FloaTEC, LLC 14701 St.

Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77079 Tel: +1 281 870 5200

Deepwater Floating Production Systems – An Overview

Introduction
In addition to the mono hull, three floating structure designs ─ Tension leg Platform
(TLP), Semisubmersible (Semi), and Truss Spar ─ have been successfully developed
for use as floating production systems (FPS) over the past several decades. Each of
these floater designs has evolved along with subsea and riser technology to meet new
field development challenges related to increased water depth, drilling, and reservoir
operating pressures and temperatures. Design improvements continue to be made as
new developments in deepwater technology are incorporated into the basic designs.

The functional requirements for floating structures can be generalized as:

 Drilling facilities
o Number, type and location of drilling rig
 Production facilities
o Weight, area and center of gravity
 Drilling / production risers
o Number and arrangement
 Well systems
o Number of wells, completion and workover methods, minimum well
spacing and well bay location
 Hull compartmentalization
o Damage stability considerations
 Air gap requirements
o New metocean criteria

As illustrated in the following figure, the relative hull responses of the three designs vary
considerably. In all cases the objective is to minimize the response to the environment.

Natural Periods of Heave Responses

Vertical Motions Vertical Motions

are Suppressed TLPs Floaters are Controlled Hull
by Tendons Configuration
Design Wave Energy

5 10 15 20 25 30
Wave Periods
(secs)
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Efficient design of floating structures is predicated on functionality and performance – it

should be capable of supporting all the necessary equipment for production and related
tasks while meeting all performance criteria. The structure should provide sufficient
space and robustness to fulfill its intended purpose; also, the floating structure should
be built at a minimum of cost, which is governed mainly by the hull steel weight.

Hull weight estimates are based on global sizing which is determined by the naval
architectural and structural design. Global sizing is a key engineering design process in
both the concept selection stage and design phase of a floating structure. The sizing of
a moored floating structure considers relationships among the payload, the size of the
hull, and the mooring system. During the concept selection phase, efforts are
concentrated on the main dimensions and weights under the consideration of design
standards and performance requirements without a high degree of engineering detail.
Finalized dimensions and main properties of the floating structures will be determined in
the front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage through various analyses.

Spar Technology
The first Spars were based on the Classic design. This evolved into the Truss Spar by
replacing the lower section of the caisson hull with a truss. Truss Spars are often
considered along with TLPs for dry tree solutions because they offer favorable vertical
motions. However, Truss Spars are
different from both Semis and TLPs
with regards the mechanism of
motion control. One of the
distinctions of the Truss Spar is that
its center of gravity is always lower
than the center of buoyancy which
guarantees a positive GM. This
makes the Truss Spar
unconditionally stable. The Truss
Spar derives no stability from its
mooring system, so it does not list
or capsize even when completely
disconnected from its mooring.

The deep draft is a favorable

attribute for minimal heave motions,
its deep draft and large inertia filter
wave frequency motions in all but
the larger storms. The natural
period in heave and pitch are
above the range of wave energy
periods. The long response periods
for Truss Spars mitigate the
mooring and riser dynamic
responses, which are common to
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ship shaped FPSOs and Semis. The deep draft, along with protected centerwell,
significantly reduce the current and wave loading on the riser system These loads
normally control the tension and fatigue requirements of the production risers on TLP or
Semis.

One of the principal advantages of the Truss Spar over other floating platforms lies in its
reduced heave and pitch motions. Low motions in these degrees of freedom permit the
use of dry trees. Dry trees offer direct vertical access to the wells from the deck, which
allows the Truss Spar to be configured for full drilling, workover operations, production
operations, or any combination of these activities.

Truss Spar Concept

The Truss Spar is divided into three distinct sections. The cylindrical upper section,
called the “hard tank,” provides most of the in-place buoyancy for the Truss Spar. The
middle truss section supports the heave plates and provides separation between the
keel tank and hard tank. The keel tank, also known as the “soft tank,” contains the fixed
ballast and acts as a natural hang-off location for export pipelines and flowlines since
the environmental influences from waves and currents and associated responses are
less pronounced there than nearer the water line.

The trussed mid-section of the hull is an X-braced space frame constructed of tubular
members and flat
plates called “heave
plates.” The heave
plates increase the
added mass in the
vertical direction and
thereby increase the
natural heave period of
the Truss Spar and
bringing it above the
range of periods in the
wave energy. In a
Truss Spar, they also
increase heave
damping.

The third section of the

hull is the “keel tank,”
which is attached to the
bottom of the truss at
the keel. It provides the buoyancy while the Truss Spar is wet-towed horizontally to site
for installation. The keel tank is flooded to initiate upending and, finally, receives the
field-installed, fixed ballast, which is key to the Truss Spar’s unmatched stability. The
porches for the steel catenary export pipeline risers are on the perimeter of the keel
tank.
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The Truss Spar hull includes two access shafts. These shafts contain the ballast and
utility piping and instrumentation. They also allow direct personnel access to the piping
and to every void tank without requiring workers to pass through an intermediate
compartment. Only one void need be open at a time. Access shafts are painted, lighted,
and vented, as required, for entry.

