DE2512865A1 - INFLATION DEVICE FOR GUN PACKINGS IN THE PILE SLEEVES OF OFF-SHORE PLATFORMS - Google Patents

Description

PATENT AGENCIES conseilsen brevets

. H. TISCHER dipl.-ing. W. KERN dipl.-ing. H.-P. GAUGER

PA H. TISCHER. W.KERN. H.-P. CAUGER ■ D 8 MÖNCHEN 2ND VALLEY 71

D β MUNICH 2

W. GERMANY VAL 71

TELEPHONE (089) 22 12 98

TELEGRAM ADDRESS / CABLE ADDRESS GAUPAT MÖNCHEN

YOUR SIGN: YOUR REF.i

OUR SIGN OUR REF .:

Ke / Sch

date: DATE,

REFERENCE!

Lawyer File Oil-6095

OIL STATES RUBBER COMPANY ARLINGTON, Texas 76011,
Y.St.A.

Blow-off device for stuffing box in the pile sleeves of offshore platforms

packs.

The invention relates to offshore sea platforms, so-called offshore platforms, the support legs of which are tubular Have pile sleeves through which piles are driven into the seabed, and those with inflatable gland packs are equipped to serve the between

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to seal the sleeve and its post located annulus. In particular, the invention relates in this connection to an inflation device for those in the pile sleeves of offshore platforms located gland packs, through which the individual packs from a pressure source, the located in the area of the deck of the platform, can be pressurized.

So far, the above has been used in making a platform so proceeded that the platform was built on land, its hollow leg and stiffening elements sealed and towed to the place where it was to be installed, using the sealed legs as floating pontoons became. The legs of the platform were then flooded in the desired manner in order to keep the platform at the intended Place to erect. This prior art is exemplified in U.S. Patents 3,145,539, 3,209,54-4, 3,486,34-3 and 3,597,930 There are a number of different ways of attaching such structures to the seabed known, of which in particular the one that comes into consideration here is the one driven through pile guide sleeves into the seabed Piles can be used, for example, as shown in the above-mentioned US Pat. No. 3,209,544, wherein the post later with the sleeve through which it passes, is connected to a unit by filling the annular space between the pile and sleeve with cement. In this context Attention is also drawn to U.S. Patents 3,468,132 and 3,533,241 which describe the use of an improved inflatable packing device for sealing such annulus spaces. after the piles have been driven in, which sealing takes place before the annulus is filled with concrete.

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File are also made of rupturable membrane seals for sealing the ends of the guide sleeves, which adhere to the purpose of preventing foreign matter from entering, explained before the stakes are driven.

The invention described below is now concerned with improvements in such constructions, it being pointed out is that it has heretofore been customary to have individual inflation lines from the deck of the platform down to each To guide individual packing, usually along the outside of the platform leg in question. Typical Platform legs carry one or possibly four, six or even more pile guide sleeves, and in those cases in which two packings per pile are used at the open extremities of each pile sleeve, either Have a large number of inflation lines running down its surface unprotected. These inflation lines could still be approved for a shallow water platform, as they can be used in the event of damage The repairs can be carried out easily, but the current platforms are in water depths of up to to 170 m in the North Sea or 250 m off the California Shore installed where such lines must not be exposed so that they can be damaged, causing failure the packing and would be difficult, if not impossible, to repair.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide an inflator of the type mentioned with practically destructive inflation lines to be created in the platform leg pole sleeves to the packs, taking into account the particular problems encountered in printing

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loading of platform sleeve packings occur. Until now namely, stiff metal pipes were self-inflating the packs used, which, due to their strength, withstand damage or destruction fairly well, whose rigidity, however, prevents breakage and cracking due to vibrations, bending or expansion and prone to contraction of the platform legs. In addition, bringing down a dozen is more like this Cables on a platform leg involve significant costs in cases where each tube is completely separated has to be because it has to control the setting of only one pack. On the other hand, flexible lines have also been used, For example, fiber-reinforced cables or even copper pipes are used to ensure their advantageous impact and bending properties However, these lines are fragile and easy to cut or compress and also tend to twist and flutter when subjected to high pressures like them are required to set a packing in deep water.

