MX2008003998A - Device for storing tubulars and devices for handling of tubulars - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for storing tubular on a drilling and/or production installation,comprising a shaft (8, 9, 10, 11) to accommodate a plurality of tubular in a substantially vertical position and a guide (15, 22) that is moveable above the shaft (8, 9, 10, 11). The device comprises means for displacing the guide (15, 22) in a substantially horizontal plane to a position above a selected one of all the tubular in the shaft. Also described are a catwalk (12) configured to displace the tubular in an axial direction through a V-door in the derrick (5), and which is further configured to be tilted into a substantially vertical position to receive or deliver a tubular, and a knuckle boom crane (7) with a grapple (27) that is adapted to grip an upper end of a substantially vertical tubular and carry the tubular in a substantially vertical orientation.

Description

DEVICE FOR STORING TUBULARS AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING TUBULARS.

The present invention relates to devices for storing tubulars on board a vessel as set forth in the preamble of claim 1. It is also related to tubular handling devices between a storage device and a drilling tower as defined in FIG. the preamble of claims 7 and 9.

The exploration and production of offshore oil and gas is carried out by drilling rigs or semi-submersible drilling vessels. Many drilling units were built in the 70s to drill depths greater than 1, 500 feet (500 meters) (2nd and 3rd generation), and as exploration has deepened, many of the units of drilling have recently been constructed to operate at depths beyond 5,000 feet (1,500 meters), having hitherto drillers at sea depths at approximately 10,000 feet ("ultra-deep waters") (4th and 5th generation).

Under approximately 5.00 feet, the oil rigs can be anchored by means of combinations of chains and steel cables or synthetic rope, while in deeper waters the drilling units are mainly held in position by azimuth propeller propellers and for a dynamic positioning. Due to their high load capacity on deck and because they are suitable for dynamic positioning, most drilling units operating in ultra-deep water are found on drilling vessels.

The drilling units use a steel hoist with a diameter of 21"(533.5 mm) to circulate the mud and flanges of the drill back to the surface for control, cleaning and recirculation of the well. with bolts or tightened to 50 or 80 feet (14 - 24 meters) by means of long assemblies, normally equipped with syntactic floating polystyrene to obtain the weight closest to neutral in marine waters.

Normally, the elevator assemblies are individually placed or removed from the lifting rope on the floor of the drilling machine, while the lower suspended part of the lifting rope, including the explosion protection system (BOP), is hung on a spider placed on the rotating table (the opening in the floor of the drilling machine which allows the drill rope and other tubulars to run).

Elevator assemblies are usually transported by crane or other pipe handling equipment and stored horizontally on deck, or stored vertically inclined on shelves or above deck level. In any of these cases, the drilling unit must provide space, buoyancy and stability for a large volume and weight lifting pipe.

The highest cups obtained to date in the market by the 4th and 5th generation of deepwater drilling units means that there is an improvement in the units, with the ability to operate in shallow waters, which makes them an option more attractive.

All the improvements in deep water mean more weight in the oil rig and an increase in the loading requirements. It is also evident that the biggest bottleneck in the use of a floating ship is the high storage of volume and weight.

The deepwater oil platforms of the current 4th generation have displacements of up to twice as much as the volume of the oil rigs (1,500 feet wd) (a depth of 500 meters), which has been associated with costs of taller construction.

Several different systems for the storage and handling of tubulars are also known. Some of these are achieved by alternating the volume and weight distribution in storage to a lower level in order to improve stability.

US Patent 3,339,747 shows a pipe rack for well drilling apparatus, where a pipe well for vertical storage of pipes is suspended from a drilling platform. The pipe well incorporates a type of wedge placement in the bottom for vertical movement of the elevators.

US Patent 3,987,910 shows an apparatus for storing drill pipe in floating type platforms. This is an X-Y storage device combined with a container located in the substructure area of the floating platform to support the pipes. In one of the modalities the container is of a close type to be used in a drilling ship. It is projected below sea level, and also under the bottom of the ship to achieve greater stability. In another embodiment, the container is of a structural type to be used in a semi-submersible, placed at an elevation where severe medium waves will not have a strong impact on the container.

The system described above is very similar to the high storage and handling system used in Borgland Dolphin, Bideford Dolphin and many other oil platforms.

Patent US 6,250,395 shows an apparatus and a method for installing and recovering a pipe in a well. The system described for the storage and displacement of long strings of joining pipes adjacent to the drilling oil platform, is achieved by reducing the time used to assemble and disassemble the lines of the pipes and also to reduce the loading requirements for the platform. floating oil. The system incorporates a method to run the pipeline along a curvature greater than the flexible radius of the pipe, through more than 90 degrees, this is the vertical well to a horizontal or vertical position to be stored in Water. Water storage can be achieved in various ways, inside or outside transport pipes, vertical or horizontal, suspended from an oil rig or floating on the surface or at an average depth.

