Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
  • E21B43/01—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells specially adapted for obtaining from underwater installations

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for measuring the movement of a deformable underwater pipe with respect to a seabed.
• One area of application envisaged is that of the English-language flowline, which extends over the seabed. They are intended to connect a wellhead which, it, protrudes from the seabed, to a rising pipe which, from the seabed, extends catenary to reach a surface installation.
• the bottom pipe which is supported on the seabed from the wellhead, has a connecting end for connecting the bottom pipe to the riser, or to another bottom pipe.
• a hydrocarbon flowing from the wellhead is returned to the surface installation via the bottom pipe and the riser pipe.
• the hydrocarbons flow from the wellhead at a pressure and a temperature which vary with time and moreover, when the flow is stopped, for any reason related to the operation, the conditions of pressure and temperature of the driving of bottom evolve brutally. As a result, the bottom pipe then expands or contracts when, for example, the flow resumes.
• a bottom pipe of a thousand meters for example, can undergo longitudinal dimensional variations of the order of one meter.
• connections are mounted on metal structures capable of sliding on a foundation anchored in the seabed. In this way, the connecting end can accommodate longitudinal displacements. However residual friction remains at the connection ends and it is important to evaluate these excursions to ensure that these efforts are compatible with the structure of the bottom pipe.
• a problem that arises and that aims to solve the present invention is to provide a device that can measure and control the movements of a bottom deformable underwater pipe and at an advantageous cost.
• the present invention proposes a device for measuring the movement of a deformable underwater pipe with respect to a seabed, said deformable underwater pipe being extended on said seabed to transport fluids between two downhole installations, said deformable underwater pipe being capable of deforming as a function of the temperature of the fluids transported, said measuring device comprising a reception support anchored in said seabed between said installations for receiving said deformable underwater pipe .
• the device further comprises a set of breakable elements integral with one of said deformable underwater pipe and said receiving support, said set of breakable elements extending in a mean direction substantially parallel to said determined course; and, said breakable elements are intended to be severed successively by the other of said deformable underwater pipe and said receiving support, when said pipe is driven in movement along said determined course, so as to measure said amplitude of said movement as a function of the number severable sectionable elements.
• a feature of the invention lies in the implementation of a set of breakable elements, locatable and observable, which when the deformable underwater pipe deforms both longitudinally and laterally, are cut successively; the number of scored breakable elements being a function of the maximum amplitude of deformation of the pipe.
• the set of breakable elements extending in a direction parallel to the stroke of the movement of the pipe, the greater the deformation amplitude is important, the greater the number of scored breakable elements is large.
• the device according to the invention therefore makes it possible to measure, by means of a visualization camera on board a robot for example, the maximum amplitude, or maximum excursion, experienced during the life of the oilfield.
• the measuring device according to the invention can not only be installed between a rising pipe and a bottom pipe, but also between two bottom pipes.
• said set of breakable elements comprises rods, said rods having an end engaged in said deformable underwater pipe or in said receiving support and a projecting free end. of said deformable underwater pipe or said receiving support.
• said receiving support or said deformable underwater pipe comes to bear against the free end of the rods and shears through them as the relative displacement of the pipe underwater and said receiving support.
• said rods have a groove or notch forming rupture primer, which allows a free section of the rods when they are deformed by the relative movement of said receiving medium and the underwater pipe.
• the free end of the stems is colored with a color distinct from that of the seabed, so that the images generated by the observation camera, raises no doubt, on the sectioning or not of 'a rod. Indeed, when the stem is intact, its colored free end clearly appears in its initial position on the images of the observation camera. On the other hand, when the stem has been severed, its free colored end has generally been carried away by the submarine bottom currents, so that the remainder of the severed stem in engagement simply causes a point of a different color to appear. and in contrast with the other colored ends that remain intact.
• said rods are kept oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to said determined race, such that said deformable underwater pipe or said receiving support according to the embodiment, which bears on the free ends of rods, cuts them off with maximum efficiency.
• said rods are mounted screwed into said one of said deformable underwater pipe and said receiving support, so as to make their assembly easier.
