Abstract: A frequency shifted cavity apparatus for electromagnetic radiation.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for depolyment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns there are multiple chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere. Flexible seals that define these chambers are positively engaged by this evacuation to create a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers. The reduction of the buoyancy forces will hold the platform onto the subbase until such time as the platform is totally deballasted.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for deployment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns there are multiple chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere. Flexible seals that define these chambers are positively engaged by this evacuation to create a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers. The reduction of the buoyancy forces in the chambers will hold the platform onto the subbase until such time as the platform is totally deballasted.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for deployment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns there are elastomeric seals that define chambers between the column and the subbase which may be evacuated by pumping. Pressure by the platform weight forces the elastomeric seals down onto the subbase to create a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers. The reduction of the buoyancy forces will hold the platform onto the subbase until such time as the platform is totally deballasted.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for deployment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. It is a two-part structure comprising (1) a platform which is made up of a deck structure, multiple columns and braces; and (2) a reinforced concrete subbase that rests on the sea floor and upon which the platform is founded. The structure is normally held down by gravity for standard platform operations, but during the deballasting procedure due to an iceberg emergency a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until full deballasting is achieved. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns there are multiple chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for deployment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the top surface of the subbase there are circularly arranged elastomeric bearing pads that define chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere. Pressure by the platform on the bearing pads creates a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations which is deployed in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns, there are multiple chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere. Flexible seals that define these chambers are positively engaged by water to create a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers. The reduction of the buoyancy forces will hold the platform onto the subbase until such time as the platform is totally deballasted.

Abstract: The Removable Bottom Founded Structure (RBFS) is an offshore platform for petroleum drilling and producing operations intended for deployment in waters with severe weather and iceberg conditions. The structure is normally held down by gravity, but during the deballasting procedure a hold-down system is employed to keep the platform on the subbase until site evacuation. The system that is used to hold the platform down onto the subbase is located where the platform meets the subbase. It operates on the principle of hydrostatics. On the underside of the columns there are multiple chambers which may be evacuated by pumping and which are vented to the outside atmosphere. Inflatable seals that define these chambers are positively engaged by this evacuation to create a fluid-tight seal so that no seawater will enter the evacuated chambers. The reduction of the buoyancy forces will hold the platform onto the subbase until such time as the platform is totally deballasted.

Abstract: An optical-electrical geophone which generates a binary signal is described. The geophone utilizes an optical fiber for the return transmission of a light source in the geophone. The geophone contains a light chopping means which oscillates in response to vibrations imparted into a geologic formation. As the chopping means such as a baffle or a tubular member vibrates, it chops the light signal and creates an on/off light pattern, i.e., binary signal. The light passing through a slit in the baffle or tubular member is returned to the seismic vehicle through an optical fiber for further processing. The optical-electrical geophone creates a binary signal directly without the use of clipping electronics and magnets or coils used in conventional geophones.

Abstract: A portable instrument for testing at the wellhead continuously, or a stationary instrument for use at a production battery, the outflow of crude hydrocarbons from the well or wells. The invention utilizes a simple relationship of density and thermal coefficients of expansion of the oil and the water, together with improved instrumentation to measure mass flow rate of the crude mixture, to produce accurate continuous readings of oil and water contents in the crude. The invention depends upon state of the art technology both as to the crude handling and the electronics portions of its apparatus.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an electric valve device used in remotely operable applications. It comprises a valve body with a centrally placed slidable valve core. The core has an aperture for fluid passage and may be held in position by an electromagnet in the valve body. Windings are placed in one end of the valve body so that they encircle the slidable core and a spring is placed in the other end. To move the core, a DC current source is connected to the windings so that when they are energized a force is generated to move the core in a specific direction. The core is then held in this position by the contact between the electromagnet in the valve body and the valve core until the current in the magnetic windings is switched off, then the spring return to the core to its original, closed position.

Abstract: The present invention is used to separate gas from liquid while being placed downhole in a hydrocarbon producing well. It essentially comprises a means to divert hydrocarbon production fluid from within a tubing string into the annulus of the well. This diversion turbulently mixes the fluid and releases free gas from the liquid. Thereafter, the liquid migrates downward while the free gas migrates upward to a gas collection apparatus. The liquid is reuptaken at an intake spot below the point at which it was diverted. It travels upward through a concentric chamber and subsequently reenters the tubing string at a point above that which it was diverted.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for locating the position of a marine streamer using two boats and a series of transponders in the streamer. A first pulse is electrically triggered and then generated by the transponders and by a transceiver mounted in the seismic vessel that tows the streamer. These first pulses are detected at a slave ship and the respective distances to the acoustic sources are calculated. The actual locations of the streamer transponders are calculated by trilateration when a second pulse from transponders 2-5 is detected at the slave ship. This second pulse is an acoustically triggered product of an electrically triggered initial pulse generated by a first transponder. This acoustically triggered pulse is used to determine the distance from the seismic ship to the transponder nearest the seismic ship and then to successively further transponders down the streamer length. Thereafter the positions of the transponders may be calculated.

Abstract: Pressurized liquid filled tubular tendons provide a means for detecting leaks therein. Filling the tendon with a liquid having a specific gravity less than that of sea water provides increased buoyancy and reduces the weight supported by the buoyant structure. The use of a corrosion inhibiting liquid reduces the corrosion of the interior tendon wall.

Abstract: A flow splitter for liquid-vapor mixtures wherein a reservoir has an inlet at a top end and a drain at a bottom end of a vertical axis, and also has a plurality of outlets in a level plane perpendicular to the vertical axis. Each inlet is connected by an equally sized aperture in a sidewall of the reservoir to a central cavity of the reservoir in which the liquid collects. When the liquid accumulates to the point that it reaches the lower edge of each aperture, the liquid divides equally among the apertures to become re-entrained with a substantially equal portion of the vapor passing through each outlet. The liquid may be removed through the drain to control the proportion of liquid in the split mixture.

Abstract: A method for metering two-phase flow wherein the successive accelerational pressure drops across two orifice plates installed in series with correlated to obtain one or more flowrate parameters.