There are several possibilities for configurations of TLPs:
- The early conventional TLP designs for major hub developments consisted of four columns connected by a ring pontoon at the base and supporting the outer corners of a rectangular deck at the top. Attached to each column was a minimum of three tendons.
- Later TLP designs for marginal fields and smaller topsides payloads required less hull buoyancy and less total tendon pretension. Similar intact stability as for the early TLP designs was achieved with more efficient distribution of buoyancy and relatively larger tendon footprints, but also with fewer tendons per “corner”.
For example:
- The E-TLP (extended tension leg platform) hull concept retains the four separate corner columns, but incorporates a radial pontoon extension at each column for supporting two tendon porches at its extremity.
- The MOSES TLP hull concept concentrates the column buoyancy closer to the center of the platform, still with four separate columns of relatively smaller cross-sectional area, but incorporates four large radial hull extensions at its base (tendon support structures), each one supporting two tendon porches at its extremity
moses TLP
- The SeaStar hull concept concentrates the column buoyancy in a single column at the center of the platform and incorporates three radial hull extensions at its base, each one supporting two tendon porches at its extremity.
Seastar TLP
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Mini-TLP
The
Mini-TLP is a smaller type of the TLP. The development cost are relatively low, so the production of smaller deepwater reservoirs may be economical feasible, where conventional deepwater techniques are to expansive. Mini-TLPs can also be used as satellite or utility in larger deepwater production fields.
The main differences between the normal TLP an the mini-TLP:
- Mini-TLP is a Wellhead platform
- Mini TLP often has wet trees
- Mini TLP can only handle a moderate amount of equipment
- Mini TLP has a considerable cost reduction
- The stability of a Mini-TLP depends on tendons, therefor crane ship or temporary stability enhancement needed for offshore installation link to installation
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