In this patent the long sections of pipeline formed by joining multiple ends of joints to one end moves on a ramp with a large radius for the position in or on the well to a horizontally submersible storage (through 90 degrees approximately) or vertical (through approximately 180 degrees).

US patent 2,606,003 shows a system for drilling from a floating drilling unit, incorporating a marine elevator with two flexible joints and a slip joint (which is currently the standard marine lifting technology), incorporating as a secondary feature, a storage container which is mounted inside and extends under the floating barge to provide substantially vertical storage of the drill pipe. The assembly of the container for storing the pipeline places the pipe contained mainly under the deck of the barge, therefore lowering the center of gravity of the barge tends to stabilize the barge under the action of the waves.

Patent US 6,766,860 shows a system and means for hanging from a string assembled tubulars (as a complete lifting rope) and slide away from the rotary to allow well operations outside the elevator (as in the form of a Christmas tree).

The patent US 6,524,049 shows a semi-submersible mobile drilling vessel with a shaft for tubular drilling equipment, which is incorporating a vertical storage of drilling tubes within one or more columns. This placement has been implemented in two new Amethyst Pride designs for Petrobras, providing storage for 24 pieces of 65 ft long 21"lift joints.

US Patent 4,646,672 shows a semi-submersible vessel incorporating a centrally located floating bunker with an internal opening in the vessel where drilling activities and provisions for vertical high storage are carried out inside the chest.

This placement has been used in the transoceanic Jack Bates, an L-1020 by Friede & Goldman built in 1986 in Japan for vertical storage of 87 joints with a 60 'elevator and 21"long elevator.

Patent US 4708563 shows a platform with a plurality of cylindrical storage devices suspended from the deck of the platform. A recovery device is running between the storage devices and the crane to recover the tubulars. The tubulars are guided along a ramp when they are recovered. In each storage device there is a turret where the tubulars are suspended. The tubulars can therefore be rotated to a position to be recovered.

Patent US 4762185 shows a ship with two cylindrical storage devices inside a circular housing. The tubulars are suspended in a rotating magazine. A trolley with a guide ring through which the tubulars are guided is provided on each storage device. The tubulars are lifted by means of the lifting device on the crane.

The main objective of the present invention is an efficient conversion of a 2nd or 3rd generation of semi-submersible drilling oil rigs in shallow water to one of deepwater operations. This is achieved by mounting one or more tubular storage shafts on an oil rig as defined in the following claim 1.

The axes of preference extend from the pontoon float to the level of the deck, each axis incorporating facilities for a vertical storage of the lifting joints. The placement of the lifting joints lowers the center of gravity of the stored elevators, allowing a better use of the oil platforms with a variable load capacity on the deck. Even, the storage area of the roof that is normally dedicated to a lift storage is released for other purposes. As an additional effect, the axles can add stability to the oil rig, and the axles can be adapted with additional features such as liquid mud storage.

These and other features of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims.

Apart from the storage columns, the invention includes devices for efficient handling of the lifting joints between the drilling center and the lifting storage areas.

The invention will be explained in greater detail, referring to the accompanying drawings that show exemplary embodiments of the invention where: Figure 1 shows a vessel with devices for handling tubulars according to the present invention in a side elevation view, Figure 2 shows the vessel of figure 1 in a plan view, Figure 3 shows a detail of a storage device according to the present invention in a flat view and in a first embodiment of the storage device, Figure 3b shows a second embodiment of the storage device, Figures 4a to 4b show a detail of the working bridge of the present invention in a high side view, shown in a horizontal and vertical position respectively, Figures 4c, 4d, and 4e show the insertion and lifting of a tubular in the derrick, Figure 4f shows the working bridge in a cross section, Figure 5 shows the working bridge of figure 4 in a plan view, Figure 6 shows a gripping head in a side elevation view, and Figure 7 shows a gripping head in a side elevation view, perpendicular to the view of Figure 6.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the basic principles of the present invention will be described. Figures 1 and 2 show a floating ship 1, which has a pair of floating bodies 2, a platform cover 3 and a total of eight columns 4 that extend between the floating bodies 2 and the cover 3 to support the cover 3. In the cover 3 there is a derrick 5 having a lifting apparatus 6. On deck 3 there are also two other knuckle-type cranes 7. The cranes 7 are cranes for any purpose that can handle most of the necessary lifts on the platform deck 3. The two cranes 7 together will cover the entire area of the deck 3. On the edge of deck 3 are suspended four axles 8, 9, 10, 11 extending from the cover 3 towards the floating bodies 2. The axes 8, 9, 10, 11 are designed as storage devices for tubular, having a hollow interior adapted to receive the inserted tubulars of vertical way from above.

