OFFSHORE INSTALLATION

Abstract

An offshore installation comprising a riser pipe and a bend stiffener. The riser pipe comprises a flexible pipe body having a pipe length and an end fitting and the riser has a longitudinal pipe axis. The bend stiffener comprises a helically shaped body arranged to surround a stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body. The bend stiffener has a root end and a far end, wherein the root end is closer to the end fitting than the far end and the root end is locked at an axial distance to the end fitting, determined along the longitudinal pipe axis.

Claims

1. A offshore installation comprising a riser pipe and a bend stiffener, wherein the riser pipe comprises a flexible pipe body and an end fitting and a longitudinal pipe axis, said pipe body has a pipe length, said bend stiffener comprises a helically shaped body arranged to surround a stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body, the bend stiffener has a root end and a far end, wherein the root end is closer to the end fitting than the far end and the root end is locked at an axial distance to the end fitting, determined along the longitudinal pipe axis.

2.-47. (canceled)

48. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said riser pipe comprises an assembly of a pipe body and end fittings where the pipe body comprises a composite of layered materials that forms a pressure-containing conduit, preferably the riser pipe is a spoolable pipe, said pipe is preferably a layered pipe comprising two or more layers, more preferably said pipe comprises at least one armor layer, more preferably the pipe is an unbonded flexible pipe.

49. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body is in the vicinity of a subsea installation or in the vicinity of a surface installation to which the riser is connected and preferably the stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body is within a distance of up to 50 m from the connection between the riser and the surface installation or from the connection between the riser and subsea installation, such as within a distance of up to 40 m, such as within a distance of up to 30 m, within a distance of up to 20 m from the connection between the riser and the surface installation or from the connection between the riser and subsea installation.

50. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said root end of the bend stiffener is mechanically locked to said end fitting, preferably the root end of the bend stiffener is mechanically locked to the end fitting directly or indirectly via a support structure, optionally the bend stiffener is attached to the end fitting.

51. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein the installation comprises a support structure, said root end of the bend stiffener is supported by and/or attached to said support structure.

52. The offshore installation of claim 51, wherein said support structure comprises a rigid structure preferably arranged to lock said end fitting and said root end of the bend stiffener in a position relative to each other, said support structure preferably comprises a first locking arrangement and a second locking arrangement, wherein the first locking arrangement holds the end fitting and the second locking arrangement holds the root end of the bend stiffener.

53. The offshore installation of claim 51, wherein said support structure comprises a tube, such as an I-tube or a J-tube, preferably arranged to lock said end fitting and said root end of the bend stiffener, said tube preferably comprises a/said first locking arrangement and a/said second locking arrangement, wherein the first locking arrangement holds the end fitting and the second locking arrangement holds the root end of the bend stiffener.

54. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein the bend stiffener is rotarily movable with respect to a support structure.

55. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein the bend stiffener is angularly movable with respect to a support structure.

56. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein the bend stiffener is stiffly attached to a support structure.

57. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein the bend stiffener root end comprises a collar, said collar being attached to the pipe and/or the support structure for locking the bend stiffener root end at an axial distance to the end fitting.

58. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said stiffened length section of said flexible pipe body is surrounded by at least one helical winding and preferably a plurality of helical windings, such as up to 30 windings, such as from 3 to 25 windings, such as from 5 to 20 windings.

59. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein at least a length section L1 of the helically shaped body is arranged to rest against the outer sheath of the pipe, preferably at least a length section L1 of the helically shaped body has an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the outer sheath outer diameter.

60. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said bend stiffener helically shaped body has an inner diameter which is essentially constant along its length.

61. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said bend stiffener helically shaped body has an inner diameter which varies along its length, said bend stiffener inner diameter preferably corresponds to the outer pipe diameter along a length section L1, said length section is preferably at least half of the length of the helically shaped body.

62. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said helically shaped body comprises a helical string of solid material wound to surround the pipe, said helically shaped body is preferably helix shaped in at least a part of its length, preferably in the whole length of the helically shaped body.

63. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said helical string comprises at least two full windings surrounding the pipe, preferably the helical string comprises up to 5 windings per m of the bend stiffener length, preferably said helical string windings have a pitch of from about 15 cm to about 2 m, such as from about 0.2 times the outer pipe diameter to about 10 times the outer pipe diameter, such as from about 0.5 times the outer diameter of the outer sheath to about 5 times the outer diameter of the outer sheath.

64. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said helical string windings have an angle to the bend stiffener axis of from about 30 to about 65, such as from about 40 to about 55.

65. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said helically shaped body comprises two or more helical strings of solid material wound to surround the pipe, said two or more helical strings are preferably wound in the same directions.

66. The offshore installation of claim 1, wherein said helically shaped body has a bend stiffness (flexural rigidity) which is larger than the bend stiffness of the pipe surrounded by said helically

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0125] The above and/or additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be further elucidated by the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings.

[0126] The figures are schematic and may be simplified for clarity. Throughout, the same reference numerals are used for identical or corresponding parts.

[0127] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an unbonded pipe.

[0128] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bend stiffener and a riser pipe of an embodiment of an installation of the invention.

[0129] FIG. 3 is a side view of a bend stiffener and a riser pipe of an embodiment of an installation of the invention.

[0130] FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of an installation of the invention.

[0131] FIG. 5 is a side view of another embodiment of an installation of the invention.

[0132] FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an offshore installation where preferred positions of bend stiffeners are indicated.

[0133] FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of another offshore installation where preferred positions of bend stiffeners are indicated.

[0134] FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of an offshore installation of the invention.

[0135] FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of an offshore installation of the invention.

[0136] FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of a further embodiment of an offshore installation of the invention.

[0137] FIGS. 11a and 11b are perspective views of sections of respective strings forming helically shaped bodies of bend-stiffeners of installations of embodiments of the invention

[0138] FIGS. 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 123 are cross-sectional views of respective strings forming helically shaped bodies of bend-stiffeners of installations of embodiments of the invention

[0139] The pipe shown in FIG. 1 has a typical structure for a riser pipe. The pipe is shown without an end-fitting and where parts of the respective layers have been removed to expose the respective layers of the pipe. The riser pipe of FIG. 1 comprises from inside and out a carcass 1, a pressure sheath 2, a pressure armor layer 4, two cross wound tensile armor layers 4, 5, a holding layer 6 and an outer sheath 7.

[0140] The carcass 1 is usually formed from helically wound profiles and/or folded tapes where the windings are usually interlocked with adjacent windings. The carcass is usually of metal. The carcass provides the pipe with collapse resistance.

[0141] The pressure sheath 2 provides the pipe with internal fluid integrity and defines the bore of the pipe in which the fluid can be transported. The pressure sheath usually comprises an extruded liquid impervious polymer layer.

[0142] The pressure armor layer 4 may in some pipes be omitted, however, for most pressure pipes it is desired to have at least one pressure armor layer. Such pressure armor layer usually comprises helically wound and optionally interlocked profiles and/or folded tapes which are usually of metal. The pressure armor layer 4 supports the internal pressure sheath and system internal-pressure loads in the radial direction.

[0143] The tensile armor layers 4, 5 are usually made from helically wound tapes of metal and/or fiber reinforced polymers (composite). The pipe may have more than two layers but usually an even number of layers are preferred to obtain a torsionally balanced pipe in particular where the pipe does not have a pressure armor. The tensile armor layers mainly have the purpose of resisting tensile loads.

[0144] The holding layer 6 has the purpose of holding the tensile armor layers 4, 5 in its position to resist buckling of the tensile armor layers 4, 5.

[0145] The outer sheath may usually be an extruded polymer sheath that provides external fluid integrity. However, as mentioned above the outer sheath may in some embodiments be liquid impervious and mainly serves to provide mechanical protection.

[0146] The various layers are advantageously not bonded along the length of the pipe body, but are connected via the not shown end-fitting, where the various layers are usually terminated.

