CN112663673A

CN112663673A - Submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage structure and method

Info

Publication number: CN112663673A
Application number: CN202110070260.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张耀平
Original assignee: Xijing University
Current assignee: Xijing University
Priority date: 2021-01-19
Filing date: 2021-01-19
Publication date: 2021-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 2041-01-19
Also published as: WO2022156093A1; CN112663673B

Abstract

The invention discloses a submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage structure and a submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage method, which can economically and efficiently drain seawater and gas in a submarine vacuum pipeline, wherein the water and gas drainage structure comprises a water collecting tank arranged on the submarine vacuum pipeline, the water collecting tank is positioned below the lowest part of the submarine vacuum pipeline and communicated with the submarine vacuum pipeline, the water collecting tank is provided with a one-way valve assembly through a pipeline, the one-way valve assembly is configured to enable water or gas to be drained from the water collecting tank only, the one-way valve assembly is connected with a drainage/gas pipe, and the upper end of the drainage/gas pipe extends to the position above the sea surface and is communicated with the outside; the one-way valve assembly is also connected with a drainage pump, the outlet of the drainage pump is connected with the drainage/air pipe, and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe is also connected with a vacuum pump; the device also comprises an offshore platform which is correspondingly arranged at the lowest part of the working ship or the seabed vacuum pipeline, and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe and the vacuum pump are arranged on the working ship or the offshore platform.

Description

Submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage structure and method

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of submarine vacuum pipeline traffic and ocean engineering, and particularly relates to a submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage structure and a submarine vacuum pipeline water and gas drainage method.

Background

The vacuum pipeline transportation can be built and operated on land and is also suitable for being built on the seabed. The submarine environment has special superiority to the vacuum pipeline, and the sea water can provide even buoyancy for the vacuum pipeline cooling, provide the constant temperature environment, still can provide even buoyancy for the pipeline, offsets the effect of pipeline self gravity, reduces structural strength requirement, reduces engineering cost. Therefore, the submarine vacuum pipeline is expected to become a novel transportation mode crossing the sea and the ocean.

The seabed vacuum pipeline is basically formed by building a fixed abutment on a seabed, erecting a vacuum pipeline section on the abutment according to the required precision by an underwater construction method, and fixedly connecting all pipelines by an underwater sealing connection method.

One possible method of laying a subsea vacuum pipeline is to keep the ends of the pipe sections open when the pipeline is lowered into the water from the sea surface, allowing seawater to enter the pipeline. The pipe sections are sunk to the installation position of the sea bottom, and the seawater is filled in the pipe after butt joint, fixing and sealing. It is necessary to drain all the seawater in the pipeline before starting the installation of the internal equipment and the evacuation. Conventionally, water can be pumped from openings on the shore at both ends of the pipeline, as shown in fig. 1.

From the change of the terrain level, the part below the sea level is always lower than the land shore, and correspondingly, the line vertical section of the seabed vacuum pipeline is inevitably high at two ends on the shore and low at the middle seabed section. Meanwhile, the submarine vacuum pipeline has a long distance, which is generally dozens of kilometers, even hundreds of kilometers or thousands of kilometers. When the water is pumped from the two ends by the water pumps, a very long drain pipe is needed, the requirement on the lift of the water pump is high, and the efficiency is low and uneconomical. The more the middle of the subsea pipeline is, the more difficult it is to drain.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the invention provides a water and gas drainage structure and a water and gas drainage method for a submarine vacuum pipeline, which can economically and efficiently drain seawater and gas in the submarine vacuum pipeline.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum pipeline drainage structure, comprising a water collecting tank disposed on a vacuum pipeline, the water collecting tank being located below the lowest part of the vacuum pipeline and being communicated with the vacuum pipeline, the water collecting tank being provided with a check valve assembly through the pipeline, the check valve assembly being configured to allow water or gas to be discharged from the water collecting tank only, the check valve assembly being connected with a drainage/gas pipe, the upper end of the drainage/gas pipe extending above the sea surface to be communicated with the outside; the one-way valve assembly is also connected with a drainage pump, the outlet of the drainage pump is connected with the drainage/air pipe, and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe is also connected with a vacuum pump; the device also comprises an offshore platform which is correspondingly arranged at the lowest part of the working ship or the seabed vacuum pipeline, and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe and the vacuum pump are arranged on the working ship or the offshore platform.

