Device by ship for production/test production of oil/gas from a field below seabed level

• US 6,199,500 B1
• Filed: 11/12/1999
• Issued: 03/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Teekay Petrojarl AS
• Original Assignee: Hitec Systems AS, PGS Offshore Technology As
• Inventors: Børseth, Knut E., Smedal, Arne
• Primary Examiner(s): AVILA, STEPHEN P
• Application Number:
  US09/381,080
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 441/3-5, 114/230.1, 114/230.12
• US Class Current: 114/230.12
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 21/507 with mooring turrets

Abstract

To permit use of a ship as production ship, among other things in conjunction with a so-called STL-buoy (30) and in test production without a buoy (30), and in which the ship (10) is formed with a bottom recess (12) for the reception of the buoy (30) in a mutually pivotal manner, there has been formed, immediately above said bottom recess (12), a vertically oriented cavity (14) in the ship'"'"'s hull. In this cavity (14) is pivotally supported a sleeve-shaped turret (16) which is configured with at least one through bore, channel or other passage for passing pipelines (24, 24′), pipeline portions (38, 38′), or the like, which may be connected at the one end via a swivel device (22) to one or more pipes or the like (26) fixed in the vessel. The sleeve-shaped turret (16) works alone during test production, but is connected to the buoy (30) so that together they form a turret (16, 30) in regular production.

Claims

1. Device by ship (10) for enabling application of the ship both as production ship, in which it works together with a so-called STL-buoy (30), and as test production ship, in which it does not co-operate with such a buoy, and in which the ship (10) has a pit (14, 12) extending vertically therethrough, in which a turret (16) is pivotally supported having a vertical axis of rotation (A—

A), and is to be connected, when the ship is used as production ship, to said buoy (30) which has a conical upward tapering upper portion, and in which the lower cavity portion (12) of the pit (14, 12) has an essentially complementary configuration to facilitate the insertion of the buoy (30) or its upper portion respectively, and subsequently the pivotal reception thereof, in the conical, lower cavity portion (12) of the pit (14, 12), characterized in that the turret (16) can be lifted/lowered in the upper portion (14) of the pit (14,12) and has a lower, working position in which its lower end is located immediately above said complementarily shaped, lower pit portion (12) for the buoy (30), and that the turret (16) at its upper end portion has an annular supporting flange (16′

) favouring and facilitating its pivotal mounting in relation to the ship'"'"'s hull and does not interfere in the lifting/lowering of the turret, but is determinative for its lower, working position.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular supporting flange (16′

) on the turret (16) is supported in the ship'"'"'s hull by means of an upper supporting device (18), preferably consisting of a combined axial/radial bearing and by underlying bearing devices (20) in the form of a radial bearing/radial bearings in a known manner.