Abstract
A new type of floating platform design has been investigated. It consists of a relatively small semi-submersible floating structure with an air chamber that aims to keep a constant buoyancy, thus effectively reducing heave motion and enabling its use under harsh environmental conditions such as in the North Sea. It aims to provide an alternative solution compared to large floating structures, such as drillships and semi-submersible platforms, in terms of time availability, drilling costs and operational flexibility. One recent focus has been on the application of this platform for reducing well intervention costs. A small diameter (workover) riser may be used for installing the well control stack on the wet Christmas tree and for performing well intervention through the riser using a wireline cable. Alternatively, the operation can take place without a riser; this operation is termed riserless well intervention (RLWI). In this work, we investigate the dynamic behavior of this system, which is attached either to a wireline — for RLWI — or to a small-sized riser for well service through the riser. By modeling this system — which acts similarly to a passive heave compensation system — we have verified that this new platform indeed experiences smaller displacements when compared to conventional platform. The reduction observed varies depending on the platform design; in some cases, it reduces the displacement by a factor of two. A relatively heavier platform with a small cross sectional water plane area is found to be the best design option, but a lighter platform might be preferable for increased flexibility, as long as its dynamic behavior is satisfactory for safe operations.
