CN117163238A - Underwater pipeline laying ship suitable for continuous operation - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an underwater pipeline laying ship suitable for continuous operation, which adopts a J-shaped pipeline laying method, and uses pipelines with shorter lengths to splice together from the end to the end on the ship to form a pipeline assembly; the pipe assembly is shipped and then transported to a pipe lay arm apparatus which splices the leading pipe assembly end-to-end to the pipe already in the process of laying below the vessel. The present invention provides a very efficient and fast pipe laying operation that can be monitored from a control station on the vessel.

Description

Underwater pipeline laying ship suitable for continuous operation

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation, to the field of mechanized underwater pipelaying, and more particularly to a novel vessel comprising means for laying underwater pipelines by splicing on shorter pipelines.

Background

It is known that underwater pipeline installation using various devices in the prior art is quite mature; however, all known installations and equipment still have much to be improved in terms of the speed at which the pipeline is laid and the reliability and efficiency of operation.

Accurate, fast and economical underwater pipeline laying has at least two of the most practical requirements, namely to maintain vessel stability during pipeline laying operations in severe weather, open sea and high winds, and to further achieve considerable accuracy in the laying of pipeline routes during the laying process, it being known in the prior art to use two vessels placed side by side or vessels in parallel positions and to arrange certain pipeline laying equipment in the area between the vessels; however, handling of the pipe and pre-installation of the pipe with the existing pipe, handling of the splice joint, and other related operations are inefficient. The structural arrangement required for supporting and controlling the pipe-laying apparatus between two vessels is not only complex and cumbersome to operate, but also very costly. It is also impractical to control the direction of the pipeline with any reasonable accuracy using a two vessel side-by-side mounted arrangement.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention eliminates the problems of the prior art by providing a unique method of making the pipe laying process more efficient, quick and reliable, taking multiple steps.

The invention in its broad form comprises an underwater pipelaying vessel for installing underwater pipelines by progressively increasing the length of shorter pipelines by splicing to the free end of the pipeline being installed. The pipeline is a building unit module constructed by a rubber shell and an inner lining industrial ceramic material, and the single module weighs about 1 ton. The vessel according to the invention has at least one deck, comprising a centre well, which is located substantially in the centre of the vessel and extends horizontally from the deck of the vessel to the bottom of the vessel.

The pipe laying arm is arranged in the central well and provided with a longitudinal passage which penetrates through, the length of the pipe can be added to the free end of the pipe in use by splicing, and the lower end of the mechanical arm penetrates through and extends out of the bottom of the ship; the rotary mounting device is used for mounting the arm support in the well and is provided with a horizontal rotary mounting shaft, and the arm support can perform controlled oscillating motion around the horizontal rotary mounting shaft; control means for controlling the oscillation position of the arm about the rotational mounting axis; guide support means disposed at a substantially lower end of the arm longitudinal channel for supporting and guiding the free end of the conduit during use; the butt joint splicing device is arranged in the longitudinal channel so as to splice the free end of the pipeline which is being installed with the matched end of the pipeline; by rotating means is meant having a length and rotating about a horizontal axis which is substantially close to and parallel to the horizontal rotation mounting axis to match the length of pipe to be added and guide it through the longitudinal passage of the arm, against the free end of the pipe, the length of the rotating arm extending radially from the horizontal axis.

In the preferred embodiment shown herein, the lengths of pipeline delivered to the pipelaying vessel from an external source are pre-installed on a predetermined level, such as at the main deck level, in all longitudinal directions of the vessel. The pipelines with the lengths are horizontally spliced together end to end on the splicing platform to form a pipeline assembly; the plurality of pipe assemblies are stored at a location below the level of the splicing platform, which itself is below the level of the main platform. Advantageously, the individual lengths of pipe and spliced pipe assemblies are stored in place in the vessel so as to always be moved towards the front of the vessel each time it is required to move the pipe material.

At least a portion of the hollow pipelaying arm is installed in a well located in the center of the vessel. The boom is preferably inclined towards the front of the vessel and at an acute angle to the horizontal of the vessel's main deck. The boom is provided with a swivel arm which is capable of grasping the pipe assembly from a horizontal position substantially horizontal to the main deck and securing the pipe assembly in the hollow of the boom so that the free bottom end of the assembled pipe assembly abuts against the free end of the pipe, the pipe being secured within the boom during installation. The butt welding machine built in the hollow suspender completes the splicing between the assembled pipeline assembly and the tail end of the pipeline. The sheathing means located below the splice means may conveniently handle the splice to prevent corrosion of the splice joint in use. When the swivel arm picks up the additional pipe assembly, it can be conveniently rotated about a horizontal axis near where the hollow boom passes through the main deck surface. A mobile crane is also included that is capable of moving on the entire perimeter rail of the vessel at the level of the main deck to facilitate unloading and storage of the removed pipeline from the carrier.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal section of a pipelaying vessel using the present invention;

fig. 2 is a top view of the splice platform of the laying vessel.

