Flowline jumper for subsea well
AssigneesABB Vetco Gray Inc., ABB Offshore Systems Limited
InventorsGawain Langford, Francisco Dezen, Lars-Petter Sollie, Stephen P. Fenton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A subsea well system has a flowline jumper that extends between components on the sea floor. The jumper has connectors on each end for connecting to the two components. At least a portion of the jumper is buoyant and sufficiently flexible to cause it to assume a vertical arcuate configuration when installed. One end of the jumper has a connector that has a mandrel that guides into a mating socket formed on the end of an arm. The arm is mounted to a ring that can be rotated to various orientations.
Claims29
In a subsea well system having first and second components on a sea floor and spaced laterally apart from each other a selected distance, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the components;
- first and second connectors on opposite ends of the flowline that are connected to the first and second components, respectively;
- and
- at least a portion of the flowline being buoyant and having a curved configuration with an apogee, the buoyancy causing the apogee to be above the sea floor and at a higher elevation than the first and second connectors after installation of the flowline has been completed.
In a subsea well system having first and second components spaced laterally apart from each other a selected distance, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the components;
- first and second connectors on opposite ends of the flowline that are connected to the first and second components, respectively;
- at least a portion of the flowline being buoyant and sufficiently flexible to cause said portion of the flowline to assume a curved configuration;
- and wherein the first component comprises:
- a vertical tubular member;
- a ring mounted around the member;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a tube leading from the tubular member to the arm, the tube having a coupling on an end;
- and
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the tubular member to position the coupling in a desired direction for connection with the flowline.
In a subsea well system having first and second components spaced laterally apart from each other a selected distance, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the components;
- first and second connectors on opposite ends of the flowline that are connected to the first and second components, respectively;
- at least a portion of the flowline being buoyant and sufficiently flexible to cause said portion of the flowline to assume a curved configuration;
- and wherein the first component comprises:
- wherein the first component comprises:
- a vertical tubular member;
- a ring mounted around the tubular member;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a vertical socket located on an end of the arm;
- a tube leading from the tubular member to the arm adjacent the socket, the tube having a coupling on an end;
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the tubular member to position the coupling in a desired direction for connection with the flowline;
- and the first connector comprises:
- a horizontally oriented coupling that sealingly couples to the coupling of the first component;
- and
- a vertically oriented mandrel that inserts into the socket to guide the coupling of the flowline into alignment with the coupling of the first component.
In a subsea well system having a subsea production tree having a flowline coupling spaced laterally from a flowline coupling of a processing component, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the flowline couplings of the tree and the component;
- connectors on opposite ends of the flowline connected to the couplings for flowing fluids between the tree and the component;
- and
- the flowline having at least a portion with a curved configuration with a buoyant jacket located thereon, the jacket causing an apogee of the portion to float at a higher elevation than the connectors after installation.
In a subsea well system having a subsea production tree having a flowline coupling spaced laterally from a flowline coupling of a processing component, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the flowline couplings of the tree and the component;
- connectors on opposite ends of the flowline connected to the couplings for flowing fluids between the tree and the component;
- a buoyant jacket located on the flowline, the flowline being sufficiently flexible to cause at least a portion of the flowline to assume a vertical curved configuration;
- a vertical tubular member on which the tree is mounted;
- a ring mounted around the tubular member;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a tube leading from the tree to the arm, the coupling of the tree being located on an end of the tube;
- and
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the tubular member to position the coupling of the tree in a desired direction for connection with the flowline.
In a subsea well system having a subsea production tree having a flowline coupling spaced laterally from a flowline coupling of a processing component, the improvement comprising:
- a flowline having a length greater than the distance between the flowline couplings of the tree and the component;
- connectors on opposite ends of the flowline connected to the couplings for flowing fluids between the tree and the component;
- a buoyant jacket located on the flowline, the flowline being sufficiently flexible to cause at least a portion of the flowline to assume a vertical curved configuration;
- a vertical tubular member on which the tree is mounted;
- a ring mounted around the tubular member;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a vertical socket located on an end of the arm;
- a tube leading from the tree to the arm, the coupling of the tree being located on an end of the tube;
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the tubular member to position the coupling of the tree in a desired direction for connection with the flowline;
- and one of the connectors comprises:
- a horizontally oriented coupling that sealingly couples to the coupling of the tree;
- and
- a vertically oriented mandrel that inserts into the socket to guide the coupling of the flowline into alignment with the coupling of the tree.
A subsea well, comprising:
- a tubular wellhead housing having an axis;
- a production tree landed on the wellhead housing and having a production outlet;
- a ring coaxially carried by the wellhead housing below the production tree;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a coupling located adjacent the arm and formed on the end of the production outlet for connection to a flowline;
- and
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the wellhead to position the arm at a desired orientation.
A subsea well, comprising:
- a wellhead assembly having a production outlet;
- a ring carried by the wellhead assembly;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a coupling located adjacent the arm and formed on the end of the production outlet for connection to a flowline;
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the wellhead assembly to position the arm at a desired orientation;
- wherein the wellhead assembly comprises:
- a wellhead housing;
- a production tree mounted to the wellhead housing;
- and wherein
- the ring is rotatably mounted to the wellhead housing;
- and the ring further comprises:
- a plurality of lock elements mounted to an exterior of the ring for locking the ring in the desired orientation.
A subsea well, comprising:
- a wellhead assembly having a production outlet;
- a ring carried by the wellhead assembly;
- an arm extending laterally from the ring;
- a coupling located adjacent the arm and formed on the end of the production outlet for connection to a flowline;
- wherein the ring is selectively rotatable relative to the wellhead assembly to position the arm at a desired orientation;
- and
- a vertically oriented socket at an end of the arm for engagement by a mandrel of a flowline connector.
A method of transmitting fluids between subsea first and second components that area separated laterally from each other, comprising:
- (a) providing a flowline with a length greater than the distance between the components, the flowline having at least a portion with an arcuate configuration;
- (b) providing the portion of the flowline having the arcuate configuration with a buoyant member having sufficient buoyancy to cause said portion of the flowline to locate in a vertical plane when submersed;
- (c) on a lift line, lowering the flowline and connecting ends of the flowline to the first and second components;
- and
- (d) retrieving the lift line while leaving the buoyancy member permanently with the flowline so that the arcuate portion of the flowline remains in a vertical plane after installation.
A method of connecting a subsea tree assembly to a second subsea component, comprising:
- (a) installing a wellhead housing on the sea bed;
- (b) placing a ring around the wellhead housing, the ring having an arm extending laterally from the wellhead housing;
- (c) with the assistance of an ROV, rotating the ring to point the arm in a desired direction after the wellhead housing has been installed on the sea bed;
- (d) landing a tree on the wellhead housing, the tree having a production outlet with a tree coupling that is aligned with the arm;
- (e) engaging a flowline connector of a flowline with the arm to support the flowline connector;
- then
- (f) connecting the flowline connector to the coupling of the production outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.