Judy Maksoud
International Editor

LISBON, Portugal -- Recent years have seen the first uses of steel catenary risers (SCRs) with spread moored FPSOs in deepwater field developments offshore West Africa. Mason Wu, project manager, conceptual engineering, for Acergy presented his findings from a high-level study of three SCR configurations and the associated strength and fatigue requirements for a bow turret moored FPSO in a West Africa environment.

"Turret moored FPSO are getting more popular," Wu said, explaining why he chose to evaluate simple SCR, weighted SCR, and mini-lazy wave (MLW) SCR performance in a turret moored FPSO scheme.

Wu outlined performance comparisons among these riser configurations, particularly the dynamic response characteristics at the touch down point (TDP).

"MLW appears to be the best alternative," Wu said, pointing to study results that reveal the MLW SCR as having the best performance for both fatigue and strength. The MLW is followed by the weighted SCR, with the simple SCR bringing up the rear.

The MLW is a promising configuration for bow turret moored FPSO applications in a West Africa environment, Wu said, and warrants further assessment.

7/3/2007