[0147] The pipe of the installation of the invention may have further or fewer layers such that it is generally known from riser pipes. Further information of preferred riser pipes may be found in the standard Recommended Practice for Flexible Pipe, ANSI/API 17 B, fourth Edition, July 2008, and the standard Specification for Unbonded Flexible Pipe, ANSI/API 17J, Third edition, July 2008.

[0148] FIG. 2 shows a stiffened length section of a flexible pipe body 10 and a bend stiffener 12a, 12b comprising a root end 11a of a far end 11b, at the root end 11a the bend stiffener comprises a collar 12a and the bend stiffener comprises a helically shaped body 12 arranged to surround the stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body 10. The helically shaped body 12 comprises a string of solid material wound, preferably as described above. The helical string 12 has a maximal cross-sectional outer dimension which decreases from the root end 11a to the far end 11b of the bend stiffener.

[0149] FIG. 3 shows a part of an installation of an embodiment of the invention comprising a pipe body 20 with a stiffened length section 20a. The pipe 20 has an axis as illustrated with ref A. The bend stiffener comprises a helically shaped body 22b arranged to surround the stiffened length section 20a of the flexible pipe body 20. At its root end the bend stiffener comprises a collar 22a comprising flanges 22a for being mounted to a rigid structure.

[0150] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an installation of the invention. The installation comprises a riser pipe with a flexible pipe body 30 and an end fitting 33. A stiffened length section 30a of the pipe body 30 is surrounded by a helically shaped body 32b of a bend stiffener. At the root end of the bend stiffener it comprises a collar 32a. The collar 32a at the root end of the bend stiffener is mechanically locked to the end fitting 33 indirectly via a support structure. The support structure comprises a pair of tube sections 34a, 34b rigidly interconnected by a number of rigid rods 35. The tube sections 34a, 34b are arranged to surround the pipe body 30 and the first tube section 34a is secured to the end fitting 33 by a first locking arrangement and the second tube section 34b is secured to the collar 32a at the root end of the bend stiffener by a second locking arrangement. The end fitting 33 comprises a flange 33a for being mounted to a subsea installation, a surface installation or an intermediate unit.

[0151] Due to the rigid rods 35 the pipe below can be cooled down by water and/or air and accordingly the risk of overheating is highly reduced or even fully eliminated.

[0152] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of an installation of the invention which is a variation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. The installation comprises a riser pipe with a flexible pipe body 40 and an end fitting 43. A stiffened length section 40a of the pipe body 40 is surrounded by a helically shaped body 42b of a bend stiffener. At the root end of the bend stiffener it comprises a collar 42a. The collar 42a at the root end of the bend stiffener is mechanically locked to the end fitting 43 indirectly via a support structure. The support structure comprises a pair of tube sections 44a, 44b rigidly interconnected by a number of rigid rods 45. The tube sections 44a, 44b are arranged to surround the pipe body 40 and the first tube section 44a is secured to the end fitting 43 by a first locking arrangement and the second tube section 44b is secured to the collar 42a at the root end of the bend stiffener by a second locking arrangement. The collar 42a and a part of the helically shaped body 42b of the bend stiffener are extending partly into the second tube section 44b and are attached to the pipe 30 and/or to the rods 35.

[0153] In both FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 it can be seen that the pitch P # of the windings of the string of the helically shaped body increases with the distance to the root end of the bend stiffener.

[0154] One or both of the respective pairs of tube sections 34a, 34b, 44a, 44b may e.g. be secured to a surface installation or a subsea installation.

[0155] FIG. 6 shows an offshore installation comprising a surface installation comprising a vessel 51, such as a weather-vanning vessel which is moored to the seabed S. The vessel is at the water line W. The vessel comprises a hang off structure 56 with a turret 56a from which a riser pipe 50 is hanged out. The turret 56a may support several riser pipes. The riser pipe 50 hangs off from the turret 56a to a subsea structure 57, where it is connected at the top 57a of the subsea structure 57

[0156] The markings BS indicates preferred positions of a bend stiffener. Advantageously the shown installation is an offshore installation of an embodiment of the invention and the installation comprises at least one bend stiffener with a helically shaped body arranged to surround a stiffened length section of the flexible pipe 50 and where the root end of the bend stiffener is locked at an axial distance to the end fitting of the pipe where it is connected to the turret 56a or the top 57a of the subsea structure 57.

