LOADING , CONSTRUCTION,

TRANSPORTATION,
INSTALLATION 1
 Loading on offshore
structures
Permanent (dead) including weight of the structure, equipment
permanently mounted, hydrostatic like buoyancy
Operating (live) including forces generated during drilling, Pipe
handling, production, storage of fluids and consumables, crane operations,
helicopter landing, vessel mooring etc.
Environmental
Waves Wave period should be more than period of the structure
Wind 1 min sustained wind speed, 3 second gusts are dangerous
Earthquakes structure should respond elastically
Construction / Installation uneven loading during installation
Accidental collision with another vessel, dropped object, unintentional
flooding of buoyancy tanks, fire or explosion etc.

Design must take in account worst case scenario of 2

combination of loads API-RP-WSD

 Platform
design
Design of structure is
dominated by Wave loads
Cyclic Loads generated by
Wind and wave can be
considerable
Wave period should be
greater than structure period
Piles (30-100m depending on
size of platform) are driven
into ground to resist

3
 FEED
Front End Engineering Design
This stage of project will involve following steps in all disciplines
such as Process, Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation in
addition to Structural Engineering.
Collection Process Data and identifying process needs and
equipment
Preliminary equipment sizing and area requirements
Weight estimation based on past projects
Identification of Structural configurations
Preliminary estimation of structural weight
Identification of installation methods
Estimation of CAPEX within +40%.
4
 Basic Design concepts
Process information containing type of well fluid (oil or gas) and its
characteristics, safety requirements, kind of process technology to be
adopted.
Mechanical requirement such as type of facility and basic equipment
required for the process, and material handling and safety
Electrical requirement such power generation equipment, lighting and
switch gears etc.
Instrumentation requirement such as basic control system, feedback
requirement etc.
Piping information such as pressures, pipe sizes required etc.
Meta-Ocean information such as water depth, wave, current, wind and tidal
information at the site.
Structural requirement such as materials available for use in the country,
design method to be adopted, codes and specifications to be used etc.
5
Installation information such as type of barge, lifting crane, loadout-method,
piling hammer etc.
Fixed offshore
platform
Design procedure

6
 Construction of Platform
Jacket

Maximum number of welds should be done in the shop;

shops have the highest weld quality because many node
and tubular welds can be double-sided and/or automatic 7

when performed in the fabrication shop.

 Construction of Platform
Jacket

After completion, the side slides are removed and the structure
rests on middle 2 slides only to be transferred to barge
8
Frame Jacket is placed and
built horizontally

9
 Erection of the side frame

Lifting is generally done by more than one crane therefore it is

absolutely essential to plan out the Lifting procedure in detail
Temporary attachments may be put for the purpose of Lifting
10
 Erection of the horizontal bracing & Erection of X bracing with
the horizontal bracing

11
 Erection of the last horizontal level for the jacket. Putting the
sacrificial anodes on the jacket to prevent corrosion 12
 Construction of the Conductor guides
13
 Fabrication of the last face frame for the jacket and its Erection

14
 Fabrication of Top Side and
Deck components
Top Side is what
is visible from Top

It generally
contains the Rig
Floor, work area,

Deck is usually the place where the Well Controls like

15
BOP are placed
Jacket Load out stages
The whole process of
lifting loads, shifting
loads and transferring
loads needs to be
planned Step-By-Step
in advance with all
details cross-checked
A small mistake could
lead to accident

16
 Transporting the Jacket and Piles by barges and tow boats 17
 Launching and Installing the
Jacket

Jacket is put in a stable position on the barge

Jacket slides along the skid beams
Jacket rotates on the rocker arms
Jacket rotates and slides simultaneously
Jacket detaches completely and comes to its floating equilibrium position 18

Jacket is upended by a combination of controlled flooding and simultaneous lifting by a barge crane
Erecting the Jacket

19
 Pile Installation process

After launch of the jacket and lifting of the jacket by the crane
barge, as shown earlier, the next step is to start driving the
piles into the legs
20
One by one Pile is lifted, inserted into jacket leg and hammered
Inserting the Piles

21
 Installation of deck on Pile and Jacket

22
 Loadout of the Top Side and moving the Top side onto a barge

23
 Lifting of
Top side
by Barge
crane

24
 Completion of Installation

Lifting of the Topside and

placing on Deck
The picture also shows a Barge
25
Crane being used for installation
Lesson 2: Offshore Exploration and Drilling

SEA BED CONDITION AND

OFFSHORE GEO-HAZARDS
26
 Overview of offshore Geo
Hazards
Picture taken from Research
paper by Maarten Vanneste
https://www.ngi.no/eng/Projects/IC
G-International-Centre-for-
Geohazards/Offshore-Geohazards

The focus on
offshore geo-
hazards has
increased greatly
over the last
decade, as the
industry has moved
into deeper areas
Important offshore geo-hazards as shown in above Figure include
1. Slope instability and mass wasting processes (including debris flows, gravity flows);
2. Pore pressure phenomena (e.g. shallow gas accumulations, gas hydrates, shallow
water flows, mud diapirism and mud volcanism, fluid vents, pockmarks)
3. Seismicity. Excess pore pressure development appears a critical aspect in most27of
the offshore geo-hazards.