The premise is simple: use Matrix LGS^® (Longitudinal Groove System) and you can keep drilling when you normally have to stop. Based on simulated eddy profiles for the Gulf of Mexico, this can translate into an annual increase of 20% more uptime during eddy current events which equates to hundreds of hours, saving many millions of dollars in lost time per annum.

Matrix LGS^® delivers a significant increase in rig capability at a small capital cost and will give those who adopt this new technology a clear advantage over competitors who don’t. Matrix’s engineers are ready to carry out detailed riser VIV analysis to estimate just how much your operation would benefit from using Matrix LGS^®.

LGS is a registered trademark of AMOG Technologies Pty Ltd

INSPIRED BY NATURE

Matrix LGS^® is an integral system that incorporates a drag and VIV reduction profile with low density, high performance syntactic foam riser buoyancy.

Its revolutionary profile was inspired by the Saguaro cactus whose modest root system manages to keep the slender plant upright even when buffeted by the strongest of winds. It’s the cactus’s grooved profile that ameliorates the effect of high winds by interfering with the vortex formation process.

This is exactly what the Matrix LGS^® profile does in high currents and gives it its enviable performance characteristics:

• Significantly reduces VIV and drag when compared with conventionally floated risers
• 20%-30% increase in raw operable current speeds (in regions of the world investigated), including crabbing advantages
• Estimated 20% more uptime during eddy current events
• VIV fatigue damage rates five to ten times lower
• Comparable buoyancy and manufacturing costs to conventional modules
• Easily stacked both vertically and horizontally
• Inherent anti-roll stability on moving decks
• Can be used with existing riser handling and storage equipment

TESTING CONFIRMS MATRIX LGS PERFORMANCE

• Significantly reduces VIV and drag when compared with conventionally floated risers
• 20%-30% increase in raw operable current speeds (in regions of the world investigated), including crabbing advantages
• Estimated 20% more uptime during eddy current events
• VIV fatigue damage rates five to ten times lower
• Comparable buoyancy and manufacturing costs to conventional modules
• Easily stacked both vertically and horizontally
• Inherent anti-roll stability on moving decks
• Can be used with existing riser handling and storage equipment

Successful LGS field deployment validates product’s capability in offshore operations

Matrix and AMOG conducted field trials with 609 metres (2,000 feet) of LGS^® at a depth of 1,980 metres (6,300 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico from July 2017. The trial validated, in an operational environment, the VIV and drag reduction characteristics derived from the high Reynolds number testing conducted at the National Research Centre in St John’s, Canada. Furthermore, the field results confirm the following advantages of Matrix LGS over that of conventional, cylindrical buoyancy strings:

• An annual operability improvement of 12 days
• Average annual savings of $US12.7 million
• 1.35 days to pay back purchase cost (based on LGS string section costing $US1.4 million
• Continued operation during a strong current period in January 2018 when normally, drilling would have stopped given that upper flex joint (UJF) angles would have exceeded 2 degrees making the rig inoperable.

Large scale testing at Canada’s National Resource Council in St. John’s, Newfoundland

Large scale post-critical tests were conducted at Canada’s National Research Council Canada facility in 2017. These tests supported earlier smaller scale subcritical testing and confirmed that Matrix’s LGS^® system reduced both the VIV amplitude and resulting drag coefficient.

• Leaflet: Matrix LGS^® VIV & drag reduction
• Brochure: Matrix LGS^® VIV & drag reduction
• Press Release: Successful LGS^® field deployment validates product’s capability in offshore operations

Paper (2019): Field trial of vortex-induced vibration suppression technology for drilling riser buoyancy.

OMAE2019-96426. 9 – 14 June 2019, Glasgow, Scotland.

Editorial (2019): VIV Suppression

UT3 Issue 4 – feature article

Paper (2018): Mitigation of pipeline free span fatigue due to vortex induced vibration using longitudinally grooved suppression.

OMAE2018-77716. 17 – 22 June 2018, Madrid, Spain.

Paper (2017): LGS technology for Drilling Risers: Reducing Costs by Increasing Operability while Improving Safety.

Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference (AOG). 22 – 24 February 2017, Perth, Australia.

Paper (2017): Drilling riser case studies comparing the drag performance of LGS technology to conventional buoyancy units and fairing.

OMAE 2017-62219. 25 – 30 June 2017, Trondheim, Norway.

Paper (2016): Drag reduction and VIV suppression behaviour of LGS technology integral to drilling riser buoyancy units.

OMAE 2016-54689. 19 – 24 June 2016, Busan, South Korea.