Allowable span length of submarine pipeline in shallow water

Because of the complex geological conditions of the seabed, submarine pipelines buried beneath the ocean floor become suspended over the seabed under the long-term scour of waves eroding the surrounding sediment. Further, most oil fields were built in offshore areas while the country was developing. This gives the waves seen in shallow water obvious nonlinear features, and the abnormal characteristics of these waves must be considered when calculating their hydrodynamic forces. Particularly under such conditions, these suspended spans of submarine pipelines are prone to damage caused by the action of the external environment load. Such damages and eventual failures may result not only in great property losses but also pollution of the marine environment. The span length of these areas is a key predictive factor in pipeline damages. Therefore, determining the allowable span length for these submarine pipelines will allow future projects to avoid or prevent damage from excessive suspended span lengths. Expressions of the hydrodynamic loads placed on suspended spans of pipeline were developed in this work based on the first-order approximate cnoidal wave theory and Morison equation. The formula for the allowable free span length was derived for the common forms of free spanning submarine pipeline based on the point where maximum bending stresses remain less than the material’s allowable stress. Finally, the allowable free span length of real-world pipelines was calculated for a subsea pipeline project in Bohai Bay. This research shows that, with consideration for the complicated marine environment, existing suspended spans are within allowable length limitations. However, continuing to limit the length of these submarine pipeline spans in the Nanpu oil field will require ongoing attention.     

考虑阻尼海底悬跨段管道的动力特性及允许悬空长度

以海底悬跨段输液管道为研究对象,考虑管道结构阻尼、流体附加阻尼、管内流体流动及管道轴向力和压强的作用,对其进行受力分析,导出管道振动微分方程,进而得到管道动力特性方程。用Hermit插值函数对管道的动力特性方程进行离散得到有限元表达式,采用复模态分析法,求得管道的自振频率。为防止管道发生横向涡激振动,用约化速度作为控制条件,确定管道允许悬空长度。结果表明,管道允许悬空长度随着内流流速、轴向压力和管内压强的增加而减小,随着轴向拉力的增加而加大。     

海底管道裸露与悬跨维护方法研究

随着辽东湾浅海油气的开发,该海域海底管道的铺设增多。该区域受潮汐、河流等因素影响,海底管道可能出现裸露与悬跨现象,需要人为定期检测与维护。根据辽东湾海南8管道的检测结果,结合海底沉积物、水文等资料,分析了该海区冲刷机制和现今常用的海底管道裸露与悬跨的维护方法在该海域的适用性。     

Effect of Internal Flow on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Submarine Free Spanning Pipelines

At present, most researches on the vortex-induced vibration of submarine free spanning pipelines ignore the effect of internal flowing fluid; furthermore, there are no research reports considering the coupling effect of internal and external fluid with the free span. In this paper, combining Iwan‘s wake oscillator model with the differential equation derived for the dynamic response of submarine free spanning pipelines with inclusion of internal flow, the pipe-fluid coupling equations are developed to investigate the effect of internal flow on the vortex-induced vibration of the free spans. The finite dement approximation is implemented to derive the matrix equations of equilibrium. The Newmark method combined with simple iteration is used to solve the system of equations. The results indicate that the internal fluid flow may cause the shift of resonance band to the lower frequency and a slight decrease in the peak value; the effect will be mare pronounced with the increase of the span length and can be weakened in the presence of the axial tension.     

Improved assessments of wave-induced fatigue for free spanning pipelines

For subsea pipeline projects, the costs related to seabed correction and free span intervention are often considerable. Development of reliable methods for fatigue analyses of pipelines in free spans contributes to minimize costs without compromising pipeline integrity. Assessment of wave-induced fatigue damage on multi-span pipelines is investigated, and improved analysis methods are suggested in this paper. A time-domain (TD) algorithm is developed, which accounts for non-linear hydrodynamic loading and dynamic interaction between adjacent spans. The proposed TD approach is employed to evaluate linearized frequency-domain (FD) solutions from recognized design standards and to study the dynamic response of multi-span pipelines to direct wave loading. Differences between multi- and single-span analyses are described for the first time, and the common assumption that the main fatigue damage contribution comes from the fundamental mode is demonstrated not to hold for multi-spans. An improved FD solution capable of predicting multi-mode response is derived and demonstrated to give accurate fatigue life estimates for multi-span pipelines.     

