Model and experimental study on jetting flow rate for installing surface conductor in deep-water

Jetting is preferentially adopted for surface conductor installation in deep-water oil and gas facilities. Surface conductor bearing capacity decreases due to soil disturbance, which is the main risk of jetting technology. A calculation model of the minimum jetting flow rate is established based on Bernoulli's theorem and soil mechanics. Jetting experiments are carried out to investigate the effect of jetting flow rate on the bearing capacity of surface conductor. Experiment results show that the bearing capacity of surface conductor decreases exponentially with flow rate. Considering the effect of flow rate both on hydraulic breaking soil capacity and the bearing capacity of surface conductor, a design method of jetting flow rate for installing surface conductor is proposed. This method ensures the successful implementation of jetting technology and has been successfully applied in more than 30 deep-water wells in the South China Sea and West Africa. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.