Further, the check valve assembly comprises a first check valve, an outlet of the first check valve is connected with the drainage pump, and an outlet of the drainage pump is connected with the drainage/air pipe.

Further, the check valve assembly comprises a first check valve and a second check valve which are arranged in sequence, an inlet of the first check valve is connected with the water collecting tank, an outlet of the second check valve is connected with the water/air discharging pipe, and the water discharging pump is arranged between the first check valve and the second check valve.

Further, a bypass pipeline is communicated between the upstream pipeline of the first one-way valve and the downstream pipeline of the second one-way valve, the bypass pipeline is provided with a third one-way valve, and an outlet of the third one-way valve is connected to the drainage/air pipe.

Further, the catch basin is the pipeline of vertical setting, the top of catch basin and the butt joint intercommunication of the bottom of seabed vacuum pipe, the bottom of catch basin is sealed, the lateral part of catch basin near the bottom sets up the opening, the opening passes through the pipe connection the check valve subassembly.

Further, the bottom of the water collecting tank is hemispherical, an opening is arranged at the lowest position of the hemispherical shape, and the opening is connected with the check valve assembly through a pipeline.

Furthermore, the seabed vacuum pipeline is fixedly supported on a plurality of pipe pier foundations fixedly arranged on the seabed, and the bottom of the water collecting tank is supported on the pipe pier foundations.

Further, when the submarine vacuum pipeline has a plurality of fluctuation positions, the drainage structure is arranged at each fluctuation position.

Further, the drain pump is electrically connected with a vacuum connection terminal, which is electrically connected to a power source of the work vessel or the offshore platform.

The invention also provides a water and gas drainage method adopting the water and gas drainage structure of the submarine vacuum pipeline, which comprises the following steps:

step 1: mooring the operation ship on the sea surface where the water collecting tank is located, and fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe on the operation ship, or fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe on the offshore platform, wherein the pipe orifice of the drainage/air pipe faces the sea surface;

step 2: starting a drainage pump to drain seawater in the seabed vacuum pipeline;

and step 3: after the water is drained, closing the one-way valve assembly, connecting the vacuum pump, then opening the one-way valve assembly, and starting the vacuum pump to vacuumize the seabed vacuum pipeline;

and 4, step 4: and after the vacuum pumping is finished, closing the check valve assembly, checking the sealing performance of the seabed vacuum pipeline and the water collecting pool, and if the sealing performance meets the requirement, removing the drainage/air pipe, the drainage pump and the vacuum pump, and permanently closing the check valve assembly.

Compared with the prior art, according to the characteristics of long extension distance, high two ends and low middle part of a submarine vacuum pipeline, the bottom of the pipeline at the lowest position of the submarine vacuum pipeline is provided with the water collecting tank, the bottom of the water collecting tank is externally provided with the check valve component and then is connected with the drainage pump and the drainage/air pipe, and internal seawater is pumped out of the newly installed submarine vacuum pipeline, so that the defect that the drainage pipe needs to be very long when water is pumped from two ends on the bank is avoided, and the length of the drainage pipe and the drainage path are minimized; the water collecting tank is positioned at the lowest part of the submarine vacuum pipeline, and seawater in the pipeline flows to the water collecting tank automatically under the action of gravity in the drainage process, so that the power consumption required by drainage can be greatly reduced, the time required by drainage is reduced, and the drainage efficiency is improved; in addition, the drainage/air pipe can be connected with a vacuum pump, so that the vacuum pumping operation can be performed on the seabed vacuum pipeline, the operation is convenient, the dual functions of drainage and exhaust are realized, the structure is simple, the operation is simple and convenient, and the economy and the high efficiency are realized.

