Supporting Seadrill to drill

This study was performed by Vysus’ Engineering Dynamics team

Client Challenge

The West Elara drilling rig was ordered to be built by a shipyard in Singapore. As the original owner was facing bankruptcy, the yard decided to continue construction, although they had no previous experience of building to the strict Norwegian NORSOK S-002 Working Environment standard.

Our client, Seadrill, bought the rig when the design was 98% finished and the construction 85% complete. During due diligence, several issues relating to the working environment were discovered.

Although some of the initial and required noise and vibration studies had been performed, data was not adequately consulted during the engineering, procurement and construction phases. This negligence had led to several noise issues and excessive vibrations that would preclude the acceptance of the rig by the Norwegian authorities. These issues would impede delivery, delay the first operation contract and, subsequently, prompt daily penalties. As part of Seadrill's troubleshooting team, we were asked to identify potential noise problems and outline practicable solutions.

How we helped

We supported our client in three main ways.

Carrying out investigation

Initial rig inspections and measurements revealed problems and outlined the risk of potential problems. Although construction was still ongoing and only very limited equipment was operational, it was possible to identify non-compliance with legislative requirements and pinpoint the problems that were likely to surface during commissioning. The outcome of the visit was a long list of follow-up items, including recommendations to probable problems.

Providing further calculations and laboratory measurements

These revealed insufficient silencer, inappropriate location of noise sensitive areas and poor selection of outfitting materials in working and accommodation areas. The structure supporting the drawworks was also found to be too soft.

Offering recommendations

These included installing silencers and the mounting of steel plates to increase sound insulation in living quarters. The structure supporting the draw-works was stiffened by installing additional steel beams.

Insight

Poor sound insulation in living quarters

Through measurements, we identified insufficient sound insulation in the living quarters. The noise reduction between cabins was very low, however, it was not evident whether this was the result of a meagre attention to detail during construction or the effect of poor outfitting materials. Laboratory tests revealed that the partition wall panels delivered by the Korean vendor did not meet the specifications as promised in the data sheets. Had there been a proper follow-up, this would have been detected during procurement and delivery and a mock-up test of cabins, which is recommended as good practice.

The proposed solution had to respect the fact that much of the accommodation was already outfitted with furniture. The cost of replacing all partition panels would have been excessive and delayed the delivery of the rig, meaning breaking the first operating contract with daily penalties. Our recommendation was to improve the sound insulation of the already installed panels by mounting steel plates on all relevant walls. To verify the suggested solution, a laboratory test was performed.

Excessive noise levels

In many areas of the rig, excessive noise levels were detected as noise requirements were not properly defined and included in the design. Examples of findings and recommendations were:

• more than 30 silencers should be installed in air intakes and outlets to reduce noise on open deck
• construction was needed of buffer zones between noisy working areas and areas with strict noise requirements
• installation of 50m of noise screening wall was required to separate noisy equipment from walkways on Tank Top
• dishwashing machine in galley had to be replaced
• improvement was needed of equipment foundations and resilient mounting to reduce vibration and structure-borne noise.

Drawworks noise and vibration

In the driller's cabin, high vibration levels were caused by the drawworks; levels that exceeded the NORSOK S-002 limits for human exposure to whole-body vibration. Furthermore, vibration levels close to the drawworks caused concern for structural damage due to vibration induced fatigue.

We investigated the drawworks and support structure by measuring vibration levels and performing operational deflection shape measurements during different running conditions and speeds of the drawworks. The measurements showed the movement of the structure during operation and revealed insufficient stiffness of the support structure. Based on this, the location of additional stiffness was suggested and, combined with balancing of the drawworks drum, reduced vibrations to acceptable levels.

Noise from the drawworks also caused excessive noise levels on drillfloor. Installation of a screening wall was recommended.

Business Benefits

The rig left the yard in Singapore and was transported to a final stay at the Westcon Yard in Ølen, Norway. The final noise and vibration measurements were performed at this stage. The rig was accepted by the authorities and was ready to start the contract.

This project has provided valuable lessons. In future projects, Seadrill has decided to:

• employ noise and vibration experts from early project stages
• require training of yard personnel to increase knowledge about noise and vibration, and relevant requirements
• follow-up of noise requirements during factory acceptance tests of equipment
• document ‘Noise, acoustics and vibration philosophy’ and ‘Noise and vibration procedure’
• verify that recommendations and findings in the design phase are passed on to procurement and construction phases.

This project was carried out by Lloyd’s Register (LR) Energy, prior to the strategic carve out of the LR Energy business in 2020, which is now Vysus Group.