[0157] FIG. 7 shows an offshore installation comprising a surface installation at the water line W comprising a platform 61. The platform 61 has a hang off structure 61a from where the riser pipe 60 hanges out. The riser pipe 60 hangs off from the hang off structure 61a to a midwater arch 68 where the pipe 60 is secured. The pipe 60 further extends from the midwater arch 68 to a subsea installation 67. At the subsea installation 67 the riser pipe is connected to a flow line 63 leading further to a second subsea 67a installation e.g. a well.

[0158] The markings BS indicates preferred positions of a bend stiffener. Advantageously the shown installation is an offshore installation of an embodiment of the invention and the installation comprises at least one bend stiffener with a helically shaped body arranged to surround a stiffened length section of the flexible pipe 60 and where the root end of the bend stiffener is locked at an axial distance to the end fitting of the pipe where it is connected to the hang off structure 61a, the midwater arch 68 or the subsea installation 67.

[0159] The offshore installation shown in FIG. 8 comprises a surface installation 71 at the water line W to which a support structure comprising an I-tube 74 is secured. The I-tube 74 comprises a first collar 74a with a first locking arrangement which holds the end fitting 73 of the riser pipe 70 and a second collar 74b with a second locking arrangement holding the root end 72a of the bend stiffener 72a, 72b.

[0160] The pipe body 70 is extending downwards towards a seabed installation. The bend stiffener comprises the helically shaped body 72a arranged to surround a stiffened length section of the flexible pipe body 70.

[0161] The offshore installation shown in FIG. 9 comprises a surface installation 81 at the water line W. The surface installation 81 comprises a support structure comprising a pair of tube sections 84a, 84b rigidly held in a fixed distance to each other such that they surround the pipe body 80 with a distance to each other along the length of the pipe axis. The riser pipe comprises the pipe body 80 and the end fitting 83. The bend stiffener 82 comprises a helically shaped body arranged to surround the pipe body 80 and a root end connected to the second tube section 84b. The first tube section 84a supports the end fitting 83.

[0162] FIG. 10 shows an offshore installation comprising a surface installation at the water line W comprising a vessel 91 with a hang off structure 91a from where the riser pipe 90 hangs out. The riser pipe has the pipe body 90 and an end fitting 93. The bend stiffener comprises a helically shaped body 92a and a collar 92b at its root end. The helically shaped body 92a surrounds a stiffened length section of the pipe body 90. The end fitting is secured at or to the hang off structure 91a.

[0163] FIG. 11a shows a section of a string of a helical string of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener. The string is of solid polymer material 100 reinforced with cross wound metal wires 101 which are embedded in the polymer material. The string is hollow.

[0164] FIG. 11b shows a section of a string of another helical string 102 of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener. The string is of braided tapes 103 of reinforced and cured polymer. The braded tapes are advantageously made from prepreg which after braiding and helical shaping of the string is fully cured.

[0165] FIG. 12a shows a string of a helical shaped body of a bend stiffener seen in a cross sectional cut. The string is substantially circular and has a hollow center part 110a. The string is made from a polymer matrix reinforced with cut fibers and cured after being shaped.

[0166] FIG. 12b shows another string of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener seen in a cross sectional cut. The string is substantially circular and has a hollow center part 110b. The string is made from a polymer matrix reinforced with woven fibers and cured after being shaped.

[0167] FIG. 12c shows a further string of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener seen in a cross sectional cut. The string is substantially circular and has two hollow parts 110c separated with a cross-wall 111. The string is made from a polymer matrix reinforced with woven fibers and cured after being shaped.

[0168] FIG. 12d shows a further string of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener seen in a cross sectional cut. The string is substantially semicircular with a flat face arranged to face towards the pipe. The string has a semicircular hollow part 110d and is made from metal. The flat face comprises a layer 112 of a low friction material.

[0169] FIG. 12e shows a further string of a helically shaped body of a bend stiffener seen in a cross sectional cut. The string is oval and has a hollow center part 110e.