US3593529A - Method and apparatus for installing drilling platforms - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for installing drilling platforms Download PDF

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Publication number
US3593529A
US3593529A US766274A US3593529DA US3593529A US 3593529 A US3593529 A US 3593529A US 766274 A US766274 A US 766274A US 3593529D A US3593529D A US 3593529DA US 3593529 A US3593529 A US 3593529A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
platform
float
pillars
drilling
derrick
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Expired - Lifetime
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US766274A
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English (en)
Inventor
August Hendrik Maria Smulders
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IND NV
INDUSTRIEELE NV
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IND NV
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Publication of US3593529A publication Critical patent/US3593529A/en
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
    • E02B17/00—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor
    • E02B17/02—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor placed by lowering the supporting construction to the bottom, e.g. with subsequent fixing thereto
    • E02B17/021—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor placed by lowering the supporting construction to the bottom, e.g. with subsequent fixing thereto with relative movement between supporting construction and platform
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
    • E02B17/00—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor
    • E02B2017/0056—Platforms with supporting legs
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
    • E02B17/00—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor
    • E02B2017/0056—Platforms with supporting legs
    • E02B2017/0073—Details of sea bottom engaging footing
    • E02B2017/0082—Spudcans, skirts or extended feet

Definitions

  • 61/466 X [33] y Nefl'leflzmds 3,001,595 9/1961 Lucas 61/465 X [31] 6743804 3,201,945 8/1965 Sutton 61/465 FOREIGN PATENTS 598,805 1948 Great Britain 61/465 54 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSTALLING Exami'leqawb DRILLING PLATFORMS Attorney-Young & Thompson 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figs.
  • a buoyant mobile drilling platform has a gap in 1 14/435 its side in which is detachably disposed a permanent drilling [51] Int. Cl E02hl7/02, platform. The two platforms are floated to the drilling site and B63b 35/44 temporarily emplaced. If a test drill shows the presence of gas [50] Field of Search ..6l/46.5, 46; or oil, then the permanent platform is permanently emplaced and the mobile platform is floated away.
  • Mobile platforms for example comprise a buoyant platform having a plurality of pillars that can be moved vertically relative to the platform. The platform is floated to its destination and the pillars are lowered into contact with the sea floor whereupon the platform is then hoisted or jacked above the surface of the water on and relative to the pillars.
  • Another type of mobile platform comprises vertically disposed floats which together support a platform, the buoyancy of the floats being regulable.
  • permanent drilling platforms may for example comprise an under structure which is conveyed to its destination by means of floats or its own buoyancy and either made to sink, or else overturned and lowered to the bottom of the sea and anchored there. Then the rest of the permanent drilling platform is erected on top of the under structure.
  • separate lifting mechanisms and transport means are required.
  • the services of specialized contractors are required and expensive seagoing lifting machinery has to be used. The procedure is thus expensive and time consuming and is often delayed by weather conditions.
  • a mobile drilling platform is preferably used when prospecting for gas or oil at the bottom of the sea. If the hole is dry, the drilling platform is shifted. But if the well produces, then a permanent rig is installed and is provided with the necessary pumps and vents and valves.
  • the object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus by which the installation of pennanent drilling platforms, for instance after gas or oil has been struck, can be considerably simplified and speedcd up without the need for the services and equipment of expensive and specialized contractors.
  • FIG. I is a top plan view of a combined mobile drilling platform and permanent drilling platform, as associated with each other according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, shown in the position in which it moves to the drilling site;
  • FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing, at a subsequent stage of operation, the mobile platform supported on the sea floor and raised above the surface of the water and in turn supporting the permanent drilling platform;
  • FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, but showing a subsequent stage of operation in which the permanent drilling platform is supported on the sea floor and the derrick is moved from the modile to the permanent platform;
  • FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 2-4 but showing a sub sequent stage in which the dem'ck is moved back onto the mobile platform and the mobile platform lowered to float preparatory to removing the mobile platform;
  • FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 2-5 but showing a subsequent condition of the apparatus in which the mobile platform is floating and can be removed, and the pillars of the permanent platform are cross braced.
  • a mobile drilling platform comprising a platform proper or float l which is buoyant and which supports a plurality of pillars 2 for vertical movement relative to float l by conventional mechanism (not shown).
  • One side of float I is provided with a gap or opening 3 therein, best seen in FIG. I, in which the platform proper or body 4 of a permanent drilling platform is disposed.
  • Body 4 is supported on and detachably interconnected with float l by connecting means (not shown).
  • Body 4 may itself have buoyancy and may provide storage space for equipment.
  • Body 4 has a central opening vertically therethrough which is closed by a cover 5. Pillars 6 are vertically movable through body 4.
  • a derrick 7 moves on tracks 7a.
  • a portion of tracks 7a is disposed on float l and registers with a portion of tracks 7a disposed on body 4, so that derrick 7 is movable back and forth between float I and body 4
  • the guage of tracks 7a can be sufficiently great that they span gap 3 so that derrick 7 is never supported by body 4.
  • the two platforms are at the drilling site in the condition shown in FIG. 2, detachably interconnected and with the pillars 2 and 6 raised.
  • the pillars 2 of the mobile platform are then sunk to the FIG. 3 position and the float I supporting the permanent platform is raised above the surface of the water.
  • the pillars 6 of the permanent drilling platform are lowered into supporting contact with the sea floor and the derrick 7 is moved on tracks 7a onto body 4. This is the FIG. 4 position.
  • the pillars 6 can thus be initially emplaced by winches.
  • the pillars 6 can be rotated relative to body 4 so as to drive them more deeply into the sea floor, because it is not necessary to make them polygonal or otherwise to provide mechanisms cooperable with pillars such as the pillars 2 on which the float 1 is to be jacked up.
  • the pillars 6 can also be further pressed into the sea floor by transferring at least a portion of the weight of the float 1 onto the pillars 6.
  • the cover 5 With the cover 5 removed, the actual drilling is conducted through the central opening of the body 4. If the drilling is unproductive, then the parts are returned to their FIG. 2 position and the apparatus moves on to another drill site. But if the well is productive, the derrick 7 is moved back to the FIG. 5 position and the permanent platform is permanently emplaced by pile driving or the like and concretework. Any necessary completion of the body 4 can be effected and the pillars 6 can be cross braced.
  • the float 1 is lowered on pillars 2 until it'is again immersed.
  • the pillars 2 are then jacked up from the sea floor to the FIG. 6 position and the two platforms are disconnected and the mobile platform is floated away, leaving the permanent platform relatively permanently emplaced.
  • the mobile platform can then be joined to another permanent platform in a harbor, or in deeper water if the permanent platform is also buoyant.
  • the pillars 6 of the permanent platform can be braced by lowering a framework 8 along pillars 6 and securing framework 8 to pillars 6 at a suitable level.
  • Framework 8 can be manipulated from body 4 by means of cables or chains.
  • a method for the installation of a drilling platform comprising floating to a drilling site an interconnected float and drilling platform each having a plurality of relatively vertically movable pillars with said interconnected float and platform having upper surfaces in the same plane, floating said float and platform to the drilling site with their pillars raised, lowering the pillars of said float relative to said float until the lowered pillars contact the sea floor and support said float'and platform in raised position above the surface of the water, lowering the pillars of said platform until the last-named pillars sup- .port said platform above the surface of the water and at the level of said float moving a portable derrick across the upper surface of said float and into supported relationship on the upper surface of said platform with said upper surfaces of said float and platform disposed in a common horizontal plane, performing a drilling operation with said derrick supported on said platform, moving said derrick back onto the upper surface of said float, lowering said float and derrick to floating support in the water and raisingthe pillars of

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Earth Drilling (AREA)
US766274A 1967-10-11 1968-10-09 Method and apparatus for installing drilling platforms Expired - Lifetime US3593529A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL6713804A NL135005C (de) 1967-10-11 1967-10-11

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US3593529A true US3593529A (en) 1971-07-20

