Spar hull centerwell arrangement
AssigneeFloatec, LLC
InventorsJohn James Murray, Edmund Otto Muehlner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A floating spar hull for offshore oil and natural gas exploration and production having a centerwell arrangement wherein a supporting wellbay deck is positioned in the centerwell at a level below the uppermost portion of the spar hull in the centerwell. The wellbay deck is attached to the spar hull by any suitable means such as shear plates such that a space remains between the deck and the spar hull for risers. This allows equipment to be placed below the uppermost deck of the topsides and eliminates or minimizes wind loads on the equipment.
Claims20
A method of accessing each of a plurality of well slots comprising the steps of:
- providing a spar hull having a centerwell open at an uppermost level and a lowermost level of the spar hull;
- providing a deck in the centerwell positioned below the uppermost level of the spar hull and attached to the spar hull by shear plates;
- providing a space between the deck and spar hull to receive equipment along the centerwell;
- providing a topsides deck supported by the spar hull and having a wellbay opening therethrough that is coaxial with the centerwell;
- providing access from the topsides deck to the space between the deck and the spar hull at each of the plurality of well slot;
- positioning a drilling rig on the topsides deck above one of the plurality of well slots;
- and
- skidding the drilling rig along the topside deck around the periphery of the wellbay opening in a circular pattern to a position above another of the plurality of well slots, and accessing the another of the plurality of well slots with the drilling rig.
A method of configuring and accessing riser slots for offshore oil and natural gas exploration comprising;
- providing a spar hull having a centerwell open at an uppermost level and a lowermost level of the spar hull;
- positioning a deck in the centerwell below the uppermost level of the spar hull to define a space between the deck and the spar hull;
- dividing the space between the deck and the spar hull into a plurality of adjacent riser slots;
- connecting the deck and the spar hull with shear plates, wherein the shear plates define a boundary between adjacent riser slots;
- positioning equipment on a topsides deck supported by the spar hull, wherein the topsides deck having a well bay opening coaxial with the centerwell;
- and,
- skidding the equipment along the periphery of the well bay opening to access one of the riser slots.
A floating spar hull arrangement for offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production, the floating spar hull arrangement comprising:
- a topsides deck;
- a spar hull supporting the topsides deck, the spar hull having an inner wall defining a centerwell extending through an uppermost level and a lowermost level of the spar hull, the topsides deck having an opening therethrough to provide access to the centerwell;
- a recessed deck positioned below the topsides deck and a space is defined between the inner wall of the spar hull and an outer periphery of the recessed deck;
- a plurality of shear plates connecting the recessed deck to the spar hull and dividing the space into a plurality of riser slots;
- each riser slot defined by two shear plates, the inner wall of the spar hull and the outer periphery of the recessed deck;
- and,
- a plurality of risers, each riser positioned within a respective one of the plurality of riser slots and extending between the sea floor and the one or more risers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.