The fatigue life of a Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) near its touch-down zone is substantially affected by its interaction with the seabed. Hence, accurate estimate of its fatigue life requires the understanding and realistic modeling of the interaction between them. The interaction between SCR and the seabed depends on many factors, such as soil properties, riser characteristics, and the development of trenching at the seafloor. Existing approaches for modeling the seabed in interaction with a SCR approximate the seabed soil by a linear or nonlinear spring and a dashpot which respectively represent the stiffness and damping of the soil. However, they do not take into account certain phenomena resulting from plastic deformation or degradation of the seabed soil, such as trenching. In this study, a more realistic approach is developed for simulating the interaction between a SCR and the seabed soil. In addition to the use of a realistic P-y curve (where P stands for the supporting or resistance force of the seafloor and y for the vertical penetration of the riser into the soil) to simulate the soil deformation during its interaction with a riser, it considers the development of a trench caused by continuous poundings of a riser on the seabed and then its feedback effect on the variation of the bending moment along the riser. In this study, it has been found that trenching underneath a SCR may decrease the maximum variation of bending moment near its touch-down zone. Since the variation of the moment dictates the fatigue damage to the SCR, the results based on this approach indicate that the trenching development at the seabed may increase the fatigue life of a SCR and therefore, it may have important application to the design of a SCR.

The harsh environment in which offshore structures must operate, their intended service life and the uncertainties inherent to the load processes, have been the impulse for investigation of their reliability. The method most extensively applied for this purpose during the last two decades was the Structural Systems Reliability, which can not be coupled with the finite element method. Therefore the objectives of the present work are to investigate the applicability of a technique which allows the utilization of the reliability analysis methods with a marine riser modelled by the finite element method, FEM, and revision of the reliability levels associated with this riser, including the fatigue life. For these purposes the response surface methodology was selected, among a number of methods. A response surface approach which requires a low number of experiments with the FEM model was elected, calculations for construction of the response surface are further simplified by the assumption of statistical independence among the basic variables. It is demonstrated in the present study that the response surface is capable of producing an equivalent and explicit limit state function which is used at a second stage with the First Order Reliability Method and the Adaptive Importance Sampling simulation technique. However, it was found that the assumption of independence is not always valid. In this case, a method is proposed in which the correlated variables are implicitly considered at the level of the mechanical model. The reliability of the marine riser was reviewed with the proposed algorithms, finding that the validity of the reliability levels depend on the number of basic variables considered and their statistical properties. The significant reduction in required computing time achieved with the response surface methodology allowed parametric studies to be carried out, in order to investigate the impact of different statistical properties of the basic variables. The fatigue reliability case was also investigated with the S-N approach. The introduction of uncertainty in the fatigue life estimation proved that acceptable levels of deterministic fatigue life may render unacceptablelevels of reliability. The uncertainty associated with the stress range is the most significant variable, though the present fatigue reliability formats consider it in a very simplified manner, therefore an approach is suggested with which the stress uncertainty can be considered in a more detailed fashion. However, the algorithm used here for construction of the response surface was unable to produce the required surface. Therefore it is concluded that though the response surface is capable of handling a large number of structural reliability cases, there are instances in which more research efforts are needed.

Slugging involves pressure and flowrate fluctuations and poses a major threat to optimising oil production from deepwater reserves. Typical production loss could be as high as 50%, affecting the ability to meet growing energy demand. This work is based on numerical simulation using OLGA (OiL and GAs) a one- dimensional and two-fluid equations based commercial tool for the simulation and analysis of a typical field case study in West Africa. Numerical model was adopted for the field case. Based on the field report, Flow Loop X1 consisted of well X1 and well X2, (where X1 is the well at the inlet and X2 is the well connected from the manifold (MF)). Slugging was experienced at Flow Loop X1 at 3000 BoPD; 4MMScf/D and 3%W/C. This study investigated the conditions causing the slugging and the liquid and gas phase behaviour at the period slugging occurred. The simulation work involved modelling the boundary conditions (heat transfer, ambient temperature, mass flowrate e.t.c). Also critical was the modelling of the piping diameter, pipe length, wall thickness and wall type material to reflect the field geometry. Work on flow regime transition chart showed that slugging became more significant from 30% water-cut, especially at the riser base for a downward inclined flow on the pipeline- riser system. Studies on diameter effect showed that increasing diameter from 8” – 32” gave rise to a drop in Usg (superficial velocity gas) and possible accumulation of liquids on the riser- base position and hence a tendency for slugging formation. Depth effect study showed that increasing depth gave rise to increasing pressure fluctuation, especially at the riser- base. Studies on the Self-Lift slug mitigation approach showed that reducing the internal diameter of the Self-lift by-pass pipe was effective in mitigating slug flow. S3 (Slug suppression system) was also investigated for deepwater scenario, with the results indicating a production benefit of 12.5%. In summary, the work done identified water-cut region where pipeline-riser systems become more susceptible to slugging. Also, two key up-coming slug mitigation strategies were studied and their performance evaluated in-view of production enhancement.