A working bridge 12 is located near the drilling tower 12. The work bridge 12, the cranes 7 and the storage shafts 8, 9, 10, 11 are designed to operate together in the handling of tubulars in and from the derrick 5.

In figure 3a one of the axes 8 is shown in a flat view from above. A plurality of tubulars 13 is stored on the shaft 8. At the top of the shaft there is a lid 14 (the lid 14 is shown transparent in FIG. 3 so that the tubulars can be seen). The cover protects the tubulars and inside the axis 8 of any climate. A guide funnel 15 is placed in the lid 14. The guide funnel 15 is carried by a small trolley 16 running on the rails 17 which are on both sides of an elongated opening 18 in the lid 14. The tubulars are placed in two concentric circles 19 and 20. The funnel 15 is capable of movement between the two circles 19, 20 by means of the carriage 16 and along the circles when the cover 14 is rotated. To facilitate the rotation of the lid there is a motor 21 with a gear that It engages with an edge of the cover that is placed on the edge of axis 8. The guide is placed on a tubular selected when cataloging in polar coordinates, for example, giving circle number 1 or 2 and the angular position along the circle.

Figure 3b shows alternative guiding means for the tubes on the shafts. Here a guide 22 is movably positioned along a crossbar 23. The crossbar 23 forms a part of the trolley 24 that moves on the rails 25 on either side of the storage shaft 9. The tubulars 13 can also they are placed here in two concentric circles 19, 20 on the axis 9. The guide 22 is capable of moving in directions x and y over the entire upper part of the shaft to be placed on one of the selected tubulars.

Figure 4a shows the work bridge 12 and the lower part of the drilling tower 5. The work bridge 12 is a conveyor which is adapted to the supply pipes horizontally to the drilling tower 5 through a door V (not shown) in the drilling tower 5. In figure 4a a pipe 26 in the form of a lifting joint is located in the work bridge 12. When the pipe has entered the door V the elevator 6 of the derrick 5 is attached to the end of the pipe 26 and the pipe rises from the work bridge to a vertical position.

The work bridge of the present invention is designed to be inclined in a vertical position, as shown in Figure 4b. The function of this is explained below.

Figure 4f shows a cross section of the working bridge in Figure 4a. This comprises a cross member as a frame 40 which is mounted on a hinge 41 so as to be able to tilt from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa.

A slider 42 that can slide along the cross member 40 is placed on the frame cross member. The slider is composed of a pipe bed 43 into which a tubular 26 can be placed. The slider has supports on the sides 44, which at their free ends they are equipped with rollers 45 which can carry a gear with the tubular 26 to prevent the tubular from moving out of the slide 42. When the tubular 26 is to be placed on the slide 42 or lifted out of the slide 42, the rollers can be lifted to the position denoted by the reference number 45 '.

Figure 5 shows the work bridge 12 and the area of the crane in a flat view. As such the crane has been removed to be able to show the area inside the derrick 5.

Figures 6 and 7 show a grip 27 designed to grip and hold a pipe, such as the lifter 26 shown in Figure 4a. The grip 27 is attached to the floating barrier 28 (see figure 1) of the knuckle cranes 7 by means of a connection 29. The connection 29 is preferably hydraulically driven towards a swing near a first axis 38 perpendicular to the floating barrier 28, as shown by arrow 30 in figure 6. The grip 27 is also formed by a second joint 31, which is guided hydraulically towards the swing that is near the second axis 32, which is perpendicular to the first axis 31, as shown by arrow 33 in figure 7.

To grip the pipe, a head 34 in the grip 27 is inserted into the pipe 26 at one of its ends. There is a set of staples 35 designed to grip a pipe flange (not shown). The staples are hydraulically operated in a manner known as such, involving a ring 36 that moves in and out of a gear with the staples 36 by means of a set of hydraulic cylinders 37. In FIGS. 6 and 7 the staples 36 are shown outside the gear with the pipe on the left side of the figures and in a gear position on the right side of the figures.

The grip 27 is designed to grip the pipe when the pipe is in a substantially vertical position. The pipe will be handled substantially vertically while the joints 29 and 31 are capable of supporting the grip 27 in a vertical position. Due to the movement of the oil platform induced by the waves 1, the forces of the wind and the unexpected collisions against objects in the oil platform, excessive forces can be imparted on the pipe and therefore on the grip. In order to avoid damage to the grip 27, the grip 27 is equipped with hydraulic means for turbulence. The means for turbulence may be in the form of a valve that releases the hydraulic pressure at the junctions 29 and 31, known as such.

The function of the devices described above will now be described.

The pipes, for example, the lifting joints, are stored on the horns 8, 9, 10, 11 at different points along the perimeter of the cover 3. When a lifting joint is to be used, one of the cranes 7 , the one that is covering the area of the shaft in which the lifting joint is stored, for example the rod 8, is guided towards the axis 8. At the same time the funnel 15 is brought to a position immediately above the lifting joint . The grip 27 is lowered into the funnel 15 and grasps the lifting joint.

