Hydraulic accumulators are vessels charged with inert gas used to store pressurized fluid to actuate specific functions. In particular, they are widely used as controls for remote system such as in deep water drilling. In this application, they assume a fundamental importance because they are responsible of the actuation of the blowout preventer valves (BOP), which have to be intrinsically safe and reliable. A direct method (DM) for the design of the subsea rapid discharge accumulators is presented and compared with the API 16D Method C, which is the primary international standard concerning the accumulators sizing. The design must ensure that the entire functional volume required (FVRtot) by all the functions will be delivered at or above the minimum operating pressure (MOPi). The DM presented is based on a fully mathematical model of the charging and discharging phases, which evaluates the pressure inside the accumulators during all the actuations. The actuator design includes physical representation of the processes, the influence of the operating conditions, and the effect of thermal uncertainties. A specific “failure plane” has been demonstrated, in a sequence of three actuations, where failure at specific condition of subsea and surface temperatures may occur.
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December 2018
Research-Article
Model-Based Design of Energy Accumulators for Control of Subsea Wells
Roberto Cipollone,
Roberto Cipollone
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: roberto.cipollone@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: roberto.cipollone@univaq.it
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Fabio Fatigati,
Fabio Fatigati
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: fabio.fatigati@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: fabio.fatigati@univaq.it
Search for other works by this author on:
Davide Di Battista
Davide Di Battista
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: davide.dibattista@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: davide.dibattista@univaq.it
Search for other works by this author on:
Roberto Cipollone
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: roberto.cipollone@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: roberto.cipollone@univaq.it
Fabio Fatigati
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: fabio.fatigati@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: fabio.fatigati@univaq.it
Davide Di Battista
Mem. ASME
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: davide.dibattista@univaq.it
Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics,
University of L'Aquila,
via Giovanni Gronchi18,
L'Aquila 67100, Italy
e-mail: davide.dibattista@univaq.it
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Pressure Vessel and Piping Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received November 10, 2017; final manuscript received September 9, 2018; published online November 12, 2018. Assoc. Editor: Steve J. Hensel.
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. Dec 2018, 140(6): 061202 (11 pages)
Published Online: November 12, 2018
Article history
Received:
November 10, 2017
Revised:
September 9, 2018
Citation
Cipollone, R., Fatigati, F., and Di Battista, D. (November 12, 2018). "Model-Based Design of Energy Accumulators for Control of Subsea Wells." ASME. J. Pressure Vessel Technol. December 2018; 140(6): 061202. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4041489
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