Further, the check valve subassembly includes first check valve and second check valve, the drain pump sets up between first check valve and second check valve, the intercommunication is provided with the bypass pipeline between the upstream pipeline of first check valve and the low reaches pipeline of second check valve, the bypass pipeline is provided with the third check valve, thereby when the evacuation operation, can close first check valve and second check valve earlier, open the third check valve, the operation of taking out the vacuum, thereby need not to demolish the drain pump earlier and can begin the evacuation, convenient operation.

Furthermore, the bottom of the water collecting tank is hemispherical, so that the seawater in the seabed vacuum pipeline can conveniently collect and flow into the water collecting tank and flow out from the hemispherical bottom opening, and the seawater is ensured to be thoroughly discharged.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the placement of a subsea vacuum line;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the subsea vacuum line drainage arrangement of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the subsea vacuum pipeline drain configuration of the present invention, wherein only the first check valve is provided, and after the completion of pumping, the drain pump and the drain/gas pipe need to be removed, and the operation on the sea surface is performed by the operation boat while pumping water;

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein only the first check valve is installed, and the drain pump and the drain/air pipe are removed after the water is pumped;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the subsea vacuum pipeline drain configuration of the present invention after draining, with the drain pump removed, and with the evacuation pump started;

FIG. 6 is a second partial schematic view of the subsea vacuum line drain configuration of the present invention with the drain pump removed and the check valve in an open position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic view three of the subsea vacuum line drain configuration of the present invention, wherein first and second check valves are provided, and bypass exhaust line and third check valve are provided, the first and second check valves both being in an open state, the third check valve being in a closed state;

FIG. 8 is a fourth schematic partial view of the subsea vacuum pipeline drain configuration of the present invention, wherein the first and second check valves are both in a closed state and the third check valve is in an open state;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary schematic illustration of a fifth embodiment of the subsea vacuum line drain configuration of the present invention, wherein the drain pump has been removed, the first and second check valves are both in a closed state, and the third check valve is in an open state;

FIG. 10 is a sixth schematic view of a portion of the subsea vacuum line drainage structure of the present invention, wherein the bottom of the sump is hemispherical;

FIG. 11 is a seventh partial schematic view of the subsea vacuum line drain structure of the present invention, wherein a sump is provided at the upper portion of the subsea abutment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of the subsea vacuum line drainage arrangement of the present invention with a permanent offshore platform at the location of the catch basin;

wherein, 1 is a seabed vacuum pipeline; 2 is a water collecting tank; 31 is a first one-way valve; 32 is a second one-way valve; 33 is a third check valve; 41 is a draining pump; 42 is a vacuum pump; 5 is a drainage/air pipe; 6 is an operation ship; 7 is a pipe pier foundation; 71 is an offshore platform pile foundation; 8 is seawater; 9 is sea level; 10 is the seabed; and 11, an offshore platform.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be further explained with reference to the drawings and specific examples in the specification, and it should be understood that the examples described are only a part of the examples of the present application, and not all examples. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The embodiment of the invention provides a water and gas drainage structure of a submarine vacuum pipeline, and referring to fig. 2 to 12, the structure comprises a water collecting tank 2 arranged on a submarine vacuum pipeline 1, wherein the water collecting tank 2 is positioned below the lowest part of the submarine vacuum pipeline 1 and communicated with the submarine vacuum pipeline 1, the water collecting tank 2 is provided with a one-way valve assembly through a pipeline, the one-way valve assembly is configured to enable water or gas to be discharged from the water collecting tank 2 only, the one-way valve assembly is connected with a drainage/gas pipe 5, and the upper end of the drainage/gas pipe 5 extends to the position above the sea surface 9 and is communicated with the outside; the one-way valve assembly is also connected with a drainage pump 41, the outlet of the drainage pump 41 is connected with a drainage/air pipe 5, and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe 5 is also connected with a vacuum pump 42; the present embodiment further includes an offshore platform 11 correspondingly disposed at the lowest position of the working vessel 6 or the subsea vacuum line 1, and the upper end of the drain/gas pipe 5 and the vacuum pump 42 are installed at the working vessel 6 or the offshore platform 11.

