Optimization of Steel Catenary Risers in Deepwater
Joshua Abam1*, Yongchang Pu2 and Zhiqiang Hu2
1
Marine Subsea and Offshore Group, School of Engineering, Newcastle University,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom (
[email protected])
2
Marine Subsea and Offshore Group, School of Engineering, Newcastle University,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Abstract
As vital as the host facility and subsea production structures are to the oil and gas
exploration development in deepwater environment, risers are considered as a critical
system. Steel catenary risers (SCR) are a good candidate for deepwater exploration due to
its relative low cost, less demanding of subsea intervention, and in compliance to the motions
of the floating structures, such as FPSOs, SPAR, and Semisubmersible etc. It is this
acceptability that has encouraged its use in several offshore fields across the world.
[CITATION Her07 \l 2057 ]
In recent years the acceptability of SCR in deepwater has suffered some setback which has
resulted in the decline of its deployment. This has given rise to the development of
alternative riser design concepts which are more costly and require additional subsea
intervention. Key challenges facing the SCR deployment in deepwater include: the increase
top tension due to high increase in riser weight, high stresses near both touch down and
hang-off point, large vessel offset and finally its fatigue performance both at hang-off and
touch down point [ CITATION Gil17 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Jac03 \l 2057 ].
The objective of this research is to achieve a cost-effective SCR by applying optimization
techniques. As such the application of genetic algorithm is used due to its ability to
repeatedly modify a population of individual solutions. At each step, the genetic algorithm
selects individuals at random from the current population to be parents and uses them to
produce the children for the next generation. Over successive generations, the population
"evolves" toward an optimal solution. You can apply the genetic algorithm to solve a variety
of optimization problems that are not well suited for standard optimization algorithms,
including problems in which the objective function is discontinuous, non-differentiable,
stochastic, or highly nonlinear.
The global static and dynamic responses of SCR have been predicted by a commercial
software, ORCAFLEX [ CITATION Orc18 \l 2057 ]. An interface in MATLAB [ CITATION
Orc18 \l 2057 ] has been developed to interactively exchange data between genetic
algorithm and ORCAFLEX. This procedure has been applied to optimize a SCR, which is
operated in a water depth of 2000m. The environmental conditions are as follows: The
current has a speed of 0.5m/s on the seabed and 1.5m/s at the sea surface; The wave height
is 4.0m with a period of 14sec. The host vessel is a 300m long FPSO.
The genetic algorithm developed has three steps: the selection process, the crossover and
mutation. The results have demonstrated that the total cost of a SCR can be minimized and
at the same time the structural integrity is maintained at the required level.
Keywords: Optimization; stress concentration; steel catenary riser; effective tension; top
tension
References
[1] Gilang, M. G., & Daniel, K. (2017). Feasibility Study of Selected Riser Concepts in
Deepwater and Harsh Environment. International Conference on Ocean, Offshore
and Artic Engineering (pp. 1-2). Trondheim Norway: ASME.
[2] Herve, Q., Jean-Luc, L., Kevin, H., Mason, W., & Acergy. (2007). Steel Catenary Riser
Challenges and Solution for Deepwater Application. Offshore Technological
Conference (pp. 1 - 2). Houston Texas: OTC.
[3] Jack, P., Kent, B. D., & David, C. R. (2003). A Feasibility Study for Steel Catenary
Riser Connected to a Spread-Moored FPU Monohull In a Field Offshore Brazil .
International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Artic Engineering (p. 1).
Cancum, Mexico: ASME.
[4] Orcina. (2018, 11 24). Orcina. Retrieved from https://www.orcina.com/blog/:
https://www.orcina.com/blog/
Short Bio:
Joshua ABAM
He is a second stage PhD researcher at Newcastle University, with background in
Mechanical and Offshore Engineering and research interest in subsea structural integrity.
Yongchang Pu.
He is a lecturer at the Newcastle University where he le cturer Structural and Reliability
Analysis of Offshore Structures. His research interest covers the following: structural design
and analysis of ships and offshore structures; Reliability analysis of components and systems
of structures; Reliability - based optimal design of structures and Probabilistic analysis of
marine risers.
Zhiqiang Hu
He is a professor in hydrodynamics and received his bachelor degree (Ship Engineering),
master degree (Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering) and doctor degree (Naval
Architecture & Ocean Engineering) in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He joined Newcastle
University in 2016. He has plenty of teaching and research experiences and knowledge in
naval architecture and ocean engineering related hydrodynamics, structural dynamics and
basin model test conducting technology.
