Jack Ups in Operation

ACK UPS IN OPERATION TYPES AND DIFFERENCE
th
OCTOBER 2013
PRESENTED BY NANDAKUMAR KUNNANCHATH
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Jack Ups in Operation

A jackup is a floating barge fitted with long support
legs that can be raised or lowered. The jackup is
maneuvered (self-propelled or by towing) into location
with its legs up and the hull floating on the water.
Upon arrival at the work location, the legs are jacked
down onto the seafloor. Then "preloading" takes
place, where the weight of the barge and additional
ballast water are used to drive the legs securely into
the sea bottom so they will not penetrate further while
operations are carried out. After preloading, the
jacking system is used to raise the entire barge above
the water to a predetermined height or "air gap", so
that wave, tidal and current loading acts only on the
relatively slender legs and not on the barge hull.
Modern jacking systems use a rack and pinion gear
arrangement where the pinion gears are driven by
hydraulic or electric motors and the rack is affixed to
the legs.
Jackup rigs can only be placed in relatively shallow
waters, generally less than 400 feet (120 m) of water.
However, a specialized class of jackup rigs known as
premium or ultra-premium jackups are known to
have operational capability in water depths ranging
from 500 to 625 feet.
Jack Ups in Operation - Types
obile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs)
capable of drilling through thousands of metres of th

Earth's crust. Large "mud pumps" circulate drillin
mud (slurry) through the drill bit and up the casin
annulus, for cooling and removing the "cuttings" whil
a well is drilled.
drilled Hoists in the rig can lift hundreds o
tons of pipe. Other equipment can force acid or san
into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil o
natural gas; and in remote locations there can b
permanent living accommodation and catering fo
crews (which may be more than a hundred). Marin
rigs may operate many hundreds of miles o
kilometres distant from the supply base wit
infrequent crew rotation or cycle.

Liftboats
A liftboat is a self-propelled, s
elevating vessel with a relatively la
open deck capable of carry
equipment and supplies in support
various offshore mineral exploration
production or offshore construct
activities. A liftboat also has
capability of rapidly raising its hull cl
of the water on its own legs so as
provide a stable platform from wh
maintenance and construction w
may be conducted. Liftboats are usu
outfitted with at least one crane; mar
cranes are usually designed to
specification 2C or the equival
classification society guidelines.

Jack Up WTIVs
Wind Turbine Installation Vess

are deployed to install turbines
offshore wind farms. On arriva
the site of the wind turbi
vessel lowers its legs to stand
the seabed, and then jacks
above the surface of the s
This provides a stable platform
hammer down a mono-pile
the sea bed and install the w
turbine. When the turbine
been installed, vessel low
herself and sails to the n
position to repeat the process

MOPUs
Mobile offshore production unit

(MOPUs) are production units tha
can be relocated from site to site
The jackup has proven itself a
excellent candidate for shallow
water early production application
Jackups offer a cost efficien
solution for short life fields
compared with jacket or subse
applications.
Mobility enables reduced installation, hook up, and commissioning

decommissioning costs, compared with a jacket structure. Production jac
ups have the added advantage of relocation and re-use at less cost. Jacku
platforms provide large flat deck areas offering flexibility for a safe an
functional topside arrangement.
Jack Up Construction & Accommodation Barges
Specialized jack ups used

as a base for servicing
other structures such as oil
and gas platforms during
their construction, operation
and maintenance and also
for
accommodation
of
offshore crew during hook
up and commissioning.
Jack Ups in Operation - Differences
Major Design Parameters

The overall jack up design optimizes the interrelationship of the key features, i.e.,
would not desire a big deck area without a comparable deck load. So there are certain
lements to focus on:
1) Legs and Pads

The vast majority of jack ups are three-legged
legged. The four-legged liftboat will cost more
he cost of simply adding the cost of another leg, i.e., the jacking system to support
egs loaded diagonally is greater and the hull structure is different/heavier.
perationally, the setup time savings of a four-legged equates to money, so, one ha
weigh the costs and benefits of three vs. four legs.
Proven to be a cost effective design, the vast number of liftboats have three columnar
pipe legs). Columnar legs and pads provide added buoyancy for the liftboat as the
re lowered to the sea floor. This buoyancy in both the legs and pads (spud cans) h
educe the bottom bearing pressure on the pads. In combination with the buoyancy, la
ftboat pads are designed to reduce bottom bearing pressure. This has the effect of
enetration.
Working water depth also affects the type of leg; for example, after about 220 feet
meters) of water, lattice legs are the norm.

