Reliability assessment of subsea blowout preventers

Nilo De Moura Jorge, Julian Wolfram, Philip Clark

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper paper describes analyses of a comprehensive set of data concerning the performance of submarine blowout preventers (BOPs). Typical BOP components and their functions are described for oil and gas offshore drilling from the exploration phase through to well completion. The regular maintenance and inspection policies for BOPs have been considered in this context. These are related to the BOP reliability and the implications for risk and safety. The analyses show variation in reliability across the phase of activities, operational conditions for the various sub-systems or components of the BOP. Nowadays, E & P offshore developments have been more frequent in deepwater conditions and the effect of water depth has been examined using this new data set. Compared with previous data obtained from the literature, improvements in the BOP reliability have been observed but some critical failures have been more frequent in equipment prepared to operate in deeper water depths. It is also noted that repairing BOP failures affects the performance of drilling rigs quite significantly due to the rig downtimes, which are summarized according to the BOP components and operational phases. Finally, aspects of failure criticality and consequences are discussed and related recommendations are made.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - OMAE
    Pages251-260
    Number of pages10
    Volume2
    Publication statusPublished - 2001
    Event20th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering; Safety and Reliability - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Duration: 3 Jun 20018 Jun 2001

    Conference

    Conference20th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering; Safety and Reliability
    Country/TerritoryBrazil
    CityRio de Janeiro
    Period3/06/018/06/01

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