Erosion, transportation, and deposition of sediment into receiving waters can have substantial environmental and economic impacts. Sedimentation basins are a remediation technique used to limit sediment transport from earth disturbance activities. Retention efficiency is used as a measure of a sedimentation basin's effectiveness. Several factors influence retention efficiency including the type of principal spillway used. The most common spillway is the perforated riser which dewaters the basin throughout its entire vertical profile. However, a relatively new outlet device, the skimmer, has been developed, which dewaters the basin from the water surface. A laboratory study was conducted to compare the skimmer with the perforated riser for three different soil types and determine if there were any significant differences in the trapping efficiencies of the two outlets. The test basin dewatered over a three hour period. The parameters observed were dewatering rate, effluent sediment concentration, sediment loss rate, and retention efficiency. The skimmer treatments consistently had higher values of sediment retention efficiencies. A statistical analysis performed on the retention efficiency data showed that retention efficiency was not influenced by any combination of outlet and soil type and that outlet was significant at the 5% level. Overall, the skimmer outperformed the perforated riser for all soil types tested. Additionally, retention efficiencies were predicted for shorter dewatering times. The results indicated shorter dewatering times may have smaller impacts on the retention efficiency of basins where the skimmer is utilized rather than the perforated riser. / Master of Science

Yes / The Riser of a Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit cracks gas oil to make fuels such as gasoline and diesel. However, changes in quality, nature of crude oil blends feedstocks, environmental changes and the desire to obtain higher profitability, lead to many alternative operating conditions of the FCC riser. The production objective of the riser is usually the maximization of gasoline and diesel. Here, an optimisation framework is developed in gPROMS to maximise the gasoline in the riser of an industrial FCC unit (reported in the literature) while optimising mass flowrates of catalyst and gas oil. A detailed mathematical model of the process developed is incorporated in the optimisation framework. It was found that, concurrent use of the optimal values of mass flowrates of catalyst (310.8 kg/s) and gas oil (44.8 kg/s) gives the lowest yield of gases, but when these optimum mass flowrates are used one at time, they produced the same and better yield of gasoline (0.554 kg lump/ kg feed). / Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Nigeria, financially sponsored the study.

Yes / The FCC riser cracks gas oil into useful fuels such as gasoline, diesel and some lighter products such as ethylene and propylene, which are major building blocks for the polyethylene and polypropylene production. The production objective of the riser is usually the maximization of gasoline and diesel, but it can also be to maximize propylene. The optimization and parameter estimation of a six-lumped catalytic cracking reaction of gas oil in FCC is carried out to maximize the yield of propylene using an optimisation framework developed in gPROMS software 5.0 by optimizing mass flow rates and temperatures of catalyst and gas oil. The optimal values of 290.8 kg/s mass flow rate of catalyst and 53.4 kg/s mass flow rate of gas oil were obtained as propylene yield is maximized to give 8.95 wt%. When compared with the base case simulation value of 4.59 wt% propylene yield, the maximized propylene yield is increased by 95%.

Yes / Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit is an important unit of modern refineries and any improvement in the unit’s operations and design to increase yield and meet the ever increasing demand for fuel brings about the overall profitability of the FCC. In this work, simulation of an FCC riser of varied diameter was carried out to improve the unit’s operations and design, and the results are compared with risers of different diameters. The riser with varied diameter produces 53.4 wt%, a 3.18% increased yield of gasoline at low catalyst to oil (C/O) ratio of 1.27 compared to 51.7 wt% from a 1 m diameter riser. At increased C/O ratio, more gases and coke are produced in the varied diameter riser. Larger diameter demands more catalyst but yields more gases. Process variables can be directly correlated with yield of gasoline, which can aid process design.