The seawater ballast system has a dedicated centrifugal pump at the bottom of each
access shaft for discharging ballast water. Ballast water is supplied to the tanks from the
utility seawater manifold. Each seawater ballast discharge pump services the same two
ballast tanks served by its access shaft. All ballasting is over the top of the hull, so that
ballast tanks have to be intentionally filled by the ballast operator. This eliminates the
possibility of inadvertent flooding, which can occur if a sea-chest system is used.

TLP Technology
The main principal of the TLP is to assure that the vertical forces acting on the platform
are in balance, i.e. fixed and variable platform loads plus tendon tension are equal to its
displacement. The VCG
should be close to the
platforms geometrical center.
Positive displacement is
obtained by locking the
platforms draft below the fixed
and variable payload
displacement draft. This will
result in an upward force
applied to the tendons,
thereby keeping them in
constant tension.

As a consequence the vertical

platform motions (heave) is
almost eliminated, except for
motions resulting from tendon
elasticity and vertical motion
as result of environmental
introduced lateral platform
motions. The tendons do
allow a lateral motion of the platform as a result of wind, wave and current. This motion
is similar to an inverted pendulum except for the fact that the displacement variation by
pulling the hull down is giving a restoring force to the lateral movement. The tendon
tension is set within predefined values, or window of operation. If the variable load of the
platform exceeds these values by adding risers or drilling loads etc., the tendon
pretension is adjusted by re-ballasting of the platform. Consequently the hull is
compartmented into void, machinery and ballast spaces. The TLP has a control system
monitoring ballast and VCG. Seawater is used for ballast adjustment.
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As an evolution of the Classic TLP design, the ETLP (Extended Tension Leg Platform)
has been developed. Some of the drivers behind this design development are:
 Wider tendon base for greater pitch stiffness (stability)
 Smaller spacing of deck supports for more efficient structure
 Lower rotational inertia for hull and deck for lower pitch natural period
 A large moonpool can accommodate conventional top tension risers.
 De-coupling of tendon porch separation distance from the topsides deck design
produces maximum design flexibility.

ETLP = Extended Tension Leg Platform

Columns
are moved
inboard Conventional • Principle Benefits of ETLP Technology:
TLP
• Significant steel weight savings in deck
and hull steel
• Capable of carrying greater payloads into
deeper water
• Number of tendons is reduced
Pontoons • Comprised of safe, conventional and
extended to
tendon porch
ETLP well-proven systems

ETLPs have been successfully designed, fabricated,

and installed at the Kizomba A, Kizomba B Located
offshore Angola and Magnolia locations in the Gulf of
Mexico.

Typical TLP Heave Motion RAO’s

Heave Motion RAO-225 deg Heading
0.018
High-Tide, No Riser
0.016 High Tide, Max Riser
No Tide, No Riser
Heave Motion RAO (m/m)

0.014
No Tide, Max Riser
0.012

0.01

0.008

0.006

0.004

0.002

0
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00
Period (sec)
 FloaTEC, LLC 14701 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77079 Tel: +1 281 870 5200

Semisubmersible Technology
Semi units offer a number of benefits, including large payload capacity, limited
sensitivity to water depth, quayside integration and the ability to relocate after field
abandonment. A typical Semi design has four columns connected at the bottom by
pontoon with a nominally rectangular cross-section. A truss structure connects the
column tops and supports topsides
modules. This arrangement provides a
high degree of flexibility in fabrication
methodology.

The Semi is designated as a “column

stabilized units” (USCG, ABS, DnV,
etc.). The columns are “stability
columns” and primarily provide
floatation stability. Important design
variables are column dimensions and
spacing, pontoon size and the ratio of
pontoon width to pontoon height, draft
of the hull, etc. In order to satisfy the
stability and motion requirements,
ranges for the variables and critical
parameters such as GM value, free
board value, heave natural period, etc are set as the constraints. Columns are sized to
provide adequate water plane area to support all anticipated loading conditions, spaced
to support topsides modules, and tuned for a natural period of at least 20 seconds.
These columns are supported by two parallel pontoons or a ring pontoon. Pontoons are
sized to provide adequate buoyancy to support all weights and vertical loads, and
proportioned to maximize heave damping.

Typical Semi RAO’s

Head Sea RAO's

2.5

Surge
RAO (ft/ft or deg/ft)

2.0
Sway
1.5 Heave

1.0 Roll
Pitch
0.5 Yaw

0.0
3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Wave Period (Sec)