Features of a taut leg mooring system for deep water
- Norsk Hydro, Bergen (Norway)
As oil exploration and production is moving into greater water depths there is a need for cost effective stationkeeping systems. To date all floating production units have used conventional catenary mooring systems consisting of chain or a chain/wire combination. For greater water depths the use of a catenary mooring system (CMS) will result in very long lines and a large additional vertical load on the platform. The objective of the present work has been to develop cost effective stationkeeping systems for floating production units in 500--1,500 m water depth. The work is based on a case study of a large steel floater (semi). A conceptual design of a taut mooring system (TMS) has been developed. This investigation has focused on the dynamic behavior of the TMS in order to document acceptable dynamic performance. A taut mooring system based on a polyester fiber rope offers an alternative. For a water depth of 1,200 m the line length is reduced from 3,100 m to 2,030 m and the footprint is reduced from 2,800 m to 1,700 m by using a taut mooring system instead of a catenary system. In addition, a taut mooring system using polyester ropes is significantly more cost effective than a conventional catenary mooring system at large water depths. As an overall conclusion the investigation has confirmed satisfactory behavior of the proposed TMS concept.
- OSTI ID:
- 256935
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950604-; ISBN 1-880653-17-6; TRN: IM9631%%141
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international conference on offshore and polar engineering, The Hague (Netherlands), 11-15 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the fifth (1995) international offshore and polar engineering conference. Volume 1; Chung, J.S. [ed.] [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)]; Das, B.M. [ed.] [California State Univ., Sacramento, CA (United States)]; Natvig, B.J. [ed.] [Norwegian Contractors, Stabekk (Norway)]; Olagnon, M. [ed.] [IFREMER, Plouzanne (France)]; PB: 646 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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