According to the characteristics that the line of the submarine vacuum pipeline 1 is long in extension distance, high at two ends and low in middle, the bottom of the pipeline at the lowest position of the submarine pipeline is provided with the water collecting tank 2, the bottom of the water collecting tank 2 is externally provided with the check valve assembly, and then the water discharging pump 41 and the water discharging/air pipe 5 are connected to pump out internal seawater 8 for the newly installed submarine vacuum pipeline 1, so that the defect that a long water discharging pipe is needed for pumping water from two ends on a shore is avoided, and the length of the water discharging pipe and the water discharging path are minimized; the water collecting tank 2 is positioned at the lowest part of the line of the submarine vacuum pipeline 1, and seawater 8 in the pipeline flows to the water collecting tank 2 under the action of gravity in the drainage process, so that the power consumption required by drainage can be greatly reduced, the time required by drainage is reduced, and the drainage efficiency is improved; in addition, the drainage/air pipe 5 can be connected with a vacuum pump 42, so that the vacuum pumping operation can be performed on the seabed vacuum pipeline 1, the operation is convenient, the drainage and air exhaust functions are realized, the structure is simple, the operation is simple and convenient, and the economy and the high efficiency are realized.

Referring to fig. 3 to 6, the check valve assembly of the present embodiment includes a first check valve 31, an outlet of the first check valve 31 is connected to a drain pump 41, and an outlet of the drain pump 41 is connected to a drain/air pipe 5. That is, only one first check valve 31 may be provided, and the seawater 8 or gas can only flow out of the subsea vacuum pipeline 1 through the first check valve 31, but cannot flow back. The drainage pump 41 is connected with the water outlet end of the first one-way valve 31, has good seawater corrosion resistance, and the lift configuration is determined according to the depth of the sea area. The drain pump 41 is isolated from the seawater outside the pipeline, and is only used for pumping the seawater 8 in the submarine vacuum pipeline 1, and the external seawater cannot enter. The first one-way valve 31 has the double functions of water tightness and air tightness, namely can be used as an air valve during vacuum pumping; meanwhile, the drainage/air pipe 5 is a flexible pipe with good pressure resistance, and can be used as an exhaust pipe for vacuum pumping in addition to drainage. After the drainage is completed, the drainage pump 41 is removed, the drainage/air pipe 5 is connected to the first check valve 31, and the vacuum pump 42 is connected to the sea surface end of the drainage/air pipe 5 to vacuumize the seabed vacuum pipeline 1.

Referring to fig. 7 to 9, another check valve assembly of the present embodiment includes a first check valve 31 and a second check valve 32 sequentially disposed, an inlet of the first check valve 31 is connected to the sump 2, an outlet of the second check valve 32 is connected to the drain/air pipe 5, and a drain pump 41 is disposed between the first check valve 31 and the second check valve 32; a bypass pipeline is communicated between the upstream pipeline of the first check valve 31 and the downstream pipeline of the second check valve 32, the bypass pipeline is provided with a third check valve 33, and the outlet of the third check valve 33 is connected to the drainage/air pipe 5. In the draining operation, referring to fig. 7, the first check valve 31 and the second check valve 32 are opened, the third check valve 33 is closed, and the draining pump 41 is started to drain water; during the vacuum-pumping operation, referring to fig. 8, the first check valve 31 and the second check valve 32 may be closed first, the third check valve 33 may be opened, and the vacuum pump 42 may be started to perform the vacuum-pumping operation, so that the vacuum-pumping operation may be started without removing the drain pump 41 first, which is convenient to operate. Of course, in the vacuum-pumping operation, referring to fig. 9, the first check valve 31 and the second check valve 32 are closed, the drain pump 41 is removed, the third check valve 33 is opened, and the vacuum pump 42 is started to perform the vacuum-pumping operation.