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NL (1) NL135005C (de)

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3874180A (en) * 1971-01-18 1975-04-01 Maurice N Sumner Modular offshore structure system
FR2424370A1 (fr) * 1978-04-25 1979-11-23 Union Indle Entreprises Plate-forme legere de production petroliere en mer, et methode de pose
EP0094434A1 (de) * 1981-11-25 1983-11-23 Hitachi Zosen Corporation Montageschiff für das einrichten grosser bauwerke im meer
US4455109A (en) * 1981-05-01 1984-06-19 Marathon Manufacturing Company Barge hull for offshore drilling rigs
EP0306145A1 (de) * 1987-09-04 1989-03-08 Cooper Industries, Inc. Caisson-Plattformturm und dessen Aufstellungsverfahren
US4826355A (en) * 1985-04-24 1989-05-02 Modular Jack-Up Systems Company, Inc. Method for transporting and transferring a heavy load in high seas to a fixed structure
US5135666A (en) * 1991-05-23 1992-08-04 Lucas James E Marine oil spill clean-up method using a motion compensator means
US5139367A (en) * 1989-10-31 1992-08-18 Transworld Drilling Co. System for moving drilling module to fixed platform
US6276876B1 (en) * 1995-11-06 2001-08-21 Bg Plc Offshore exploration or production operation
US6305881B1 (en) * 1998-05-22 2001-10-23 Herman J. Schellstede & Associates, Inc. Barge stabilization method
FR2865484A1 (fr) * 2004-01-28 2005-07-29 Technip France Structure de transport, d'installation et de demantelement des elements d'une plate-forme petroliere fixe et procedes de mise en oeuvre d'une telle structure.
US20120183359A1 (en) * 2011-01-14 2012-07-19 The Glosten Associates, Inc. Installation method for water-submersible platforms and installation vessel
WO2014092555A1 (en) * 2012-12-11 2014-06-19 Temporary Works Design B.V. Method for providing a foundation structure for an on-water installation
AU2009247102B2 (en) * 2008-05-14 2016-01-28 De Raj Energy Sdn Bhd Offshore unit and method of installing wellhead platform using the offshore unit
US20210017727A1 (en) * 2019-07-18 2021-01-21 Deme Offshore Be N.V. Jack-up platform comprising a mooring system and method for mooring a floating vessel

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB598805A (en) * 1945-09-11 1948-02-26 Philip Warwick Robson Improvements in or relating to methods of and means for oil boring
US2515540A (en) * 1947-05-05 1950-07-18 Mcdermott & Co Inc J Ray Marine drilling method and means
US2699321A (en) * 1949-06-21 1955-01-11 Fred N Nelson Deepwater oil drilling and storage craft
US2837897A (en) * 1954-09-24 1958-06-10 Gulf Oil Corp Automatic underwater bracing system for a mobile drilling rig
US2997852A (en) * 1954-12-30 1961-08-29 De Long Corp Apparatus and method for reecting a supporting structure over a body of water
US3001595A (en) * 1954-05-26 1961-09-26 De Long Corp Multi-purpose derrick barge and method of use in oil well drilling and servicing
US3001594A (en) * 1954-05-04 1961-09-26 De Long Corp Off-shore drill rig
US3201945A (en) * 1960-04-22 1965-08-24 John R Sutton Offshore equipment supports and method of operation

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB598805A (en) * 1945-09-11 1948-02-26 Philip Warwick Robson Improvements in or relating to methods of and means for oil boring
US2515540A (en) * 1947-05-05 1950-07-18 Mcdermott & Co Inc J Ray Marine drilling method and means
US2699321A (en) * 1949-06-21 1955-01-11 Fred N Nelson Deepwater oil drilling and storage craft
US3001594A (en) * 1954-05-04 1961-09-26 De Long Corp Off-shore drill rig
US3001595A (en) * 1954-05-26 1961-09-26 De Long Corp Multi-purpose derrick barge and method of use in oil well drilling and servicing
US2837897A (en) * 1954-09-24 1958-06-10 Gulf Oil Corp Automatic underwater bracing system for a mobile drilling rig
US2997852A (en) * 1954-12-30 1961-08-29 De Long Corp Apparatus and method for reecting a supporting structure over a body of water
US3201945A (en) * 1960-04-22 1965-08-24 John R Sutton Offshore equipment supports and method of operation

