Impact Analysis of Air Gap Motion with Respect to Parameters of Mooring System for Floating Platform

In this paper, the impact analysis of air gap concerning the parameters of mooring system for the semi-submersible platform is conducted. It is challenging to simulate the wave, current and wind loads of a platform based on a model test simultaneously. Furthermore, the dynamic equivalence between the truncated and full-depth mooring system is still a tuff work. However, the wind and current loads can be tested accurately in wind tunnel model. Furthermore, the wave can be simulated accurately in wave tank test. The full-scale mooring system and the all environment loads can be simulated accurately by using the numerical model based on the model tests simultaneously. In this paper, the air gap response of a floating platform is calculated based on the results of tunnel test and wave tank. Meanwhile, full-scale mooring system, the wind, wave and current load can be considered simultaneously. In addition, a numerical model of the platform is tuned and validated by ANSYS AQWA according to the model test results. With the support of the tuned numerical model, seventeen simulation cases about the presented platform are considered to study the wave, wind, and current loads simultaneously. Then, the impact analysis studies of air gap motion regarding the length, elasticity, and type of the mooring line are performed in the time domain under the beam wave, head wave, and oblique wave conditions.

Dynamic Response of Offshore Wind Turbine on 3×3 Barge Array Floating Platform under Extreme Sea Conditions

Offshore wind farm construction is nowadays state of the art in the wind power generation technology.However,deep water areas with huge amount of wind energy require innovative floating platforms to arrange and install wind turbines in order to harness wind energy and generate electricity.The conventional floating offshore wind turbine system is typically in the state of force imbalance due to the unique sway characteristics caused by the unfixed foundation and the high center of gravity of the platform.Therefore,a floating wind farm for 3×3 barge array platforms with shared mooring system is presented here to increase stability for floating platform.The NREL 5 MW wind turbine and ITI Energy barge reference model is taken as a basis for this work.Furthermore,the unsteady aerodynamic load solution model of the floating wind turbine is established considering the tip loss,hub loss and dynamic stall correction based on the blade element momentum(BEM)theory.The second development of AQWA is realized by FORTRAN programming language,and aerodynamic-hydrodynamic-Mooring coupled dynamics model is established to realize the algorithm solution of the model.Finally,the 6 degrees of freedom(DOF)dynamic response of single barge platform and barge array under extreme sea condition considering the coupling effect of wind and wave were observed and investigated in detail.The research results validate the feasibility of establishing barge array floating wind farm,and provide theoretical basis for further research on new floating wind farm.

An Overview of Structural Design,Analysis and Common Monitoring Technologies for Floating Platform and Flexible Cable and Riser

Offshore oil and gas development plays an important part in the global energy sector.Offshore platforms and flexible pipes are the key equipments in the whole offshore oil and gas development system.Because of the randomness and uncertainty of wave and current loads in the ocean environment,the structural design and mechanical analysis of the marine equipment can be highly complicated.Therefore,this paper reviews the recent works of the theoretical model,numerical simulation,and experimental test in three research areas:hydrodynamic analysis of offshore platforms,structural mechanics analysis of flexible pipe and cable,and monitoring technology of offshore floating structures under marine loads.By analyzing their main research methods and key technical difficulties,this paper provides theoretical basis and technical support for the reliability engineering application of offshore platforms and flexible pipelines.Also,China is relatively backward in the design of marine floating platform,the design,analysis and testing of flexible pipeline and cable,as well as the marine equipment prototype monitoring technology research.Calling for breakthroughs at the earliest possible stage in the above fields,prime research should be focused on and strategic planning should be made to deal with“key areas and stranglehold problems”.It is of great significance for the development of China's deep-sea energy and resource development of independent technology and on time to achieve the“carbon peak”national strategic objectives.