Referring to fig. 4 and 6, the collecting tank 2 is a vertically arranged pipeline, the top of the collecting tank 2 is in butt joint communication with the bottom of the seabed vacuum pipeline 1, the bottom of the collecting tank 2 is closed, and the side part of the collecting tank 2 close to the bottom is provided with an opening which is connected with the check valve assembly through a pipeline.

Referring to fig. 10, this embodiment provides another form of sump 2, the bottom of the sump 2 is hemispherical, and the lowest position of the hemispherical shape is provided with an opening, which is connected to the check valve assembly through a pipe. The seawater 8 in the seabed vacuum pipeline 1 can be conveniently collected and flow into the water collecting tank 2 and flow out from the hemispherical bottom opening, and the seawater 8 is ensured to be thoroughly discharged.

Referring to fig. 2 and 11, the subsea vacuum line 1 is fixedly supported by a plurality of pipe pier foundations 7 fixedly installed on the seabed 10, and the bottom of the sump 2 is supported by the pipe pier foundations 7.

In the embodiment, when the submarine vacuum pipeline 1 is long in line and has a plurality of fluctuation positions, the drainage structure of the embodiment, namely the water collecting tank 2, the check valve assembly and the like, is arranged at each fluctuation position.

Referring to fig. 12, the present embodiment may provide an offshore platform 11 at the sea surface 9 corresponding to the water collection basin 2, and the offshore platform 11 is installed on the sea floor 10 through a plurality of offshore platform pile foundations 71.

In this embodiment the drain pump 41 is electrically connected to vacuum terminals which are electrically connected to the power supply of the work vessel 6 or the offshore platform 11. The drain pump 41 may also be mounted directly inside the sump 2.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a water and gas drainage method, which adopts the water and gas drainage structure and comprises the following steps:

step 1: mooring the operation ship 6 on the sea surface 9 where the water collecting tank 2 is located, and fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe 5 on the operation ship 6, or fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe 5 on an offshore platform 11, wherein the pipe orifice of the drainage/air pipe 5 faces the sea surface 9;

step 2: starting the drainage pump 41 to drain the seawater 8 in the subsea vacuum pipeline 1;

and step 3: after the water is drained, the one-way valve assembly is closed, the vacuum pump 42 is connected, then the one-way valve assembly is opened, and the vacuum pump 42 is started to vacuumize the seabed vacuum pipeline 1;

and 4, step 4: after the vacuum pumping is finished, closing the check valve assembly, checking the sealing performance of the seabed vacuum pipeline 1 and the water collecting pool 2, and if the sealing performance meets the requirement, removing the drainage/air pipe 5, the drainage pump 41 and the vacuum pump 42, and permanently closing the check valve assembly; and if the sealing performance does not meet the requirement, performing sealing operation until the sealing performance meets the requirement. The tightness can be checked by a constructor or an installation robot entering the submarine vacuum pipeline 1 from an onshore entrance to the position of the water collecting tank 2, and checking and confirming the tightness.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A submarine vacuum pipeline drainage gas structure is characterized by comprising a water collecting tank (2) arranged on a submarine vacuum pipeline (1), wherein the water collecting tank (2) is positioned below the lowest part of the submarine vacuum pipeline (1) and communicated with the submarine vacuum pipeline (1), the water collecting tank (2) is provided with a one-way valve assembly through a pipeline, the one-way valve assembly is configured to enable water or gas to be discharged from the water collecting tank (2), the one-way valve assembly is connected with a drainage/gas pipe (5), and the upper end of the drainage/gas pipe (5) extends to a position above a sea surface (9) and is communicated with the outside; the one-way valve assembly is also connected with a drainage pump (41), the outlet of the drainage pump (41) is connected with the drainage/air pipe (5), and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe (5) is also connected with a vacuum pump (42); the device also comprises an offshore platform (11) which is correspondingly arranged at the lowest position of the operation ship (6) or the seabed vacuum pipeline (1), and the upper end of the drainage/air pipe (5) and the vacuum pump (42) are arranged on the operation ship (6) or the offshore platform (11).

