Offshore staff
NEWCASTLE, UK -- Development of a new high-pressure riser in association with Anadarko Petroleum is progressing well, according to Wellstream.
The two companies are working on a design with a 15,000-psi (1,034-bar) rating, under a program employing specialists from R&D, engineering, analysis, materials, testing and manufacturing. The present focus is on dynamic fatigue tests.
Through 2009, says Wellstream, static tests, including burst, tension and hydrostatic collapse results, proved the synergy of the partners’ design methodologies in predicting performance. Results for hydrostatic collapse also revealed suitability for water depths beyond 3,000 m (9,842 ft), exceeding the sector’s current requirements.
Wellstream has also been involved in Petrobras’ Tupi extended well test, and is now participating in the Tupi qualification program, due to conclude this year, which takes in gas lift, water injection, gas injection, and production structures. Wellstream says this program is also enhancing its database both for materials exposed to super-critical CO2 and for full product tests at the extremes of the pre-salt design envelope.
Full-scale material trials are under way for the Tupi structures, the company adds, involving a program of nearly 100 tests. Again, results to date on some of the structures appear to far exceed the field requirements of 2,500 m (8,202 ft) water depth.
3/19/2010
