TAMU - Pemex

Offshore Drilling

Lesson 5A
The Drilling Riser

1
Lesson 5A - The Drilling Riser

 Riser Components
 Riser Tensioning
 Fatigue
 Kill/Choke Lines
 Inspection & Maintenance
 Reentry
2
 RISER TENSION

SLIP JOINT INNER BARREL SLIP JOINT OUTER BARREL

UPPER BALL JOINT

KILL AND CHOICE LINES RISER JOINTS

LOWER BALL JOINT

BOP
Mudline
Riser system for a floating drilling rig
Marine riser = drilling riser, get returns to surface, well control, communications link
3
 Integral Marine Riser Joints
Choke and kill lines are integral with the marine riser , flanged connections; clamp, etc
4
 Integral Marine
Riser Connector

Flanged connection - 6 bolts

NOTE: Choke and Kill Lines

O-ring type seals

- inspect when running

5
Integral Marine
Riser Connector

6
 Marine
Riser
Flexible
Joint

Flexible joint, binding from high tensile forces, inject lubricant, up to 1,500,000 lbf!
7
 MARINE RISER
DIVERTER
FLEXIBLE ASSEMBLY
JOINT
RISER
TENSIONING
TELESCOPIC LINES
JOINT
KILL AND
CHOKE LINES

Upper Section Marine Riser System.

8
 Mud returns

L.P. Annular
Control valve

Vent line

A diverter system.
9
Re-directs flow from rig floor to blooey line (10”+), downwind, do not shut in, erosion -10 8
 Figure 6-6.
Subsea BOP Stack

Vertical steel loops

used for kill / choke
line transition around
the ball joint.

10
 The Drilling Riser
MEAN WATER LEVEL

RISER ELEMENT

Schematic diagram of
riser with imposed forces
Optimum riser tension to minimize damage to riser and wear-and-tear on tensioners, 11
sag
 Insufficient Tension
Maximum stress
Stress in riser, kips
(too much sag)

Mean
tension

Minimum stress

Applied tension in riser, kips

Tension in riser must be not too low and not too high. Set at 118 kips - will fluctuate 100-136 kips ~12
15%
Combined Effect of Mean
Stress and Alternating Stress

Consider: Max Stress of 40 ksi

Alternating Stress: 10 or 20 ksi
Mean Stress: ?
Life: ?

13
 Alternating stress, ksi

Yield
strength

Mean stress, ksi

Modified Goodman diagram
30  10 (20-40 ksi) => 106; 20  20 (0-40 ksi) => 105 cycles. If Mean stress is high, alt. low
14
 Max. riser stress, ksi

Vessel offset, % of water depth

Need adequate tension: Tensioned to 225 kips for 6% offset: at 3%, 11 ksi; at 10%, 3015ksi.
Max. riser stress, ksi
(196 * 5/6 = 163)

(225 * 5/6 = 188)

The effects of losing one-sixth tensioning

capacity on the riser system of previous slide
Need adequate tension: Tensioning to 296 kips looks the most advantageous. 16
 Estimating Pressure Drop
in Choke Lines

It is important to be able to determine if the

pressure drop in the choke line will be a
problem (excessive).

Most drilling fluids are Non-Newtonian.

The Bingham Plastic or Power-Law models
may be used. More about this later.
17
Riser Considerations

 Riser Metallurgy is very important.

 Correct heat treatment is
essential.
 80,000 psi min. yield strength and
good toughness is preferred.
 Preheating, welding & normalizing
after welding is critical for riser
integrity & long life.
18
Riser Considerations – cont’d

 No Field Welding on Riser!

 Fatigue of riser cannot be measured

prior to some indication of failure.

 Routine inspection required.

19
Riser Considerations – cont’d

 Fatigue is an embrittlement of the

metal. It often starts in the
vicinity of welds or other places
of high stress concentration.

 Fatigue is caused by cyclic loading.

20
Riser Inspection

 Visual Inspection of the riser should

occur every time the riser is run.

Check all the seals

Check all the sealing areas

21
Riser Inspection – cont’d

 A complete inspection should be made

annually.
Dyes: Will detect cracks. To use
dyes, paint must be removed.
Magnetic Particle Inspection: Sand
blast areas around welds prior to
magnetic particle inspection.
22
Riser Inspection – cont’d

 Ultra-Sonic Inspection: May detect

cracks below the surface. This test is
run inside pipe. Paint removal is not
necessary.
 X-Ray Inspection: Is for cracks inside
the metal. It may miss surface cracks.
 No one technique will find all the cracks.

23
Riser Instrumentation

 Heave Gauge: Pointer attached to

guide line moving in front of
graduated board.
 Riser Angle Indicator (at ball joint):

    2
x
2
y  1/ 2

  tan 1
 tan 2
 x  tan  y
2
 1/ 2

24
Riser Instrumentation – cont’d

Accurate Positioning System:

 For detecting and monitoring vessel
position.

25
 Ball Joint

 A Ball Joint Angle > 4 degrees is an

indication that something is wrong!

 Vessel has excessive offset

 Riser tension is inadequate

26
Ball Joint – cont’d

 Must decrease ball joint angle

before operations are
resumed.

 Remedial Action:
Decrease Offset
Increase Riser Tension

27
Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System

 Guidelines are used for guiding

equipment from the vessel to the
seafloor (except in deepwater)

 Selection and care of guidelines is

critical

28
Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System – cont’d

 Guidelines should not be tensioned

beyond 1/3 of breaking capacity

 But…inadequate tension is the

most common cause of failure in
guidelines

29
Vessel to Seafloor
Guidance System - cont’d

 Tension should be maximum when

landing the BOP stack, or when
landing the riser onto the stack.
 When the guidelines are not being
used to run equipment, tension
may be slacked off to ~ twice the
weight of the line in seawater.
30
Table 6-1. Recommendations for
Conventionally Used Guidelines

As water depth increases, larger

diameter guidelines must be used.
Higher tensioning is required.
Don’t forget to limit tension to < 1/3
of breaking strength.

31