Study of Numerical Modeling of Moonpool as Minimization Device of Monocolumn Hull

The steel catenary risers (SCR) have been studied to be used in ultra-deep oil fields. In Brazil, the oil field is going to deeper water. The geographical characteristics impose this type of production risers, and the necessity of these risers is real. However, in order to avoid risers fatigue problems, some premises related to low vertical motions have to be respected. To reach the necessary good seakeeping responses, new type of hull shape has been proposed, the monocolumn hull, to which some motion minimization devices have been developed. There are several conceptions of monocolumn type hull, but the concept presented in this paper is different from the existing monocolumn hull. To have good seakeeping capability, three main minimization devices were proposed: the structural skirt, the inclined wall, and the moonpool. The inclined wall, a variation of a section area near the water-plane, works together with the skirt, an enlarged bilge keel at the bottom of the platform, modifying the effect of damping, added mass and inertia. The moonpool is the old tank usually found in drilling units, properly modified to work as a motion minimization system. It works as a passive heave motion reduction system, shifting the natural period far from the wave spectrum. Some numerical analyses were made to present the effects obtained from these devices. These numerical results from WAMIT® were compared to experimental showing to be according to them.