If the lifting joint is stored in a shaft 9 of the type shown in Figure 3b, the guide 23 is brought to a position on the lifting joint with the help of the cross member 23 and the cart 24.

The seals 29 and 31 of the grip 27 are controlled so that the grip is held in a substantially vertical position at all times. The floating barriers of the knuckle-type crane 7 are also configured, as such, to move the grip 27 along the vertical line. Therefore, the lifting joint can be extracted in a manner from the shaft 8.

The lifting joint is then brought to the vertical position towards the working bridge 12. The working bridge 12 is brought to the vertical position shown in Figure 4b. In this position the work bridge receives the lifting joint. Subsequently, the work bridge is tilted to a substantially horizontal position. While this is carried out the work bridge is first lifted vertically by means not shown, so that the lower part of the working bridge leaves free the floor of the perforation 46 of the drilling tower 5. In the horizontal position the slidable 42 in the work bridge 12 transports the lifting link 26 in the direction of the center of the bore, where the elevator 26 is picked up by the elevator in the derrick 5 by means of a tool that drives the elevator in the tower of drilling. While the upper end of the riser 26 is lifted by the riser, the trailing end runs in the slider 42 toward the center of the bore, where it is guided by a hydraulically operated boom (not shown) to a final alignment on the bore. rotary.

When the tubular is going to return from the derrick 5 to the pole 8, 9, 10, 11, the sequence is opposite to the previous one.

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS Device for transporting tubulars between a storage (8, 9, 10, 11) and a drilling tower (5), consisting of a crane (7) configured to grip the tubular, characterized in that the crane (7) is a crane knuckle, which has a grip (27) that is adapted to be inserted into the upper end of the substantially vertical tubular to grip the upper end of the tubular and that the crane is adapted to lift the tubular at a substantially vertical distance so less corresponding to the length of the tubular and carrying the tubular in a substantially vertical orientation from storage to the derrick. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the grip (27) is composed of joints (29, 31) that allow the grip (27) to be in a vertical position while the tubular is transported, the connections (29, 31) have been equipped with hydraulic means designed to release the hydraulic pressure of the joint (29, 31) in the case of excessive force in the joints. Use of a knot crane to transport a tubular between a storage (8, 9, 10, 11) and a derrick (5), and to lift the tubular at a substantially vertical distance at least corresponding to the length of the tubular , the knot crane has a grip (27) that is adapted to be inserted into the upper end of the substantially vertical tubular to grip the upper end of the tubular and bring the tubular to a substantially vertical orientation. System for storing a tubular and transporting the tubular between a storage device (8, 9, 10, 11) and a derrick (5), comprising a store to store the tubular in a substantially vertical position,, a crane ( 7) configured to grip the tubular and transport it to the drilling tower, characterized in that said storage device (8, 9, 10, 11) is composed of a rod for storing the tubular in a substantially vertical position, the crane (7). ) is a knot crane, which has a grip (27) that is adapted to be inserted into the upper end of the substantially vertical tubular to grip the upper end of the tubular and that the crane is adapted to lift the tubular at a substantial distance vertical at least corresponding to the length of the tubular and bring the tubular to a substantially vertical orientation of the storage to the drilling tower. System according to claim 4 characterized in that in this mode is also formed by a transport means (12) configured to tilt between a horizontal position in which it is adapted to move the tubular in an axial direction through a door V -in the derrick (5), and a substantially horizontal position in which it is adapted to receive the tubular from the crane. System according to claim 5, characterized in that the transportation means (12) is hinged to a perforation floor (46) of the drilling tower (5). System according to any of claims 4 6, characterized in that the storage device (8, 9, 10, 11) is composed of a guide (15, 22) that is movable on the storage device (8, 9, 10, 11). System according to claim 7, characterized in that the guide (15, 22) is movable in a substantially horizontal plane which is on the upper end of the tubulars in the shaft, the guide has been adapted to guide one of the tubular selected in the storage device while it is lifted by the crane. System according to claim 8 characterized in that the storage device g (8, 9, 10, 11) is placed on the edge of a platform in the cover (3) with an insertion and recovery opening substantially at the level of the cover (3). . System according to any of claims 7-9, characterized in that the means for moving the guide (22) comprise a trolley (24) running on the first rails (25) on either side of an insertion and recovery opening of the storage device (8, 9, 10, 11), the cart (24) is composed of a crossbar (23) ) that extends substantially to the right angle towards the first rails (25) and comprises a second rail in which the guide (22) moves in a direction substantially at the right angle towards the first rails (25), so that the tubulars in the storage device can be accessed through their x and y coordinates.