A key underwater piling technology for the installation of deepwater drilling conductors

As for the installation of deepwater drilling conductors, a foreign company in this industry put forward a new technology to realize batch installation of conductors by means of underwater piling recently, whose feasibility has be proved practically. In this paper, its characteristics, basic principles and operation process were analyzed by investigating and analyzing this technology. In addition, its key points were analyzed deeply, including the design & processing, drivability and stick-up stability of conductor, the type selection of deepwater pile hammer and the design & type selection of low-pressure wellhead housing. This technology has the advantages of reducing the operation risks and improving the controllability of driving accuracy, but its application is limited by the current equipment and technology level. Finally, based on domestic status of installation technologies for deepwater drilling conductors, the suggestions on the application of this technology in domestic deepwater development were proposed. The research results provide the references to deal with the difficulties in the domestic exploratory application of this technology and point out the research direction.