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GUEVARA, JOSEPH LOUIS M. AUGUST 9, 2019

BSPE 5-B

TYPES OF PRODUCTION PLATFORMS

1. Floating Offshore Production Systems
It stands for
floating, production,
storage, and offloading
(FPSO). These vessels
are used extensively by
the offshore industry
and have become one
of the primary methods
of oil and gas
processing and storage.
FPSO’s are floating
vessels that acts as a
mobile offshore
production and storage
facility. They are
typically employed and
leased by oil and gas companies.
The vessels themselves are equipped with processing equipment for the separation, storage
and offloading of oil and gas that comes from sub-sea oil wells or platforms. When oil and gas is
processed, it is safely stored in the FPSO until it can be offloaded onto a tanker or a pipeline for
transportation ashore.

2. Spar Platforms

A type of platform moored to the seabed, it is secured to the ocean floor by a complex
network of cables and tendons. Spars have been designed in three configurations: the
"conventional" one-piece cylindrical hull, the "truss spar" where the midsection is composed of
truss elements connecting the upper buoyant hull (called a hard tank) with the bottom soft tank
containing permanent ballast, and the "cell spar" which is built from multiple vertical cylinders.
Naval architects have designed this type of drilling and production platform which has a
hollow cylindrical hull that can descend up to a sea depth of 200 meters and can be used for
drilling wells beyond 10,000 feet. The Spar may be more economical to build for small and
medium sized rigs and has more inherent stability.
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3. Jack-up Platform
A type of mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) designed for shallow water offshore
exploration and development purposes. It is made up of a hull, legs, and a lifting system. It can
be towed to the offshore site, and then lowered into the seabed to lift up the hull, providing a
stable work deck which is strong enough to cope with the required environmental loads.
Jack-up rigs are floated
out to the drilling location,
and they have retractable
legs that are lowered down to
the seafloor. Jack-up rigs can
only work in water depths
less than the length of their
legs, typically limiting
operations to less than 150
meters / 500 feet. When
drilling is completed, the legs
are raised out of the water,
and the rig becomes a
floating barge that can be
towed away (‘wet tow’) or placed on a large transport ship (‘dry tow’).
An advantage of Jack Up rigs is that they can operate in high wind speeds and with
significant wave heights, as well as in water depths reaching 500 feet. Jack-up rigs can be
segmented by their specifications and water depth ratings. The three most common types of these
rigs are standard, high specification and harsh environment. Since the Jack Up will be ultimately
supported by the seabed, they are usually preloaded upon arrival at the intended site to simulate
the kind of leg loads that they will be exposed to. This ensures that once the rig is fully jacked up
and in operation, the seabed will be able to provide a strong foundation for the rig.

4. Semisubmersible Platform
A semisubmersible is a MODU designed with a
platform-type deck that contains drilling equipment and
other machinery supported by pontoon-type columns
that are submerged into the water. Another type of
drilling rig that can drill in ultra-deepwaters, drillships,
are capable of holding more equipment. However,
semisubmersibles are chosen for their stability. The
design concept of partially submerging the rig lessens
both rolling and pitching on semisubs.
While in transit, semisubs are not lowered into the
water. Only during drilling operations are semisubs
partially submerged. Because semisubs can float on the
top of the water, transporting these rigs from location to
location is made easier. Some semis are transported via outside vessels, such as tugs or barges,
and some have their own propulsion method for transport.
Based on the way the rig is submerged in the water, there are two main types of
semisubmersibles: bottle-type semisubs and column-stabilized semisubs.
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5. Fixed Platforms
Fixed Platforms, built on concrete and/or steel legs anchored directly onto the seabed,
supporting a deck with space for drilling rigs, production facilities and crew quarters. Such
platforms are, by virtue of their immobility, designed for very long-term use (for instance the
Hiberniaplat form). Various types of structure are used, steel jacket, concrete caisson,
floating steel and even floating concrete. Steel jackets are vertical sections made of tubular
steel members, and are usually piled into the seabed. Fixed platforms are economically
feasible for installation in water depths up to about 1,700 feet. There are five main types of
fixed platform, ranging from the conventional fixed platform used at depths of up to 150 m,
to the tension leg platform that can be used at depths of 2000 m.

a) Tension leg platforms (TLP)

