The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 2017
Filed:
Dec. 22, 2014
GE Oil & Gas Uk Limited, Nailsea, Bristol, GB;
Zhimin Tan, Katy, TX (US);
Yucheng Hou, Katy, TX (US);
Yuan Tian, Houston, TX (US);
Yanqiu Zhang, Houston, TX (US);
Fabio de Souza Pires, Rio de Janeiro, BR;
George Karabelas, Houghton le Spring, GB;
GE Oil & Gas UK Limited, Nailsea, Bristol, GB;
Abstract
A riser assembly for transporting fluids from a sub-sea location is disclosed. The riser assembly includes a riser having at least one segment of flexible pipe and a plurality of buoyancy compensating elements connected to the riser and connected together in an in-line configuration to form a mid-line buoyancy section. The riser assembly also includes at least one buoyancy aid connected to the riser at a position above and spaced apart from the mid-line buoyancy section. The at least one buoyancy aid forms a first distributed buoyancy section and is sufficiently buoyant to maintain a tension load on the riser between the first distributed buoyancy section and the mid-line line buoyancy section. The riser assembly further includes at least one further buoyancy compensating element connected to the riser at a position above and spaced apart from the first distributed buoyancy section to form a second distributed buoyancy section. The second distributed buoyancy section is configured to support a portion of the riser in a wave configuration.