Transport Studies of the Innovative Vertical Buoy Supported Risers System

Resumo

The current expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration in increasingly deeper water depths leads to an option of utilization of hybrid riser systems. These systems are characterized by the combination of flexible jumpers and Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs), interconnected by a floating submerged structure. Among the offered types of hybrid riser systems, one of them employs a Buoy Supported Risers (BSR) as an intermediate element between the flexible jumpers and the SCRs. Although the hybrid riser system utilizing the BSR manages the advantages associated with both types of risers, providing a very effective ultradeep waters riser system, the use of the BSR entails high costs, complexity, and considerable risk during the transportation and installation stages of the buoy. In this way, new alternatives regarding the use of hybrid risers are welcome. In this context, this work presents the innovative proposal of a Vertical Buoy Supported Risers (VBSR) that may offer greater viability when compared to the traditional horizontal concepts, resulting in benefits for hybrid riser systems and, consequently, for oil and gas exploration activities in deepwater environments. The benefits of vertical configuration of the BSR, in relation to the conventional horizontal one, are more focused on transport and installation risks reduction, although also presents vantages in operational phase. In this work, the presented study is focused on the transport stage of the VBSR. Therefore, an evaluation of the VBSRs static and dynamic responses during transportation in intact and damage scenario are presented here.