Intensity of Level Ice Simulated with the CICE Model for Oil-Gas Exploitation in the Southern Kara Sea, Arctic

Sea ice is the predominant natural threat to marine structures and oil-gas exploitation in the Arctic.However,for ice-resistant structural design,long-term successive level ice thickness measurements are still lacking.To fill this gap in the southern Kara Sea,the Los Alamos Sea Ice Model(CICE)is applied to achieve better simulation at the local and regional scales.Based on the validation against ice thickness observations in March and April in 1980-1986,the statistical root-mean-square error is determined to be less than 0.2 m.Then,based on the hindcast data,the spatiotemporal distributions of level ice thickness are analyzed annually,seasonally,and monthly,with thicker level ice of 1.2-1.5 m in spring and large ice-free zones in September and October.For floating platforms,a novel ice grade criterion with five classifications,namely,excellent,good,moderate,severe,and catastrophic,is pro-posed.The first two grades are most suitable for offshore activities,particularly from August to October,and the moderate grade is acceptable if with ice-resistant protections.Furthermore,hostile ice conditions are discussed in terms of the generalized extreme value distribution.The statistics reveal that at a return period of 100 yr,extreme level ice is primarily between 0.6 m and 1.0 m in December.The present investigation could be a useful reference for a feasibility study of the potential risk analysis and ice-resistant operation of oil-gas exploitation in the Arctic.

Motion Responses Analysis for Tidal Current Energy Platform: QuadSpar and Catamaran Types

ωOne approach to support floating tidal current turbines is by using a moored catamaran, a barge type platform.Considering its low draft, one might expect that it performs best at typical straits with sea states of small wavelets to small waves. The problem is that the high rotational motion responses of the catamaran due to wave loads tend to reduce the turbine performance. This paper looks for a possibility to deteriorate these rotational responses by introducing a platform with four buoyant legs referred to as a quad-spar considering its good stability performance.The platforms are moored by four catenary cables as their mooring system. The motion response modeling was undertaken by Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) simulation based on three-dimensional potential flow theory.Considering sea states of straits with typical tidal current energy potentials, the environmental load was set on random wave with the significant wave height, Hs, of about 0.09 to 1.5 m and the wave period, T, of about 1.5 to 6 s corresponding to the wave frequency,, of about 1.1 to 4.2 rad/s. This study found that lower motion responses can be satisfied by the quad-spar, in which its yaw, roll and pitch responses are on average about 5%, 44%, and 38%,respectively, compared to those of the catamaran. This result indicates that the quad-spar is more effective in reducing rotational motion responses needed to keep a high performance of the tidal current energy system.

Investigation of the effects of platform motion on the aerodynamics of a floating offshore wind turbine

Along with the flourishing of the wind energy industry, floating offshore wind turbines have aroused much interest among the academia as well as enterprises. In this paper, the effects of the supporting platform motion on the aerodynamics of a floating wind turbine are studied using the open source CFD framework Open FOAM. The platform motion responses, including surge, heave and pitch, are superimposed onto the rotation of the wind turbine. Thrust and torque on the wind turbine are compared and analysed for the cases of different platform motion patterns together with the flow field. It is shown that the movement of the supporting platform can have large influences on a floating offshore wind turbine and thus needs to be considered carefully during the design process.

Performance analysis of the mooring system of a two-module scientific research and demonstration platform

A mooring system has been designed for the position keeping of a two-module semi-submersible platform which is connected by hinge-type connectors.Under the excitation of ocean waves,the relative motion between the two modules can be significant.It is therefore no longer adequate to model the platform as a single rigid body in the analysis of the performance of the mooring system.In this study,an analysis method has been developed based on the three-dimensional frequency domain hydroelasticity theory in conjunction with the time domain quasi-static analysis method of mooring actions,which takes into account of the coupling effect of the platform motion and mooring tension.The proposed method is verified by comparing the numerical results with the measured data obtained from the on-site measurements.The comparison shows a good agreement,and demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for the analysis of the module responses and mooring tensions of multi-module floating platforms.