NDLI: Comparison of Real-Time Measured and Predicted Wellhead Fatigue Performance in a Deepwater Drilling Operation

Content Provider	The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection
Author	Mackenzie, James Murdoch, Neil Killbourn, Stuart
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	This paper discusses the use of a real-time monitoring system to track wave driven fatigue damage at critical locations in a subsea well during a 290-day drilling operation in the Mediterranean Sea. Real-time monitoring was employed due to up-front finite element (FE) analysis predicting fatigue damage rates of sufficient magnitude that the required safety factor would not be met. LMRP/BOP motions were recorded using two subsea monitoring units (each containing accelerometers and angular rate sensors). These were installed on the LMRP and above the lower flex joint. The accelerometer signals were used to deduce the static inclination of the well and the angular rate signals the dynamic inclination due to vessel motion and wave loading on the riser. Data was transmitted in real-time to a central processing unit on board the vessel. This converted the motion data into fatigue damage accumulation using non-linear transfer functions derived from the FE model. The damage was displayed in a simplified format for use in decision-making. The recorded data revealed the motions of the LMRP/BOP and hence the damage rates in the well to be considerably less than predicted by the FE analysis. The damage rates derived from the monitoring system therefore served as a continuously updating demonstration that an acceptable margin of safety against suffering a fatigue failure was being maintained thus permitting drilling to proceed safely. A subsequent benchmarking study which additionally involved processing of recorded vessel motion data, current data and seastate data was undertaken to identify possible reasons for the differences between the predicted and measured LMRP/BOP motions. This showed that conservative assumptions made on the soil stiffness (due to limited availability of data), differences between the predicted and measured riser natural periods and differences between the predicted and measured vessel motions all contributed to the LMRP/BOP motions and hence the damage rates predicted by the up-front FE analysis being larger than measured in the field. The systematic identification of the factors which contributed to the differences between the predicted and measured response is described in this paper. Areas where further work would be of value to help improve the reliability of up-front, analytically predicted fatigue damage rates are also discussed.
Sponsorship	Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9780791856529
DOI	10.1115/OMAE2015-42107
Volume Number	Volume 5B: Pipeline and Riser Technology
Conference Proceedings	ASME 2015 34th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering
Language	English
Publisher Date	2015-05-31
Publisher Place	St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Accelerometers Drilling Seas Decision making Transfer functions Vessels Fatigue Fatigue failure Underwater drilling Waves Pipeline risers Finite element model Monitoring systems Soil Ocean engineering Stiffness Finite element analysis Safety Sensors Signals Damage Reliability Risers (casting) Fatigue damage
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in