东方1-1海管悬跨分布特征及治理效果分析

海底管道对海上油气田安全生产有着非常重要的作用,对东方1-1海管进行了连续6年的无人有缆遥控水下机器人(remote operatedvehicle,ROV)调查,根据调查数据,分析了海管悬跨的分布特征以及变化情况,按海管悬跨严重程度进行了风险等级分区。结果表明在受水动力影响最大的深水平坦区海管悬跨分布密集,并有逐年加剧趋势,安全风险较大。并对悬跨形成机理和极限悬跨长度进行了分析和阐述。介绍了沙袋支撑和局部抛石填埋悬跨治理方法的原理和优缺点,对比分析了治理效果情况,认为局部抛石治理方法效果优于沙袋治理。     

浅海海底管线维修技术和装备研究

简要介绍了国内浅海油田的发展现状和胜利浅海油田采用“卫星平台—海底管线—中心平台—海底管线—陆上联合站”的生产运行开发模式,以及国外管道维修技术和装备的手段。重点介绍了一种能潜入海底自动探测跟踪和准确定位坐底、对管线进行维修的水下装置,它在结构型式、操作控制定位方式、管线探测跟踪、维修手段等方面有独到之处。     

Effects of Internal Flow on Vortex-Induced Vibration and Fatigue Life of Submarine Pipelines

- With the rapid development of the offshore oil industries, submarine oil / gas pipelines have been widely used. Under the complicated submarine environmental conditions, the dynamic characteristics of pipelines show some new features due to the existence of both internal and external flows. The paper is intended to investigate the vortex-induced vibration of the suspended pipeline span exposed to submarine steady flow. Especially, the effects of the flow inside the pipeline are taken into account. Its influences on the amplitude of pipeline response, and then on the fatigue life, are given in terms of the velocity of the internal flow.     

第三方活动冲击荷载作用下近海管道损伤机理及风险评估研究现状

平台坠物、船舶抛锚等第三方活动引起的冲击损伤是近海管道失效的主要原因,时刻威胁中国海洋油气开发系统的安全性。为保障近海油气管道安全运行,围绕冲击荷载作用下管道损伤及失效评估这一中心问题,从管道损伤机理研究、含冲击损伤管道安全评估、管道工程项目风险评估3个方面总结了国内外研究发展现状,明确了影响结构安全的关键问题,并对未来研究工作提出建议。挖沟埋深为管道防护冲击损伤的有效手段,土体强度是防护效果关键因素,应重点关注土体强度空间变异性问题;管道冲击损伤主要为平滑凹陷和弯折凹陷,对于后者应进一步确定其在内压荷载下的剩余强度及疲劳强度;风险评估中失效判据对于结果有显著影响,需构建考虑多种安全性评估准则的失效判据体系。     

海底输液管道内流、轴向力和压强对允许悬空长度的影响

以海底悬跨段输液管道为研究对象,考虑管内流体流动及管道轴向力和压强的作用,对其进行受力分析,导出管道振动微分方程。由于内流流速项的影响,使得导出的管道振动微分方程不能用振型分解法直接求解,故本文将解表示为具有正弦和余弦的对称和反对称的各个空间振型的总和,从而求出悬跨段管道固有频率。为防止管道发生横向涡激振动,用约化速度作为控制条件,求解出管道允许悬空长度。结果表明,管道允许悬空长度随着内流流速、轴向压力和管内压强的增加而减小,随着轴向拉力的加大而增大。     

Condition Identification Based on Vibration Measurements for Free Spanning Submarine Pipelines

Free spanning pipelines are suspended between two points on an uneven seaffoor. The variations of structural conditions, such as the changes in soil property, flow velocity, axial force and span length etc., directly affect working performance of the whole submarine pipeline system. But until now few researches have focused on condition identification for free span （CIFS）. A method to identify the operational conditions of free spanning submarine pipelines based on vibration measurements is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the ill-posedness of CIFS is analyzed in detail. Secondly, the framework for CIFS based on the nonlinear kernel discriminant analysis （KDA） is established. Thirdly, the internal structural characteristics of natural frequencies, normalized frequencies and frequency change ratios are studied. And then the condition feature vector for CIFS is extracted by use of the vibration measurements. Finally, the validity of the proposed approach is evaluated by a case study. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach can effectively identify each condition of free span when condition variation occurs even if under measurement noise. It is concluded that the proposed method is a promising tool for CIFS in real applications.     

海上桶形基础平台负压沉贯渗流场有限元分析

讨论了浅海桶形基础平台负压沉贯渗流场有限元分析方法.通过模型实验结果与有限元分析结果的对比,验证有限元法的可靠性.将有限元法用于桶形基础平台负压沉贯渗流场的计算,得到沉贯过程中许用负压随插深的变化,用于指导平台就位施工时的负压控制.不同插深时,相应许用负压下的桶内、外壁渗流水头和水头梯度分布的计算结果,用于沉贯阻力的计算.     

Numerical Analysis of Seismic Dynamic Response of Saturated Porous Seabed Around a Buried Pipeline

The stability of submarine pipelines has been extensively studied by coastal engineers in recent years. Seismic-induced pore pressure and effective stresses in the saturated porous seabed and pipeline are the main important factors in the analysis of foundation stability around submarine pipelines. The majority research of the seismic-induced dynamic response around an offshore pipeline has been limited to two-dimension cases. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element model including buried pipeline is established by extending DYNE3WAC. Based on the proposed numerical model, a parametric study is conducted to examine the effects of soil characteristics and pipeline configurations on the seismic-induced soil response around offshore pipelines.     