• said rods are made of plastic, for example polyamide. In this way, this material being relatively rigid and brittle, minimal deformation of the rods then causes their section, and more precisely at the notch.
• said set of breakable elements has at least one alignment of said rods, preferably regularly spaced, in a direction between the direction of said stroke and a direction perpendicular to said stroke, so as to ability to establish a relationship of proportionality, between the number of cut rods and the range of motion of the deformable underwater pipe.
• said breakable elements are integral with said receiving support, while said deformable underwater pipe is adapted to cut said breakable elements. In this way, the set of breakable elements is maintained in a fixed position relative to the seabed, and it is the movements of the deformable pipe which sever the breakable elements.
• the measuring device further comprises a carriage slidably mounted on said receiving support, said pipe being mounted integral with said carriage, and said carriage is adapted to sever said breakable elements when said underwater pipe is driven in motion and thereby drives the carriage.
• said breakable elements are integral with said deformable underwater pipe, while said receiving support is adapted to cut said breakable elements.
• said underwater pipe which, by deforming, causes the breakable elements, which are then cut against said receiving support which is held in a fixed position on the seabed.
• the measuring device further comprises a sleeve which encloses said deformable underwater pipe and which supports said breakable elements.
• the sleeve is then fully integral with the underwater pipe and is slidably mounted within a crown anchored to the seabed.
• said ring is then adapted to sever said breakable elements when said underwater pipe is driven in motion and thereby causes the sleeve through the ring.
• the present invention provides a method for measuring the movement of a deformable underwater pipe with respect to a seabed, said deformable underwater pipe being extended on said seabed to transport fluids between two water systems. bottom, said deformable underwater pipe being capable of deforming as a function of the temperature of the fluids transported, said method being of the type according to which there is provided a reception support anchored in said seabed between said installations for receiving said deformable underwater pipe, said deformable underwater pipe being capable of being driven in movement along a determined course with respect to said support when it deforms, said movement having an amplitude which varies according to the deformation of said underwater pipe; according to the invention, the measuring method further comprises the following steps: according to which a set of breakable elements integral with one of said deformable underwater pipe and said receiving support, said set of breakable elements is provided; extending in a mean direction substantially parallel to said determined race, said breakable elements being intended to be severed successively by the other of said deformable underwater pipe and said receiving support, when said pipe is
• FIG. 1A is a schematic view in longitudinal and vertical section of the device according to the invention, according to a first embodiment
• Figure 1 B is a schematic top view of the device shown in Figure 1
• FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a first detail element of the device shown in Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second detail element of the first detail element shown in FIG. 2, and along a perpendicular; and, - Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of the device according to the invention, according to a second embodiment.
• FIGS 1A and 1B shows a seabed 10 on which rests a bottom line 12 extended longitudinally in a given direction, a measuring device 14 according to the invention and a riser 16 intended to join a surface installation.
• the measuring device 14 comprises a receiving support 18 anchored in the seabed 10.
• On this receiving support 18 is installed a carriage 20 which is movable in longitudinal translation in a direction D substantially parallel to said given direction of the bottom pipe 12.
• the carriage 20 is movable in translation relative to the receiving support 18, which is provided with guide means not shown to specifically guide the carriage 20 in translation.
• the bottom pipe 12 has a connecting end 22 held in a fixed position on the mobile carriage 20, by means of a clamping collar 24.
• the deformations of the bottom pipe 12 essentially related to the thermal variations that it undergoes, cause elongations or retractions of this bottom line 12 which, themselves, then cause longitudinal movement, the connecting end 22 in the direction D, and therefore the carriage 20 which it is secured.
• the carriage 20 is thus driven in reciprocating motion along a determined stroke, as thermal variations of the bottom pipe 12 occur.
• this reciprocating movement of the carriage 20 has relatively long periods that can reach several months or even several years.
• the measuring device 14 according to the invention then makes it possible to measure the amplitude of these reciprocating movements by means of an assembly 26 of breakable elements comprising rods 28 of plastics material. It will be observed that the set 26 of breakable elements extends in a mean direction substantially parallel to the direction of the reciprocating movements.
• rods 28 are made of plastic material, polyamide for example, and are screwed on a face 29 of a support plate 30, which is installed substantially horizontally on the receiving support 18 and is fixed thereto.