The above-mentioned invention task is therefore to that effect specify that a pressure line system is to be created which has the same advantages as rigid or rigid as well as flexible lines, while at the same time costs are to be reduced by the fact that the main lengths the flexible lines are combined in bundles so that they can be accommodated in a smaller number of protective tubes permit. A single 4 or 6 inch main protection tube running down one platform leg can be about twelve individual flexible lines from one point above the water level to branching out points of a few hundred

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Record meters below the surface of the water where the individual pipes begin to move towards the packing seals that they are control, spread. From these exit points to the packings, the flexible lines are in smaller ones Manifold protection tubes, for example one inch in diameter, that are large enough to accommodate the quarter-inch Allow standard pipe couplings of the flexible lines to pass through. Elbows and connectors of the main and branch protection tubes are built so that tight radii of curvature are avoided, so that after welding the protective tubes on the platform leg constructions, the flexible lines can easily be removed from each pack of the platform leg up to the platform deck through the pipe in question, having threaded through the pipe beforehand 'Pull strands' are used. The protective tubes are put on shore during the manufacture of the platform on the Welded platform construction. The use of rigid pipes is economical because the purpose of these pipes is in it exists to protect the flexible lines and therefore the protective tubes do not necessarily have to be liquid-tight have to. In addition, only a few such pipes are required, as many flexible lines are bundled in them.

The connection of flexible pipes inside them. protective rigid or stable pipes conveyed to the cables not only protection during the manufacture of the platform and while the platform is being towed to the ground Partly at sea as well as during the erection of the platform there, but the combination of lines and pipe also plays after the erection of the platform and during the driving of the piles and the adjustment the sealing packings play an important role. The driving in

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the stake subjects the packs and their inflation lines unusually strong shock and vibration stresses and especially after such stresses the Inflation lines can be used to adjust the packing. This fact underscores the importance of the Supporting or holding and protecting the flexible lines, since they are only used after they have reached their maximum Have been exposed to stresses. Failure of such a line means the failure of its packing gasket during the cementation process. On the drilling platform that is being built for the North Sea and where the flexible Line of the type described here are used, these lines are checked for leakage after installation in their protective tube checked out.

According to the invention so flexible inflation lines are used either individually or combined in bundles, which of a rigid or rigid protective tube, which can be one or more such flexible conduits which are then bundled for most of their length between the platform deck and the levels the packings and protects these lines against damage, while the main conduits themselves either are arranged outside the platform legs or additionally by an arrangement inside the platform legs are protected.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing. In the Drawing show:

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Fig. 1 is a side view of a drilling platform construction, which shows the arrangement of the protective tubes extending from the platform deck extend out to the packings within the various pile guide sleeves,

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the drilling platform,

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view, on a larger scale, of an inflation manifold taken along FIG Line 5-5 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view, on a larger scale, taken along line 6-6 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view on a larger scale along the line 7-7 in Fig. 1,

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view, on a larger scale, of a main guard leg showing the preferred one How the pipe is passed through the wall of a platform leg in constructions it can be seen in which the inflation line or lines are guided in the main legs will,

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9 is a cross-sectional view showing the lower end of a typical four main support tube Shows branch protection pipes that run out of the main pipe laterally,

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG

Fig. 4, on a slightly smaller scale, showing one possible branch protection tube configuration it can be seen

11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the lower portion of a pile sleeve with an installed The packing and membrane, taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 10, and FIG

