INLINE COMPENSATOR FOR A FLOATING DRILLING RIG

摘要

An apparatus and method for protecting against the problems associated withheave of a floating drilling rig are disclosed. The disclosed invention is aunique inline compensator in which a plurality of cylinders housed within atubular housing and a plurality of low pressure and high pressure accumulatorsfunction together to provide a system for compensating for heave in the eventa primary heave compensation system fails or becomes inoperative. The typicalinline compensator of the present invention utilizes a plurality of hydrauliccylinders that act in opposite directions and that have different piston areassuch that the piston rods of the cylinders are extended or retracted atdifferent pressure levels to account for heave. The typical inline compensatorof the present invention is self-contained and compact enough to fit in thelimited space available on a floating drilling structure. Further, a pair ofinline compensators of the present invention can be utilized with coiledtubing operations. In such a case, the inline compensators will not interferewith the tooling necessary to conduct the coiled tubing operations.