• the advantage of the polyamide lies in its rigidity and consequently in its ability to fracture according to a free section.
• the carriage 20 covers the support plate 30 and has a window 32 through which the rods 28 project.
• the two transverse opposite edges 34, 36 of the window 32 form two opposed cutter bars and substantially perpendicular to the D direction of displacement of the carriage 20. These two opposite transverse edges 34, 36 are then likely to be driven in translation flush with the face of the place 29 of the support plate 30.
• FIG. 3 shows, in partial view, the support plate 30 having its location face 29 in which is provided, substantially perpendicularly, a threaded orifice 38.
• This orifice has a depth e, less than one half a thickness of the plate 30, and it is extended by a channel 40 which opens on a rear face 42 of the support plate 30.
• the rod 28 consists of a threaded rod 43 surmounted by a screwing head 44.
• the rod 28 has an end 46 screwed into the orifice 38 and a free end 48 supporting the screwing head 44.
• the screwing head 44 precisely makes it possible to screw the end 46 into the orifice 38.
• the threaded rod 43 has a groove 50 with a depth close to 2 mm, forming a notch between the end 46 taken in the plate e support 30 and the free end 48.
• This groove 50 which forms a breaking primer, allows easier section, with less effort, the threaded rod 43 when one of the opposite transverse edges 34, 36 comes impact the free end 48 of the rod 28.
• the channel 40 to put the orifice 38, to the hydrostatic pressure when the support plate 30 equipped with rods 28, is installed in the seabed. In this way, the section of the threaded rod 43 is even more straightforward. Reference will now be made to FIG.
• this support plate 30 has a width I of 340 mm for a length L of 500 mm and a thickness of 50 mm.
• the threaded orifices 38 made in the support plate 30 have a diameter of 15 mm. Above all, they are practiced according to a series of alignments 52, 54, 56, 58, parallel to each other and inclined by 90 ° with respect to the length L of the support plate 30.
• the orifices 38 are spaced apart others of a distance close to 35 mm, while along the length L, the orifices 38 are spaced from one series to another, a distance of 100 mm.
• the width 1 there are always two orifices 38 of two contiguous series, in correspondence, which define a row parallel to the width I.
• the set of orifices 38 extends in a substantially parallel mean direction at length L
• a rod 28 of the type illustrated in FIG. 3 is screwed.
• the screw heads 44 are colored with a color distinct from that of the seabed.
• the transverse edge 34 of the window 32 would then come simultaneously, bear against the two rods of the first row r1 of the support plate 30 shown in FIG. 2, and would also, as the carriage 20 moves, simultaneously cut them by shearing at the same time. level of the groove 50.
• the transverse edge 34 of the window 32 would then bear simultaneously against the two rods of a second row r2 adjacent to the first row r1 to cut in turn.
• the support plate 30 is oversized so as to be able to keep a certain number of intact rods 28 on the support plate 30, and to visualize them by means of their colored screwing head 44, with respect to the already severed rods.
• the carriage 20 has been able to oscillate on the receiving support 18 as a function of the temperature of the hydrocarbon which has circulated to the interior over time, and reach a maximum amplitude corresponding to a maximum of rows of stems 28 sectioned.
• the receiving support consists of a ring 18 'equipped with a border which surrounds it solidarily.
• This ring 18 ' is anchored to the seabed by partially burying said border. It is then mounted in a fixed position relative to the seabed. Alternatively, it can be installed on a not shown base.
• the ring 18 ' allows the sliding of the longitudinal sleeve 30' when the latter is driven by the bottom pipe 12 '.
• the ring 18 ' has two opposite shear edges 34', 36 ', intended to cut the rods 28' when the sleeve 30 'is driven in translation through the ring 20'.

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• Geology (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Testing Or Calibration Of Command Recording Devices (AREA)
• Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
• Earth Drilling (AREA)
• Investigating Strength Of Materials By Application Of Mechanical Stress (AREA)
• Length Measuring Devices With Unspecified Measuring Means (AREA)
• Measurement Of Velocity Or Position Using Acoustic Or Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)

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Publications (2)

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• 2007
  • 2007-11-13 FR FR0707960A patent/FR2923522B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2008
  • 2008-11-04 EP EP08871319A patent/EP2207991B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2008-11-04 AU AU2008348671A patent/AU2008348671B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2008-11-04 DK DK08871319.3T patent/DK2207991T3/da active
  • 2008-11-04 BR BRPI0820196-0A patent/BRPI0820196A2/pt active Search and Examination
  • 2008-11-04 DE DE602008005348T patent/DE602008005348D1/de active Active
  • 2008-11-04 AT AT08871319T patent/ATE500467T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2008-11-04 US US12/742,522 patent/US8286516B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2008-11-04 WO PCT/FR2008/001552 patent/WO2009092908A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2008-11-04 MY MYPI2010001891A patent/MY150332A/en unknown
• 2010
  • 2010-05-13 EG EG2010050790A patent/EG25670A/xx active

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