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 10, but showing shows a slightly modified arrangement of the branch protection tubes.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 is a platform construction, hereinafter referred to as the platform tower, shown, which has a number downwardly extending legs which support a deck 10 near the top of the platform tower. From Fig. 1 it can be seen that there is a larger diameter leg 12 on the left side, which extends from the bottom of the platform tower to almost the upper end of the platform, with immediately below the waterline of the diameter tapers with a conical section 14 to a leg of smaller diameter, which extends up to deck 10. On the right side of Fig. 1 is a leg 18 of smaller diameter, from the platform 10 to the floor of the platform

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turret is running, and in the middle of Fig. 1 is a Leg 20 of smaller diameter that extends from the bottom of the platform tower extends upwards, and only over about the first few trusses that are used to stiffen the tower structure serve and are generally designated by 22 here. It goes without saying that the same parts are also used in the illustration appear in Fig. 2, which shows a top view of the platform tower, but only the proximal end of the Platform reveals that the legs can also be seen in other places, but are not visible here because they do not show any additional details. It is understood that the platform tower shown in Figs. 1 and 2 here only is shown as an example of a variety of different platforms that rest on one or more legs. The legs having the large diameter, such as leg 12, appear, as can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, all on the left side of the platform, and this larger diameter leg is designed to that it can be sealed at both ends and can serve as one of several pontoons on which the tower frame to the can be dragged floating on the surface of the water at the desired location.

Fig. 3 shows a preferred embodiment in which the the larger diameter legs 12 form a double-walled construction which has an inner wall 11, which is visible not only in FIG. 3 but also in FIGS. 4, 10 and 12. Near the bottom of each platform leg there are one or more pile guide sleeves, which are combined into bundles, where they are grouped into several are, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, and which are designated there by 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29, the sleeves

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and 25 also visible in the representations of FIGS. 10 and 12 are. 11 also provides a detailed view of the lower end of the sleeve 25 and shows it there existing seal constructions. For the sake of clarity, a pile as it extends through the pile sleeve 25 is shown only in FIGS. 1 and 11 and provided with the reference numeral 30. The pile sleeves 24 to 29 are carried on the platform legs where they can be seen. 10 and 12 can be seen struts that there generally are designated by 32 and welded onto the leg 12 are as well as on the sleeve bodies 24 to 29 in order to support them parallel to the platform legs, albeit slightly transferred to them. In the embodiment described here, each platform leg has four such pile sleeves, attached, however, it should be noted that this is an arbitrary selection, and platform legs often also have a different sleeve attached to them, generally two to eight sleeves per leg. Each sleeve is equipped with a conically widening upper end, as is the upper end 31 in FIG. 1 clearly makes, which serves to facilitate the introduction of the stake after erection of the platform.

The following description deals with the installation of Packings either on the bottom of the pile sleeves or on both the top and bottom of each pile sleeve. Fig. 11 shows a typical such packing 34, which is disposed in the sleeve 25 and carried in rings 36 and 37 at its upper and lower ends. This pack has an inflation port 38 which extends through the wall of the sleeve 35 and has an Eohr length, which at its upper end ends in a quarter inch adapter 39, the

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on a block 40 for receiving a flexible line coupling is worn, as will be described below. The pile sleeve construction described here as an example also has a tearable membrane 42 which closes its lower end in a manner known per se and which is arranged so that as it drifts down, the pile 30 passes through the membrane and into the Penetrates the soil below the sea floor. The membrane 42 prevents the penetration of contaminants into the pile guide sleeve 24 while the platform tower is being erected in place and before the stake is driven.

