ABSTRACT

An offshore hydrocarbon field development project may be considered a deep-water project if the water depth ranges between 500 and 1500 m, while an ultra-deep-water project refers to developments in which the water depths are greater than 1500 m.

Flexible riser systems are normally applied in deep-water projects however, flexible risers are often limited by pressure rating, size and price, and the maintenance of flexible pipes is a challenge.

In cases where a Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) can be applied, the SCR is, often considered the most favorable solution for deep-water riser applications. However, the application of SCRs in harsh environments has been challenging, mainly due to fatigue issues caused by the motions of the production vessel. One method for improving the SCR performance is to introduce buoyancy modules to the riser configuration in order to achieve a so-called Steel Lazy Wave Riser (SLWR) configuration. This study presents a discussion of steel lazy wave riser configurations for application in the deep-water area of the North Sea.