2. A subsea vacuum pipeline drain gas structure according to claim 1, characterized in that said one-way valve assembly comprises a first one-way valve (31), the outlet of said first one-way valve (31) is connected to said drain pump (41), and the outlet of said drain pump (41) is connected to said drain/gas pipe (5).

3. A subsea vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 1, characterized in that said one-way valve assembly comprises a first one-way valve (31) and a second one-way valve (32) arranged in sequence, the inlet of said first one-way valve (31) is connected to said water collection tank (2), the outlet of said second one-way valve (32) is connected to said drainage/air pipe (5), and said drainage pump (41) is arranged between said first one-way valve (31) and said second one-way valve (32).

4. A subsea vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 3, characterized in that a bypass pipeline is communicated between the upstream pipeline of the first one-way valve (31) and the downstream pipeline of the second one-way valve (32), the bypass pipeline is provided with a third one-way valve (33), and the outlet of the third one-way valve (33) is connected to the drainage/air pipe (5).

5. The submarine vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 1, wherein the water collection tank (2) is a vertically arranged pipeline, the top of the water collection tank (2) is in butt joint communication with the bottom of the submarine vacuum pipeline (1), the bottom of the water collection tank (2) is closed, and the side part of the water collection tank (2) close to the bottom is provided with an opening which is connected with the one-way valve assembly through a pipeline.

6. A subsea vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom of the sump (2) is hemispherical, and the lowest position of the hemispherical shape is provided with an opening, and the opening is connected with the one-way valve assembly through a pipeline.

7. A subsea vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 1, characterized in that said subsea vacuum pipeline (1) is fixedly supported on a plurality of pipe pier foundations (7) fixedly arranged on the seabed (10), and the bottom of said water collection basin (2) is supported on the pipe pier foundations (7).

8. A subsea vacuum pipeline drainage structure according to claim 1, characterized in that said drainage structure is provided at each undulation location when said subsea vacuum pipeline (1) has a plurality of undulations.

9. Submarine vacuum pipeline drainage gas structure according to claim 1, wherein the drainage pump (41) is electrically connected to vacuum terminals, which are electrically connected to the power supply of the work vessel (6) or the offshore platform (11).

10. A method for discharging water vapor by using the water vapor discharging structure of the submarine vacuum pipeline according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising the steps of:

step 1: mooring the operation ship (6) on the sea surface (9) where the water collecting tank (2) is located, fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe (5) on the operation ship (6), or fixing the upper end of the drainage/air pipe (5) on an offshore platform (11), wherein the pipe orifice of the drainage/air pipe (5) faces the sea surface (9);

step 2: starting a drainage pump (41) to drain seawater (8) in the seabed vacuum pipeline (1);

and step 3: after the water is drained, closing the one-way valve assembly, connecting the vacuum pump (42), then opening the one-way valve assembly, and starting the vacuum pump (42) to vacuumize the seabed vacuum pipeline (1);

and 4, step 4: and after the vacuum pumping is finished, closing the check valve assembly, checking the sealing performance of the seabed vacuum pipeline (1) and the water collecting tank (2), and if the sealing performance meets the requirement, removing the drainage/air pipe (5), the drainage pump (41) and the vacuum pump (42) and permanently sealing the check valve assembly.