(2) Jacking System
The jacking system for a liftboat is very different than the jacking system for a jack
up drilling rig. The two major differences center on speed and cycles.
Speed of the liftboat jacking system is essential.

essential While a typical jack-up drilling ri
elevates at two feet per minute, a liftboat could elevate at four to six feet per minut
and lower the legs at 14-18 feet per minute.
minute This gives the liftboat the ability to ge
on and off location significantly faster.
The jacking system for a liftboat encounters a very different operational cycle.
would not be uncommon for a liftboat to jack up and down in one year the sam
number of times that a jack-up drilling rig would encounter in its entire lifetime. So
the wear factors, redundancy, material grades and shock loads are differen
between jack-ups and liftboats.

(3) Working Water Depth
The expected wind, wave and current (environmental conditions) in the maximum
working water depth need to be determined.
determined Although, other variables will go into
the liftboat design, such as, net deck load, the starting point is still working water
depth. An area with moderate environmental conditions vs. harsh environmental
conditions will be a significantly different jackup design in all aspects, i.e., legs,
jacking system and hull.
(4) Open Deck Area
The deck area is the unobstructed, open area. The liftboat crane is used to move
equipment and materials around and on to and off of the platform/offshore location.
There is a relationship among these variables open deck area, net deck load and
crane capacity. Furthermore, you need a crane capacity that is commensurate with
the expected deck loads and deck area.

(5) Net Deck Load
The net deck load for a liftboat is what you have on your deck in transit and can
then jack up with on the deck. Consumables (such as water, fuel, hydraulic fluid
etc.) are in addition to the net deck load..
There is a definite relationship among deck area, deck load and crane capacity
Liftboats are designed as multi-purpose vessels.
Also, one needs to consider the type of equipment and components that will be on
the deck, so that, various areas can be designed to accommodate the various
loadings, i.e., an area near the bow may have higher point loading than othe
areas.

(6) Crane Capacity
There are a variety of cranes for liftboats.

liftboats Cranes for liftboats are designed by
crane manufacturers specifically for liftboats.
liftboats Weight is a key consideration in
liftboat design, so, every consideration needs to be made in the overall design
including the crane. Therefore, cranes for liftboats are typically structurally lighte
than a comparable offshore crane.
Regarding types of liftboat cranes, there are lattice boom, box boom, telescopic
boom, pedestal mounted, and leg encircling cranes.

(7) Personnel Accommodations
The accommodations are another feature of liftboats. The personne

accommodations are generally divided into two areas navigation crew an
customer/operational personnel. As liftboats have gotten bigger with increase
capacities, so have the requirements for more personnel. For example, a 100-ma
accommodation block would typically have about 20 navigation crew and th
remaining 80 for customer/operational personnel.
personnel
The type of job that the liftboat is performing will dictate the accommodatio
requirement, i.e., an offshore construction job would generally require mor
personnel than a well intervention job.
job The construction job may even requir
additional modular living quarters on the deck.

(8) Propulsion
Majority of liftboats are self-propelled. This alleviates the need for tugs to move th
liftboat or to set up on location. The liftboat can wait for a weather window an
move. The larger liftboats have integrated propulsion and bow thrusters. Liftboat
with DP2 capability are becoming more common these days.
(9) Classification Society Rules
Classification Society rules are also different for different types of jack ups. Fo
example, whilst most of the MODU rules are applicable for Liftboats as well, ther
are different rules and guidelines avaialble for liftboats (MOUs for ABS, Liftboats fo
Lloyds Register), etc.
n todays market place, there are more than a dozen major active designers for jack
units, each having certain design techniques and features that they feel make the
units more economical to build, better to operate, or both. The following is a brief listin
of these features.
Pinion versus pin and hold jacking system
Single sided versus opposed rack
Fixed versus floating jacking units
Electric versus hydraulic jacking power
Transparent versus robust leg design
Jack support systems (a) Stiffness of Units (b) Leg Locking Devices (c) Torsio
balancing devices
Guide tolerances and lengths
Leg bracing patterns
Slo-Rol systems
Heave absorption systems
With such a complex group of variables and their implications which may be combine
o produce so many different possible benefits or problems, it is important
understand the purpose and functions of some of these features in both qualitative an
quantitative manner, before owners and operators can decide the specification
ackups for a specific operation.
Thank You for your attention

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ACK UPS IN OPERATION TYPES AND DIFFERENCE

PRESENTED BY NANDAKUMAR KUNNANCHATH

PDF Creator - PDF4Free v3.0

PDF Creator - PDF4Free v3.0