Installation strength analysis of subsea flowline jumpers

Abstract

Subsea flowline jumper (FJ) is basic connection component for the wet oil tree, the subsea pipeline and the riser base, playing an irreplaceable role in the subsea production system. During the installation of FJ, collisions often happen between FJ and other equipment, which may cause serious damage. Besides, as the operating water depth increases, the demand for the installation equipments like the crane and winch will increase. The research of deepwater FJ installation in China is still in the primary stage, so an installation method for deepwater FJ is proposed in this paper. Finite element models of a typical M-shape FJ installation system were built to simulate the installation procedures. Analysis results showed that the installation steps designed for the FJ are feasible and valid for deepwater FJ. In order to ensure the safety of the installation process, the collision-sensitive analysis for the FJ was conducted, and results show that it is necessary to set the pick up speed at a proper value, in order to avoid collision in installation process. Besides, the mechanical characteristics of FJ during the installation were investigated under a range of environmental conditions and it was found that the maximum stress of the FJ always happens at its central position. The basic requirements for the installation equipment were also obtained through the analysis of the main installation steps.

Keywords

subsea flowline jumper (FJ) / installation analysis / strength analysis / subsea pipes / finite element model / collision