Theoretical Model and Dynamic Analysis of Soft Yoke Mooring System

As a popular solution for mooring an FPSO （Floating Production, Storage and Offloading） permanently in shallow water, the soft yoke mooring system has been widely used in ocean oil production activities in the Bohai Bay of China. In order to simulate the interaction mechanism and conduct dynamic analysis of the soft yoke mooring system, a theoretical model with basic dynamic equations is established. A numerical iteration algorithm based on error estimation is developed to solve the equations and calculate the dynanfic response of the mooring system due to FPSO motions. Validation is conducted by wave basin experimentation. It is shown that the numerical simulation takes only a few iteration times and the final errors are small. Furthermore, the calculated results of both the static and dynamic responses agree well with those ones obtained by the model test. It indicates that the efficiency, the precision, the reliability and the validity of the developed numerical algorithm and program are rather good. It is proposed to develop a real-time monitoring system to further monitor the dynamic performance of the FPSO with a soft yoke mooring system under various real sea environments.

Lateral Vibration Behavior Analysis and TLD Vibration Absorption Design of the Soft Yoke Single-Point Mooring System

Mooring system is the key equipment of FPSO safe operation. The soft yoke mooring system is regarded as one of the best shallow water mooring strategies and widely applied to the oil exploitation in the Bohai Bay in China and the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the analysis of numerous monitoring data obtained by the prototype monitoring system of one FPSO in the Bohai Bay, the on-site lateral vibration behaviors found on the site of the soft yoke subject to wave load were analyzed. ADAMS simulation and model experiment were utilized to analyze the soft yoke lateral vibration and it was determined that lateral vibration was resonance behaviors caused by wave excitation. On the basis of the soft yoke longitudinal restoring force being guaranteed, a TLD-based vibration damper system was constructed and the vibration reduction experiments with multi-tank space and multi-load conditions were developed. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed TLD vibration reduction system can effectively reduce lateral vibration of soft yoke structures.

Shallow Water Effects on Surge Motion and Load of Soft Yoke Moored FPSO

Much attention should be paid to a large FPSO moored permanently in an oil field with water depth of only about 20 m, since shallow water effects on the hydrodynamics may bring about collision and damage. A 160kDWT FPSO with a permanent soft yoke mooring system is investigated with various shallow water depths and focuses are the low frequency surge motion and mooring load. Computation for the FPSO system is made based on linear 3-D potential fluid theory and time-domain numerical simulation method. Corresponding model test is carried out in the ocean engineering basin of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. It is shown that, in the surge natural period, low frequency surge motion and mooring force increase remarkably with the decrease of water depth. Especially, the smaller the ratio of water depth and draught is, the quicker the increase is. The shallow water effects should be taken into account carefully for determining the design load of a single point mooring system.