Description of the embodiments

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is apparent that the embodiments described are only some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the pipelaying vessel 1 comprises a crane deck 17, a lower splice deck 18 and one or more loading decks 19 for loading, storing and processing individual pipes 5. The pipe assembly may be manufactured by splicing multiple pipe lengths end-to-end and produced and stored on a splicing platform as shown in fig. 2. Facilities provided on the splicing platform for such splicing purposes are not important to the pushing action of the present invention, and these splicing facilities can complete and inspect the end-to-end splice gap. The individual pipes 5 are preferably carried on board from a carrier (not shown) by means of a loading crane 10 which is moved on a crane deck 17 along the sides of the pipelaying vessel 1 on both sides of the centralised well 2. The conduit itself may be constructed of any suitable material that is satisfactory and acceptable for splicing. By means of a swinging free-load suspension and heavy marine follower equipment and a load turning device 20 for handling the pipeline 5.

With the aid of the pipe elevator 8, the pipes are horizontally rearranged into a piping 7 and an overhead piping 26 and transported by a crane; it is ready and spliced into the duct assembly 6 and then connected one at a time to the rotary arm 12, which rotary arm 12 brings it to the splice location 30. In order to facilitate handling and moving of the pipes and pipe assemblies on decks 17 to 19, as well as the pipes and pipe assemblies in the cabins below these decks, as well as the pipes and pipe assemblies in the longitudinal and transverse bulkheads 4, pipe storage areas 21 and 22 and rollers 23, trolleys 24 and conveyor belt 25 are advantageously provided. The pipe assembly 6 from the storage area 22 is mounted to the end of the existing pipe section 11 by means of the swivel arm 12 and is secured in place. The position of the pipe section 11 is mainly determined by the pipe section direction positioner 15, and the pipe section support 16 at the bottom of the boom 3 can relieve excessive mechanical stress on the pipe section 11. The boom 3 can be adjusted to the desired horizontal angle by means of one or more cables. The rotary arm 12 is similarly arranged.

Once the alignment of the pipe assembly 6 to be added to the pipe segment 11 is completed, the butt welding machine at the bottom of the boom 3 will be started to splice and connect the pipe segment 11 with the pipe assembly 6. The sheathing device 14 functions as a coating layer to protect the splice area from corrosion and other degradation after being placed under water. At the joint after splicing and application of the protective layer, the pipe section end 11 is held by a bracket 32, the pipe assembly 6 is held by the cable 27 of the collet chuck carriage 28, the collet chuck carriage 28 is controlled by the cable, and the control chamber 33 of the slave arm 3 is operable.

Claims (9)

1. An underwater pipeline laying vessel adapted for continuous operation, characterized by: the vessel has at least one deck comprising: a well formed substantially in the center of the vessel extending horizontally from the deck of the vessel to the bottom of the vessel; a hollow pipe laying arm mounted within said centre well and having a longitudinal passage therethrough, in use, for splicing said length of pipe to the free end of the pipe by splicing; the lower ends of the arms penetrate and extend beyond the bottom of the vessel; the rotary mounting device is used for mounting the arm support in the well and is provided with a horizontal rotary mounting shaft, and the arm support can perform controlled oscillating motion around the horizontal rotary mounting shaft; control means for controlling the oscillation position of the arm about the rotational mounting axis; guide support means disposed at a substantially lower end of the arm longitudinal channel for supporting and guiding the free end of the conduit during use; the butt joint splicing device is arranged in the longitudinal channel so as to splice the free end of the pipeline which is being installed with the matched end of the pipeline; by rotating means is meant having a length and rotating about a horizontal axis which is substantially close to and parallel to the horizontal rotation mounting axis to match the length of pipe to be added and guide it through the longitudinal passage of the arm, against the free end of the pipe, the length of the rotating arm extending radially from the horizontal axis.

2. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation according to claim 1, including a pipelaying apparatus including a mechanical gripper to assist in modular pipelaying docking.

3. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation according to claim 1 in which the pipelaying apparatus includes a sheath means arranged below the splicing arrangement for treating the surface of the spliced pipeline to provide said pipeline surface with corrosion resistant properties.

4. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation as claimed in claim 1, including pipeline storage and pipeline displacement means which will ensure that the direction of the shorter pipeline is always parallel to the length of the rotating arm means, so that during pipeline storage and pipeline displacement the direction of the shorter pipeline is always only unidirectional to improve pipelaying efficiency.

5. A submarine pipeline laying vessel according to claim 1, wherein the swivel mounting means and pipe-laying arms have means for handling pipeline assemblies, each of which is manufactured by means of end-to-end splicing.

6. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation as claimed in claim 1, the at least one deck being a crane deck including mobile loading cranes and pipeline storage racks located on either side of the centralised well, the mobile loading cranes being movable on either side of the centralised well.

7. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation according to claim 6, in which the vessel includes at least one additional second and third decks below the deck; the second deck is located below the crane deck, the second deck being a splice deck comprising facilities for splicing to manufacture a pipe assembly from at least two pipe lengths end-to-end.

8. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation as claimed in claim 1, the step of forming a pipeline assembly comprising splicing two or more pipelines on a splicing platform located below the main deck, and temporarily storing the spliced pipeline assembly in a fixed platform below the splicing platform; the method steps of assembly include picking up the pipe assembly from the boom forward area in a direction parallel to the length of the container.

9. An underwater pipelaying vessel adapted for continuous operation as claimed in claim 8 wherein the step of receiving a single length of pipeline includes the use of a loading crane movable on either side of the centralised well in a direction parallel to the length of the vessel, the crane having a load-reversing device capable of full rotation in a horizontal plane.