Numerical study of the Reynolds-number dependence of two-dimensional scour beneath offshore pipelines in steady currents

A numerical model for local scour below pipelines is employed to investigate the Reynolds-number dependence of the two-dimensional scour beneath offshore pipelines in steady currents. A novel wall function is proposed in calculating the suspended sediment transport rate in the model. Scour developments beneath a model pipeline and the corresponding prototype pipeline are simulated under the same undisturbed Shields parameter but different values of Reynolds number. The effects of the Reynolds number difference on the scour profile development are investigated. It is found that scour depths for prototype pipelines are about 10–15% smaller than those for model pipelines. The flow phenomena that causes this difference are discussed by means of flow visualization. The normalized time scales are found to be approximately the same. The simulated scour profiles for the model pipelines agree well with the experimental results from an independent study.     

On the effect of narrow and long corrosion defects on the collapse pressure of pipelines

Internal corrosion in pipelines is often caused by water, sediment, or chemical contaminants present in the multi-phase flow. This normally occurs at the bottom of the pipe and at low points in the pipeline where sediment and water can settle out of the product being transported, therefore creating narrow and long defects. The effect of corrosion defects on the collapse pressure of offshore pipelines was studied through combined small-scale experiments and nonlinear numerical analyses based on the finite element method. After calibrated in view of the experimental results, the model was used to determine the collapse pressure as a function of material and geometric parameters of different pipes and defects. An extensive parametric study using two and three-dimensional numerical models was carried out encompassing different defect geometries and their interaction with pipe ovalization. This paper reports these results which are subsequently used to develop a simple procedure for estimating the collapse pressure of pipes with narrow defects.     

海上油气平台和海底电缆管道信息化系统的设计与应用

为加强对海上油气平台和海底电缆管道的信息化管理,为海洋管理部门的使用审批和相关企业的安全生产提供信息服务和决策支持,文章基于国家海域动态监视监测管理系统,设计开发海上油气平台和海底电缆管道信息化系统。该系统采用多层架构体系,具有较强的扩展性;分为数据整理、行政审批、统计分析、综合展示和系统管理5个功能模块,采用面向服务的软件架构、模型驱动的系统设计和开发以及MVC技术框架等关键技术,实现数据标准化和共享化、审批全过程管理以及二/三维可视化等功能。目前系统运行状况良好,已获取大量海上油气平台和海底电缆管道信息,在三维展示方面仍需完善。     

埕岛海上石油平台周边海底管道与电缆的探测技术研究

海上石油平台周边海底管缆密集,管线状废弃物多,且有相互交叉现象,常有管道与电缆分辨不清或将管线状废弃物误判成海底管缆等情况发生。这严重影响了生产运行和作业平台就位的安全,给指挥作业平台插桩、就位、船舶抛锚带来了很多困难和安全隐患。在埕岛油田平台附近海底管道电缆探测技术研究中,利用目前世界上已有的、对海底管缆探测较为有效的各种仪器设备和方法手段,进行了试点研究,从中寻求适合埕岛油田海区海底管道、电缆位置和埋设状况探测的最佳方法和手段。通过试点研究,对探测海底管道和电缆的各种仪器的探测性能、探测方法、探测过程中应注意的事项以及存在的问题进行了较全面的介绍。     

海南岛南部近海海底输气管道检测和安全性评价

文章采用磁力测量和侧扫声呐测量方法,对海南岛南部近海海底输气管道进行检测,并根据检测结果开展管道安全性评价。研究表明,研究区海底地形较平坦;检测范围完全覆盖预计区域;小部分管道呈现半裸露状态但未危及安全,管道整体状态良好。定期或不定期对海底输气管道进行检测,可保证管道安全,避免天然气泄漏造成海洋环境污染。     

Tension–torsion fatigue behaviour of wire ropes in offshore moorings

An earlier paper by the author discussed the behaviour of helically spun wire ropes when subject to axial load [Ridge, I.M.L., 2008. Torsional characterization of ropes used offshore. Journal of Strain Analysis 43(2), 121–139.]. The response of the rope varied, depending upon the rope's construction and whether the end of the rope was free to rotate or was fixed. This paper presents the results of an extensive research programme which highlight the practical implications of the torsional fatigue behaviour of ropes with especial reference to their use in offshore applications. The results are also relevant to a much broader range of rope applications where long lengths of rope are employed such as deep mine hoisting and reversible aerial cableways. The torque which may be generated in the various components used offshore may have serious effects in both handling and installation, as well as in the longer term service (fatigue) performance.     

Added masses for circular cylinders near or penetrating fluid boundaries—review, extension and application to water-entry, -exit and slamming

The members of many offshore structures and pipelines are circular cylinders which are often near to or penetrating the fluid boundaries, i.e. the sea bed, other solid boundary or free surface. It seems appropriate therefore to collect together some known analytical results concerning the cylinder added masses in such cases, the free surface (z = 0) condition being simplified. Comparison with simple experiments indicates that for horizontal motions, φ/z = 0z = 0 is appropriate while for vertical motions φ = 0 on z = 0 is appropriate. The effects caused by the variation in the added mass with cylinder submergence in both modes are important for a wide range of practical situations. For high speed entry (slamming) of the cylinder the effect of free surface rise is significant.