Cited By (22)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3874180A (en) * 1971-01-18 1975-04-01 Maurice N Sumner Modular offshore structure system
FR2424370A1 (fr) * 1978-04-25 1979-11-23 Union Indle Entreprises Plate-forme legere de production petroliere en mer, et methode de pose
US4455109A (en) * 1981-05-01 1984-06-19 Marathon Manufacturing Company Barge hull for offshore drilling rigs
EP0094434A1 (de) * 1981-11-25 1983-11-23 Hitachi Zosen Corporation Montageschiff für das einrichten grosser bauwerke im meer
EP0094434A4 (de) * 1981-11-25 1984-05-17 Hitachi Shipbuilding Eng Co Montageschiff für das einrichten grosser bauwerke im meer.
US4826355A (en) * 1985-04-24 1989-05-02 Modular Jack-Up Systems Company, Inc. Method for transporting and transferring a heavy load in high seas to a fixed structure
EP0306145A1 (de) * 1987-09-04 1989-03-08 Cooper Industries, Inc. Caisson-Plattformturm und dessen Aufstellungsverfahren
US5139367A (en) * 1989-10-31 1992-08-18 Transworld Drilling Co. System for moving drilling module to fixed platform
US5135666A (en) * 1991-05-23 1992-08-04 Lucas James E Marine oil spill clean-up method using a motion compensator means
US6276876B1 (en) * 1995-11-06 2001-08-21 Bg Plc Offshore exploration or production operation
US6305881B1 (en) * 1998-05-22 2001-10-23 Herman J. Schellstede & Associates, Inc. Barge stabilization method
FR2865484A1 (fr) * 2004-01-28 2005-07-29 Technip France Structure de transport, d'installation et de demantelement des elements d'une plate-forme petroliere fixe et procedes de mise en oeuvre d'une telle structure.
WO2005083183A1 (fr) * 2004-01-28 2005-09-09 Technip France Structure de transport, d'installation et de demantelement des elements d'une plate-forme petroliere fixe et procedes de mise en oeuvre d'une telle structure.
EA008616B1 (ru) * 2004-01-28 2007-06-29 Текнип Франс Конструкция для транспортировки, установки и демонтажа элементов стационарной нефтедобывающей платформы и способы использования такой конструкции
US20080131209A1 (en) * 2004-01-28 2008-06-05 Pierre-Armand Thomas Structure For Transporting, Commissioning and Decommissioning the Elements of a Fixed Oil Platform and Methods For Implementing Such a Structure
US8070388B2 (en) 2004-01-28 2011-12-06 Technip France Structure for transporting, commissioning and decommissioning the elements of a fixed oil platform and methods for implementing such a structure
AU2009247102B2 (en) * 2008-05-14 2016-01-28 De Raj Energy Sdn Bhd Offshore unit and method of installing wellhead platform using the offshore unit
US20120183359A1 (en) * 2011-01-14 2012-07-19 The Glosten Associates, Inc. Installation method for water-submersible platforms and installation vessel
US9914505B2 (en) * 2011-01-14 2018-03-13 Glosten, Inc. Installation method for water-submersible platforms and installation vessel
WO2014092555A1 (en) * 2012-12-11 2014-06-19 Temporary Works Design B.V. Method for providing a foundation structure for an on-water installation
US20210017727A1 (en) * 2019-07-18 2021-01-21 Deme Offshore Be N.V. Jack-up platform comprising a mooring system and method for mooring a floating vessel
US10995464B2 (en) * 2019-07-18 2021-05-04 Deme Offshore Be N.V. Jack-up platform comprising a mooring system and method for mooring a floating vessel

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Publication number Publication date
NL135005C (de) 1972-09-15
NL6713804A (de) 1969-04-15

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