A Parametric Sensitivity Study on TLP Hydrodynamic Performance in South China Sea

As a typical floating platform, TLP (Tension leg platform) is widely used around the world of the water depth from 140m to 1400m due to its significant advantages over other deep-water production systems. This paper describes a conventional TLP type application for relatively shallow water depth of 410m, it was studied for a potential development plan in China south sea. Considering the safety and efficiency in the construction, installation and operation, a comprehensive sensitivity study of the simulation results against various analysis/environment parameters (including column form, wind coefficients, tendon pretension, etc.) was carried out and the role of each critical parameter was analyzed deeply. The numerical simulations were conducted for 1000-yr Hurricane condition with collinear wind, wave, and current directions. The results based on this study show that the change of the column pattern (from round column to square column) does not have much difference on the TLP hydrodynamic performance without other conditions changed; the variation of pre-tension has limited influence to the TLP hydrodynamic performance as this relatively shallow water.