydrodynamic instabilities shall be assessed like plunge and torsion galloping for non-cylindrical sections and VIV for bare peripherals;
• A specific attention shall be paid to the fatigue budget spent from towing and Installation to the In-place configuration.