1、Guidance for Post-hurricane Structural Inspection of Offshore StructuresAPI BULLETIN 2HINS FIRST EDITION, MAY 2009Guidance for Post-hurricane Structural Inspection of Offshore StructuresUpstream SegmentAPI BULLETIN 2HINS FIRST EDITION, MAY 2009Special NotesAPI publications necessarily address proble
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15、 20005.Suggested revisions are invited and should be submitted to the Standards Department, API, 1220 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005, standardsapi.org.iiiContentsPageIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Organization of Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Inspection Initiators. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2 Assess
19、ment Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.3 Engineering Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20、. . . . . . . . 44.4 Prioritizing Structures for Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Special Above-water Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21、. . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.2 Initial Evaluation for Boarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.3 Above-water General Visual Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.4 Indicators for Special Below-water Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85.5 Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95.6 Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24、 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95.7 Pre-planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Special Below-water I
25、nspection of Fixed Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106.2 Primar
26、y Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106.3 Risers, Appurtenances, and Secondary Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 S
27、pecial Below-water Inspection of Floating Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28、 . . . 117.2 External Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127.3 Internal Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138.1 Inspection Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30、 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138.2 Damage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Figure1 Inspection Initiator Process for Fixed and Floating Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3vIntroductionRecent hurricanes in the
32、 Gulf of Mexico have resulted in thousands of above- and below-water structural inspections of offshore structures to determine if they sustained damage. Several of the API standards for offshore structures provide guidance for such “special” inspections, but the guidance is limited and general in n
33、ature. This bulletin complements those publications and provides additional guidance specific to structural inspection following hurricanes.The purpose of this bulletin is to provide guidance for post-hurricane, above- and below-water, structural inspections of fixed and floating structures located
34、in the Gulf of Mexico. The goal of these special inspections is to determine if a structure sustained hurricane-induced damage that affects the safety of personnel working on the structure, the primary structural integrity of the asset, or its ability to perform the purpose for which it was intended
35、. This document should be used in conjunction with the applicable API standards for the structure as well as any structure-specific owner/operator or regulatory requirements.vi1Guidance for Post-hurricane Structural Inspection of Offshore Structures1 ScopeThis document is applicable to permanent fix
36、ed and floating structures in the Gulf of Mexico. In this document, inspection refers to structural inspections only and does not include inspections of production equipment, process piping, electrical and instrumentation or other systems and components of the platform, unless noted otherwise.Fixed
37、structures include steel jacket or template platforms, towers and compliant towers, caissons, minimum non-jacket and special structures that are fixed to the seafloor. Design of these structures generally follows API 2A-WSD guidelines.Floating structures include tension leg platforms (TLPs), spars,
38、deep draft caisson vessels, semi-submersibles and any other type of floating or tethered structures. Design of these structures generally follows API 2T, API 2FPS, API 2SK, API 2RD and API 2I guidelines.Post-hurricane structural inspections are not as comprehensive as, or supplant the need for, regu
39、lar in-service inspections as may be detailed in the structures in-service inspection plan (ISIP).This document describes post-hurricane structural inspection of structures designed in accordance with the following API documents: API 2A-LRFD, API 2A-WSD, API 2FPS, API 2I, API 2RD, API 2SK, API 2T, A
40、PI 2TD.These structures may also be designed and operated in accordance with regulatory and classification society guidelines and these should be applied as required.2 AcronymsFMD flooded member detectionGVI general visual inspectionISIP in-service inspection planNHC National Hurricane CenterROV rem
41、otely operated vehicleTLP tension leg platform2API BULLETIN 2HINS3 Organization of DocumentThis document is organized in a progressive manner such that the user starts with the early sections to determine the need for post-hurricane inspections. If inspections are required, the later sections provid
42、e specific guidance. Section 4 describes the initiators to determine the need for and the general extent of inspections that should be performed. Section 5 provides guidance for safe initial boarding of the structure as well as guidance for the above-water structure inspection. The above-water inspe
43、ctions also assist in establishing the need for below-water inspections. Section 6 provides guidance for below-water inspection of fixed structures. Section 7 provides guidance for below-water inspection of the external and internal structure of floating structures. Section 8 provides guidance for d
44、ocumentation.4 Inspection Initiators4.1 GeneralAfter a hurricane has passed through the Gulf of Mexico, inspection initiators determine if an offshore structure requires a special post-hurricane structural inspection. The inspection initiators are based upon the following: the structures exposure to
45、 hurricane conditions; and indications that the structure has suffered damage, as in the case where large objects may have fallen overboard or the structure is leaning, tilted or listing.For the purposes of this document, a hurricane event is a named tropical cyclone, as defined by the National Hurr
46、icane Center (NHC), which enters or generates in the Gulf of Mexico. The NHC is the official U.S. agency for establishing hurricanes. NHC defines a hurricane as a storm with maximum sustained 1-minute surface winds greater than or equal to 74 mph (64 kt). Surface winds are those observed to occur at
47、 the standard meteorological height of 10 m (33 ft) in an unobstructed exposure.4.2 Assessment ProcessThe process for determining if a structure should be inspected following a hurricane is shown in Figure 1. This is a progressive approach based on the hurricane conditions experienced by the structu
48、re and on results from above-water inspections of the primary structure and from other damage indicators.The process for a particular structure is initiated when the structure has been exposed to wind speeds equal to or greater than hurricane conditions, as defined in 4.1. The wind speed used in thi
49、s determination, can be based upon any of the following: measured wind speeds at the structure location, using calibrated monitoring equipment demonstrated to be accurate and operating continuously throughout the duration of the hurricane; maximum hurricane wind speed based upon hindcast data, using generally accepted meteorological practices.A special above-water inspection should be performed once it is determined the structure has been subjected to hurricane winds or greater. The intent of this inspection is to gain a general understanding of the condition of the struct