Yes / A detailed steady state FCC riser process model is simulated for the first time with different compressibility (Z) factor correlations using gPROMS software. A 4-lump kinetic model is used where gas oil cracks to form gasoline, coke and gases. The usual practice has been the assumption that the FCC riser gas phase is an ideal gas at every point under any condition (varying C/O ratio, riser diameter, operating temperature and pressure, etc.). This work found that the Z factor varies at every point across the riser height depending on riser operating pressure and temperature, diameter and C/O ratio. It also shows that the magnitude of deviation of a gas phase from ideal gas behaviour can be measured over the riser height. The Z factor correlation of Heidaryan et al. (2010a) is found to be suitable for predicting the Z factor distribution in the riser. / Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Nigeria

Yes / This work presents a steady-state one-dimensional model of the FCC riser considering the vaporisation of the gas oil feed and subsequent cracking reactions. The evaporation of droplets is studied using three models: the classical homogeneous model and the heterogeneous vaporisation models from the literature. Droplets are modelled using the Lagrangian framework model for particles moving through a fluid. This was coupled with the gas–solid flow field describing the catalyst particulate transport in the riser. Cracking reaction kinetics are modelled using a four-lumped model. The model was then validated against published plant data. The model performed well in terms of gas oil conversion, gasoline yield, pressure drop, and phase temperature profiles. Therefore, it is suitable for use in the design and optimisation of new and existing FCC unit risers, particularly in cost–benefit analysis considering the current push away from petroleum energy sources. It was found that vaporisation models are largely insignificant in terms of gas oil conversion profiles and gasoline yield for usual operation conditions of FCC risers, which is a finding that had yet to be proven in the literature. Vaporisation models are shown to only affect conversion and yield when the initial droplet exceeds 2000 μm.

Le craquage catalytique à lit fluidisé (FCC) est l'un des procédés les plus importants au sein d'une raffinerie moderne et joue un rôle économique primordial. Le fonctionnement du FCC pose des problèmes d'opération liés à sa complexité. L'étude a porté sur la simulation du FCC, sa commande prédictive multivariable et l'estimation de paramètres-clés. Après une revue de la littérature sur les FCC et les différentes approches de modélisation ainsi que des cinétiques de craquage, un modèle du FCC qui intègre les dynamiques importantes a été choisi pour les besoins de la commande prédictive. La simulation du riser a été effectuée pour différents modèles de craquage et a montré de grandes disparités entre modèles, créant une difficulté à définir un modèle général de riser pour les FCC. Outre le nombre de groupes considérés, les différences concernent la chaleur de réaction globale, les lois de formation de coke sur le catalyseur et la désactivation de ce dernier. Des algorithmes de commande prédictive linéaire et non linéaire basée sur le modèle ont été utilisés pour commander le FCC en tenant compte de sa nature multivariable et des contraintes imposées aux variables manipulées. Les sorties commandées, température en haut du riser et température du régénérateur ont été maintenues proches des consignes, tant en régulation qu'en poursuite, tout en respectant les contraintes portant sur les deux variables manipulées, le débit de catalyseur régénéré et le débit d'air entrant dans le régénérateur. Une commande à trois entrées manipulées, incluant le débit d'alimentation, a également été testée avec succès. La commande prédictive linéaire avec observateur a fourni des résultats encore meilleurs que la commande linéaire quadratique. La commande prédictive non linéaire a été testée mais présente des problèmes pour une implantation en temps réel. L'estimation du coke sur le catalyseur a été réalisée par le filtre de Kalman étendu, mais les erreurs d'estimation sont importantes, probablement à cause du choix insuffisant des mesures effectuées. L'ensemble de l'étude a montré que la commande avancée prédictive du FCC est performante et doit être recommandée, mais peut encore être améliorée en particulier par son réglage et l'estimation des états / Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important processes in a modern refinery and is of essential economic importance. The FCC operation presents difficulties related to its complexity. The study was related to its simulation, multivariable control and estimation of key parameters. After a litterature review of the FCC, the different approaches of modelling and cracking kinetics, a FCC model that takes into account the important dynamics was chosen for model predictive control purposes. The riser simulation was carried out for different cracking models and shows great differences between these models, which makes it difficult to define a general riser model for the FCC. Besides the number of lumps, differences deal with the global heat of reaction, the coke formation laws and its deactivation functions. Linear and nonlinear model predictive algorithms were used for FCC control taking into account its multivariable nature and the constraints imposed on the manipulated variables. The controlled outputs, temperature at the riser top and temperature in the regenerator were maintained close to their respective set points in regulation and tracking modes while respecting the constraints on the two manipulated variable, the flow rate of regenerated catalyst and the flow rate of air entering the regenerator. A control with three manipulated variables including the feed flow rate was also successfully tested. Linear predictive control with an observer gave better results than linear quadratic control. Nonlinear predictive control was tested but presents problems for real time implementation. The estimation of coke on the catalyst was carried out using extended Kalman filter, but the estimation errors are important, probably due to an insufficient choice of measurements. The overall study showed that advanced predictive control of the FCC is efficient and must be recommended, but it can still be improved upon particularly by its tuning and state estimation