Swivels for Production Risers and Offshore Terminals

Properly designed and developed swivels represent a reliable and practical means for providing required flowline flexibility in multiline marine production risers. The lack of suitable commercially available swivels caused Exxon Production Research Company, in the early 1970’s, to initiate a research and development program to produce swivels that would meet the requirements for marine riser service. This paper provides some basic information about swivels and describes some promising swivel design concepts. It also discusses potential applications for swivels and the need for continued development effort.