Composite Marine Drilling Riser
Summary of NIST ATP Program to Apply Advanced Composite Technology to Marine Drilling Riser Systems
The application of advanced composite materials to deepwater exploration and production tubulars can have considerable life cycle cost benefits and could become the enabling technology for very deepwater projects. Advanced composite riser systems can cost less than half that of titanium solutions being considered for deepwater applications.
Partial funding was provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through its Advanced Technology Program (ATP). The goal of ATP is to foster industry development and job creation by pursuing high risk R&D projects with high payoff potential that would not otherwise be pursued.
The NIST ATP grant was awarded in November of 1994 and work on the 3-Year program was begun in April of 1995. The team provided $2.4 million in funding, matched by the NIST ATP grant, for a total project budget of $4.8 million.
After developing a comprehensive design specification, preliminary design concepts were generated, evaluated and selected. Materials were chosen and characterized and the design analyzed.
The critical composite to metal termination problem was solved with a superior design which will resist higher loads than the tubular riser body, one of the most significant achievements of this project.
A computer program, called MODRAN and based on a mathematical model which integrates lateral and axial modal analysis, was also developed to improve design iteration cycle time. Two full scale prototypes of the composite drilling riser were fabricated for a rigorous testing, evaluation and validation program. A design for composite choke & kill lines was developed and three testing prototypes fabricated.
Testing and evaluation of the Advanced Composite Drilling Riser was begun with a hydrostatic collapse test on one prototype and continued with a complete spectrum of tension, bending and fatigue tests on the other, to determine its capabilities. The composite choke & kill line prototypes were subjected to axial buckling testing and to a spectrum of pressure, axial loads, elevated temperature and fatigue. Performance was nominal in all tests. Significant advances were also made in liner and liner sealing technology for composite offshore tubulars.
In early 1997 the team revised the scope of the program, with NIST approval, to include the application of the design methodology developed to a drilling riser system in 12,500 feet of water. This additional work was completed and the results reported at OTC 98. This NIST ATP program is currently entering its final phase. It has been very successful and has been pointed out by NIST officials as a model program.
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