The invention is now concerned with the manner in which a pressurized fluid, for example Air, each pack 54 from a pressure source, for example a cylinder or pump P located on top of the platform. With the one shown here Embodiment, this pump P is installed on top of the deck 10, with a pressure hose H from the pressure source extends away in the manner shown in FIG. There is one near the deck in the vicinity of the sleeve A series of manifold outlets, each containing a number of pressure fittings, to which the hose H can optionally be connected can be connected to inflate the pack unit, which is attached to the relevant pressure fitting is connected. Fig. 5 shows a typical manifold of this type with a coupling 44 is provided, which is mounted in the vicinity of the deck 10 and equipped with a spacer 45 in which the Pressure fittings 1 are attached. Pressure fittings are normally enclosed and protected by a hood plug 46, which is screwed into the coupling 44 when

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the pressure fittings F do not need to be accessible. The hood plug 46 can of course be easily removed to provide access to the fittings or fittings. The fittings F are in turn connected to the upper ends of the flexible pressure lines such as lines 50 and 51 ", any desired number of which can be accommodated in a single manifold construction, and lines 50 and 51 and others are centered in a guide block 49 of urethane. The position of the hood plug which covers the collecting line is identified in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the reference numeral 46. A protective tube 52 extends downwardly below the manifold and enters leg 18 at an entry point to which the illustration of FIG. 8 relates. The tube 52 runs downward in the leg, as shown in phantom in FIG. 1, and as soon as it has reached a certain height which corresponds approximately to the height of the upper ends of the pile sleeves 28 and 29, the tube 52 emerges from the leg in the manner shown in FIG. 1 and thereby branches out into a number of branch protection tubes, which are designated 53 »54, 55 and 56 in FIG. The main protection tube 52 is 4 inches in diameter while each branch protection tube 53-56 is a one-inch tube. This reduction is possible because this branch conduit contains only one flexible conduit, although there are a large number of such flexible conduits in the main conduit. The branch line type is shown generally in Figs. 1 and 2 at the junction heights labeled 57 and 58, while the illustration of Fig. 9 provides a detailed view of the junction that occurs at height 58, since the lower end 59 of the main protection tube 52 in Fig. 9 is closed. It is quite possible to route the protective branch pipe either inside a platform leg or outside the leg. For example, shows

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10 shows a cross-sectional view of a protective tube course, which corresponds to that as it is present along the line 10-10 in FIG.

Another main protective tube 60 runs downward from a manifold assembly 61 through an entry point 62 into the leg 16. The main protective pipe 60 has branch pipes which emerge from the leg at the level 63, while the main protective pipe runs further down the leg to a point 64 which also forms an exit point. 1 shows a cross-sectional view in which the main protective tube extends downward between the inner and outer leg bodies 12 and 12, in order thereby to achieve excellent mechanical protection of the main protective tube 60, the main protective tube at the exit height 64 being entirely in the position shown in FIG generally shown in four branch ^{protection tubes 65 »66, 67 and 68 A r} , and these branch protection tubes are also further protected by being in the annulus between the leg bodies 11 and 12 for most of their length. Although this construction results in optimal protection of the protective tubes themselves, it is only relatively difficult and costly to implement. Therefore, the construction of Figure 12 offers a less costly alternative which may work just as well in practical terms. In the construction shown in Fig. 12, the protective tube 60 emerges from the leg in the manner shown generally in Fig. 8 at level 63 (Fig. 1) and extends from then on on the outside of the leg 12 up to the level 64 downward where it branches into the four protective branch tubes 65,66,67 and 68 which extend around the outside of the leg 12 and enter the corresponding sleeves, such as sleeves 16 and 25, as shown in FIG is.

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11 also shows that a semicircular tubular housing 70 is attached to the outer surface of the guide sleeve 25 is welded and the pressure fitting 39 carries as an initially manufactured part of the pile guide sleeve structure. The housing 70 has a threaded entry 71 equipped, into which a piece of the protective tube 66 can be screwed after the flexible pressure line 72 screwed with its coupling 73 into the attached pressure fitting 39 has been. Thus, the flexible pressure line 72 shown in Fig. 11, as well as the others, is flexible Lines, for example lines 50 and 51 in Fig. 5 » Enclosed in the stiff protective tube over the entire length, namely from the packing to the uppermost Dnickpaßstück F, which can optionally be connected with the aid of the pump P using suitable coupling hoses, for example the in Fig. 2 shown hose H, can be pressurized.

