Challenges in deepwater riser system design and analysis

摘要

It has been well recognized that the design and analysis of deepwater riser systems should consider various aspects of the overall system. The associated pipelines and floating-production system are separated from the risers by certain assumed boundaries: more and more design and analysis practices have shown that the uncertainties and difficulties in defining suitable boundaries may result in unpredictable or totally-different scenarios. The components of the integrated overall system of risers, floating-production systems, and associated pipelines all interacted with each other, and these interactions affect the performance of the risers. However, these interaction effects are relatively-unknown, and need further research. This paper reviews the current industry practice in deepwater riser design and analysis, and addresses the challenging issues in riser design and analysis as an overall system associated with the pipeline and floating production system. A systematic methodology to analyse this complicated system is proposed.