Static performance analysis of deepwater compliant vertical access risers

Abstract

Compliant Vertical Access Risers (CVARs) are compliant systems that incorporate a differentiated geometric configuration that allows the exploitation of oil and gas in deepwater fields and enables a number of operational advantages in the offshore system. One of the main features of CVAR systems is that they allow direct intervention procedures to be applied to the well bore, enabling workover operations to be performed directly from the production platform. Based on the principles of virtual work and variation, a static geometric nonlinear equation of CVARs is derived and applied in this study. The results of this study show that the two ends of the riser as well as the transition region are subject to high stress, while the positions of the floating platform exert significant effects on the geometry of the riser configuration. Compliance and buoyancy factors should be set moderately to reduce the CVAR stress. In addition, the buoyancy modules should be placed in the lower region, in order to maximize the operation advantages of CVAR.