A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is a buoyant platform held in place by a mooring
system. The TLP's are similar to conventional fixed platforms, except that the platform is
maintained on location through the use of moorings held in tension by the buoyancy of
the hull. The mooring system is a set of tension legs or tendons attached to the platform
and connected to a template or foundation on the seafloor. TLP’s experience more of
horizontal stresses due to waves as compared to the vertical movements which are
restricted by the tendons fixed to the foundation. This type of platforms can operate in
water depths up to 2,134 m (7,000 ft).

b) Conventional Fixed Platforms

Conventional fixed platforms,
or FPs, can be constructed of steel
jacket or concrete caisson. The former
are rigs primarily made using tubular
steel piled into the sea floor, whilst
caisson rigs feature submersed oil
storage tanks that allow them to be
constructed in very shallow water, and
then floated to their final position.
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c) Compliant Tower
Compliant towers are similar to fixed platforms in that they
have a steel tubular jacket that is used to support the surface
facilities. Unlike fixed platforms, compliant towers yield to the
water and wind movements in a manner similar to floating
structures. Like fixed platforms, they are secured to the
seafloor with piles. The jacket of a compliant tower has smaller
dimensions than those of a fixed platform and may consist of
two or more sections. It can also have buoyant sections in the
upper jacket with mooring lines from jacket to seafloor (guyed-
tower designs) or a combination of the two. The water depth at
the intended location dictates platform height. Once the lower
jacket is secured to the seafloor, it acts as a base (compliant
tower) for the upper jacket and surface facilities. Large barge-
mounted cranes position and secure the jacket and install the
surface facility modules. These differences allow the use of
compliant towers in water depths ranging up to 3,000 ft. This
range is generally considered to be beyond the economic limit
for fixed jacket-type platforms.
For compliant towers in general, mooring is only used in
the guyed-tower design. For guyed-towers, several mooring
lines (up to 20 lines measuring 5 ½-inch dia.) are attached to
the jacket close to the waterline and are spread out evenly
around it (up to 4,000 ft of line). Clump weights (120 ft x 8 ft,
up to 200 tons) may be attached to each mooring line and move
as the tower moves with the wind and wave forces. To control
the tower motions better, the lines are kept in tension during
the swaying motions.

d) Seastar platform
Seastar platforms are similar to TLPs,
but are semi-submersible rigs with a
subsurface star-shaped lower hull that is
filled with water when drilling. This lower
hull is star-shaped, and is the point from
which the tendons extend. As a
combination of both semi-submersible
technology and tension-leg design, these
platforms are kept under constant tension.
The platform can move laterally, but not
vertically, due to the opposing forces of
buoyancy and tension. They are typically
used for smaller reservoirs of depth up to
1000m, where full-scale TLPs are not
financially viable.

In addition to their role as rigs at smaller-

yield sites, seastars are also used as utility, satellite, or early production platforms in complex or
large discoveries. With a cost curve that can be beneficial with few proven resources, many
seastar rigs have been built using existing infrastructure at even lower prices. They can also be
situated in close proximity to other seastars or rigs due to their small sea floor footprint.
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e) Gravity-based structures
Gravity base structures are steel reinforced concrete platforms containing cells that can be
used to control buoyancy when sinking the rig in place. It can be used for depths of between 20m
and 300m, and require a preliminary survey of the sea floor before being sunk due to the extreme
pressure exerted on the bed. No other tethers, tendons, or guys are used to keep the structure in
place – and they have comparatively large footprint.

References:
http://maritime-connector.com/wiki/platforms/
https://www.marineinsight.com/offshore/different-types-of-offshore-oil-and-gas-production-
structures/
https://www.strukts.com/2012/05/types-of-offshore-platforms_70.html
https://www.oilandgasiq.com/fpso-flng/articles/guide-to-floating-production-storage-and-
offloading-fpso
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/platform-tension-leg.htm
http://www.drillingformulas.com/introduction-to-a-jack-up-rig/
https://www.scmdaleel.com/category/offshore-jack-up-rigs/213
https://www.rigzone.com/training/insight.asp?insight_id=338&c_id=
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/platform-compliant-tower.htm
https://www.oilandgasiq.com/drilling-and-development/news/what-are-fixed-platforms