Triceratops: an Effective Platform for Developing Oil and Gas Fields in Deep and Ultra Deep Water

摘要

Two platform configurations for dry tree based development of large oil and gas fields are the Spar and the TLP. These platforms with large deck payloads will be very expensive to build due to a number of factors such as their large hulls, complex joints and enormous station-keeping systems. They will also be costly to inspect, maintain and repair due to problems associated with the characteristic responses of each platform to excitational forces such as large dynamic surges, vortex induced motions, ringing and springing of the tethers and the adverse effect of stress cycles on riser and tether fatigue lives. This paper introduces the Triceratops concept [Figure 1] with inherent characteristics that facilitate its cost-effective construction and installation and minimize potential problems during its service life.