Deep water riser system for offshore drilling
OwnerHarold L. Pottsinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A buoyant riser system for use in a deep water offshore drilling environment is anchored by a system of compliant guys below the active weather zone of the sea. A controllably buoyant housing of the system is submerged at a depth that is readily accessible to divers and includes a blow-out preventer (BOP) from which a suspended sub-riser leads to a well bore to which the sub-riser is coupled. Above the housing, a riser suspended from a floating drill rig is coupled to the BOP thereby communicating the drill rig directly with the well bore for drilling and well completion operations.
Claims20
A deep water riser system for offshore drilling and well completion comprising, in combination:
- buoyancy means adapted to be anchored at a predetermined depth in support of a submerged load;
- riser coupling means including closure means having an inlet and an outlet attached to said buoyancy means;
- sub-riser means connected to said inlet and depending from the buoyancy means for communicating said coupling means with a well bore;
- riser means connected to said outlet for communicating the well bore with a floating drill rig positioned thereabove;
- and guying means including cable means having lengths of predetermined positive, neutral and negative buoyancy adapted to anchor said buoyancy means at a depth established by the sub-riser means and to stabilize said system by producing a restoring force for controllably limiting lateral excursions of said buoyancy means and corresponding pivotal motions of said sub-riser means.
In a deep water riser system for offshore drilling and well completion comprising, in combination, buoyancy means adapted to be anchored at a predetermined depth in support of a submerged load, riser coupling means including closure means having an inlet and an outlet attached to said buoyancy means, sub-riser means connected to said inlet and depending from the buoyancy means for communicating said coupling means with a well bore, and riser means connected to said outlet for communicating the well bore with a floating drill rig positioned thereabove, an improvement comprising guying means including cable means having lengths of predetermined positive, neutral and negative buoyancy adapted to anchor said buoyancy means at a depth established by the sub-riser means and to stabilize said system by producing a restoring force for controllably limiting lateral excursions of said buoyancy means and corresponding pivotal motions of said sub-riser means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.