The Study of the Lifting Arm System and Its Experimental Model for Integrated Offshore Platform Decommissioning

Abstract

With the further exploitation of offshore oil and gas resources, there are more and more offshore oil and gas fields cannot meet the production capacity requirements. Therefore, the decommissioning of the offshore facilities becomes extremely urgent. In this article, the study of the lifting arm system for the integrated ultra-large offshore platform decommissioning, which is a part of the “Special Vessels and Equipment” program of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is studied and its experimental model is built. First, the prototype structure of the lifting arm system is studied, and a statics simulation analysis to the lifting arm is performed to determine that its structural strength meets the requirements for decommissioning operations. The scale ratio of the experimental model is deduced using the principle of similitude, appropriate materials are selected, and statics analysis of the lifting arm model is performed to ensure that it meets the strength requirements. This is a pioneering research in China and lays a good foundation for subsequent model experiments of decommissioning operations and the development of physical equipment.