This paper overviews the management, design, fabrication and installation of the Jolliet Project and briefly summarizes the companion Marquette Project. This work includes the Tension leg Well Platform (TLWP), the central Production Platform (CPP), 54 miles of pipeline and the GC52A drilling platform. The TLWP is the first-ever tension leg well platform and is the world's deepest offshore production platform. The project took four years to design, fabricate and install. This paper discusses the field history, concept development, the scope of the project, and its management, design and construction. INTRODUCTION The Jolliet Field in the Gulf of Mexico Green canyon GC Block 184 was discovered in May of 1981 with a well drilled in 1,500 feet of water. A further six wells, over a four-and-a-half-year period, were required before development was approved in early 1986. Evolution of the development concept also occurred during this time period. The oil price crash of 1986 delayed construction but not detailed engineering of the TLWP. Once construction work was approved in 1987, the project went into high gear, completing the drilling of twenty wells, installation of a 1,760 feet world record water depth tension leg platform, over fifty miles of pipelines, a large central production facility in 616 feet of water and commencement of well completions and oil production. This was accomplished in less than three years and nine percent below the original budget. The projects are named after Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, the 17th century French Canadian explorers of the Mississippi River. Their spirit of exploration of the unknown is shared by the men and women who worked on these projects. This paper overviews the history and accomplishments of the project and sets the stage for the nine other papers which comprise the Jolliet Project Special sessions. FIEID HISTORY Green canyon Block 184 is in the Flexure Trend on the continental slope in the Gulf of Mexico, about one hundred miles offshore central Louisiana (Figure 1). The lease was acquired by conoco, Getty and cities service oil companies as equal partners in November of 1980 for a bid of $7.aMM. It was a five-year Net Profits Share lease (NPSL) with a 100 percent capital recovery factor and a 50 percent net profit share factor. In simplified terms, this means that no conventional royalty is paid on production from the lease. Instead, 50 percent of the net revenue of the lease is paid to the MMS after 200 percent of money invested in the lease, prior to production, has been recovered by the lessees.
Pressure surges, cavitation, and mechanical vibration prevent water Pressure surges, cavitation, and mechanical vibration prevent water injection systems from operating at maximum efficiency. They cause premature failure of the equipment and excessive operating cost. By using premature failure of the equipment and excessive operating cost. By using the engineering principles outlined here, detrimental effects due to inadequate net positive suction head and poor pipe streamlining can be minimized. Introduction As the demand for oil continues its dynamic climb upward, waterflooding will be an increasingly important factor in this country's energy picture. In 1970, waterflooding accounted for 1 of every 4 bbl of oil produced in the U. S. This number will increase to 1 of every 3 bbl by 1980. To meet this demand, many waterfloods are being installed in fields that were considered nonfloodable just a few years ago because of high fluid injection pressures required. Good engineering is imperative in pressures required. Good engineering is imperative in the design of high-pressure installations and will pay for itself many times over in reduced maintenance costs. The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of the technology used in the hydraulic design of positive displacement pump systems for high-pressure waterflood service. Of the three flow regions in a positive displacement high-pressure waterflood systemthe suction, the pump, and the dischargethe pump is the consistent pump, and the dischargethe pump is the consistent element. The manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money on the hydraulics and mechanics and their pumps. To increase volumetric efficiency, the effects of path tortuosity, entrance and exit losses, and fluid compressibility in the design of pump fluid ends are minimized. The elementary principles of fluid mechanics used for the design and analysis of fluid ends can also be used for the inlet and outlet systems. Poor design of suction and discharge piping results in increased pump repair and decreased life of equipment due to overstressing of components by cavitation, excessive pulsation and mechanical vibration. In the design of new systems good sense must be used to avoid these pitfalls and insure the best possible hydraulic and mechanical operating conditions. Positive Displacement Pumps Positive Displacement Pumps The positive displacement pump is the most widely used pump for high-pressure water injection. (In this paper, 2,500 psi and above is considered high pressure.) paper, 2,500 psi and above is considered high pressure.) It is better adapted to high-pressure service than the centrifugal pump because of its high uniform efficiency. (For typical plunger pumps used in oilfield service, the volumetric efficiency is 95 percent and the mechanical efficiency is 90 percent.)A plunger pump, which is the positive displacement pump used in waterflooding, is relatively simple. Fig. pump used in waterflooding, is relatively simple. Fig. 1 shows a cross-section of a typical plunger pump. The fluid is pumped by use of a plunger and a series of valves. The plunger delivers a specific amount of fluid into the discharge line during the discharge stroke. In this part of the operation, the discharge valve is open and the suction valve is closed. During the charge stroke, the specific amount of fluid is taken from the suction line and the valve action is reversed. It is this action of the pump that causes pressure surges. These pressure surges are natural for all positive displacement pumps and if the system is properly positive displacement pumps and if the system is properly designed, should not be troublesome. JPT P. 173
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