In connection with the pressure lines that extend from the manifold 75 to the packing gaskets, which are in the pile guide sleeves 26 and 27 at the lower end of the leg 20, this pressure system comprises a main protective tube 76 that runs down the leg 12, in the illustrated embodiment within the leg and then, as shown at 77, extends outward and runs over to leg 20 and, and as shown at 78, runs downward in that leg since the latter overlaps Leg does not extend up to the surface. It is understood that the protective tubes 76 and. 78 also on the Walking down the outside of the legs. The embodiments shown in Figures 8 and 9 are of course also typical for the way in which the thermowells from a main

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Remove protective tube 78, thereby doing in the exit heights 79 and 80 to form branch protection tubes. With this type of construction it has proven advantageous to weld the pipe 77 to the stiffening body 22, which is directly located below this tube, thereby preventing the tube from being accidentally displaced.

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Claims (6)

- 16 - η changed Patent -. Inflation device for in the pile sleeves of an offshore platform Seals located with the platform supported by one or more legs that extend below the surface of the water and sit on the seabed and with pile guide sleeves are equipped to receive piles which are driven through them into the seabed be, and wherein the platform with a supply device for pressure medium for selectively inflating the individual packs located in the sleeves to seal the between each sleeve and each post Annular space is provided and the pressure medium supply device can be connected to each pack, characterized by rigid main protection tubes (52,60) extending downwardly in each platform leg extend up to branch points located at heights (57 »58), in which the packing devices (34-) are arranged below the water surface in the sleeves (24,25), furthermore by means of stiff branch protection pipes (53 »54.55 * 56) in these branch point altitudes (57 »58) led out of each main protective tube (52) are and from there to the inflatable packing device (34) located at the height in question Sleeves (24, 25) extend, further through a manifold located in the vicinity of the pressure medium supply (P) facility (44,45,46, F) attached to each main -17- 509843/0596 protection tube (52) is connected above the water surface, and by a flexible pressure line (72), which is connected to each packing device (34) is connected and extends through a branch protection tube (66) as well as a main protection tube extends therethrough to the manifold assembly, each flexible conduit having coupling means for connection to the pressure medium supply device (P). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the on each leg (16,18,20) located sleeves (24,25,26,27,28,29) are equipped with a plurality of packing devices (34) which are located at different branch points and to seal the between the sleeve and the pile (30) the existing annulus at different heights, separated by a distance, with the main protective pipes (52,60) extend down to each packing device level and the branch protection tubes branch off from the main protective pipes at different heights and extend to the packing devices (34) located at the relevant elevations and wherein the flexible pressure lines (72) are in the main conduits and to the manifold assembly be guided. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that g e k e η η that the main protective tube (52,60) from consists of stiff ears that are welded to the platform (10) for support and are located inside each Leg to an exit lying at the level of a branch point, where they extend out of the leg. 509843/0596 - ^ - step and walk to the appropriate packing devices (34) located at this height. 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that g e k e nn that the platform (10) has some legs (12) with concentric double walls, and that the main protective tube (52,60) in the legs between run down the concentric walls and with the branch protection tubes (53 »54» 55 »56; 65,66,6?> 68) in the Altitudes are related, in which the packing devices (34) and that the branch protection pipes are located around the circumference at every height of the leg between the concentric walls to the exit points which are located next to the respective packing devices (34) with which they are connected. 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the flexible pressure lines (5O, 51 »72) have a flexible tube with on each End coupling fittings (73) attached to a Packing device (34) or a collecting line device (46,75) are coupled. 6. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that each manifold device (46.75) near the top of the platform alongside the pressure medium supply device (P) is arranged and has a device (44,45) through which the Couplings of all flexible lines are held accessible that are inserted into the manifold device. .-19-509843 / 0596 occur, as well as a device to cover the collecting device and thus to protect the in the manifold device "located pressure line couplings. 509843/0596 Blank page