Wison launches floating tower for medium-depth platforms
Chinese engineering firm Wison Offshore and Marine has developed a new way to recover oil and gas in shallow and medium-depth waters. The Buoyant Tower is scalable for topsides up to 10,000 tonnes, includes up to 10,000-30,000 tonnes of dry storage at a water depth of 300 metres and can be used for most exploration and production operations.
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The overall effect diagram of New Buoyant Tower solution with storage (illustration: Wison)

Wison Offshore & Marine has announced that the company has developed a new Buoyant Tower solution with condensate or oil storage, adopting Wison’s proprietary Buoyant Tower technology. This innovative floating concept provides a new economic and reliable option for the oil and gas development in the shallow to medium-depth waters.

Originally invented by Ed Horton and Lyle Finn, the Buoyant Tower technology was first applied to BPZ CX-15 project offshore Peru when both Ed and Lyle worked for Horton Wison Deepwater Inc. (HWD), now renamed as Wison Offshore Technology Inc. with 130+ patents originated by Ed Horton and his fellows transferred from HWD. Since its delivery from Wison’s Nantong Yard in August 2012, the CX-15 platform has been in stable operation.

The Buoyant Tower is a self-installed floater. The concept eliminates the costly T&I process needed for conventional jackets. In addition, with some greater water depth, more savings could be expected as its weight (hence the cost) is insensitive to the water depth. For example, at a water depth of 150 metres, EPC of a buoyant tower might cost as much as 50% less of that for a jacket. Now with the add-on storage capability, a buoyant tower solution presents more economic advantages compared to a traditional “Jacket + FSO” or “Jacket + Export Oil Line” solution due to the cost elimination of an FSO or an export oil line.

The new Buoyant Tower solution is flexible and scalable for topsides up to 10,000 tonnes, with ~10,000-30,000 tonnes of dry storage for condensate or oil, at a water depth up to 300 metres.

The configuration of the hull has been designed to accommodate the storage tank (hard tank) in the center while the surrounding ballast tanks remain balanced with hydrostatic pressure. The buoyant tanks near the water surface coupled with the solid ballast at the bottom provide the Buoyant Tower with permanent stability. The anti-rotation design of the SCF (suction can foundation) can provide further in-place stability. The analysis has shown that the tower demonstrates excellent motion performance at greater water depth.

“The buoyant tower is a compliant structure with very long eigen period. Within its application limits, the tower works better in deeper water. This prevents the platform from resonant motions in severe wave conditions. Therefore, a Buoyant Tower can support most E&P operations such as drilling, production (dry tree), gas compression or treatment, crude stabilisation, water treatment or injection, power generation and other utility purposes” says Dr Weimin CHEN, Senior Solutions Director of Wison Offshore and Marine.

Ying CUI, Chief Executive Officer of Wison Offshore & Marine says, “While further building up our position as a leading floating LNG and power solutions provider, Wison is also dedicated to developing more innovative solutions for the offshore upstream industry with our proprietary technologies. The launch of new Buoyant Tower solution would demonstrate our commitment to help oil & gas operators adapt to the low oil price environment by offering economical alternatives.”