CZ202295A3 - A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body or an assembly of floating bodies, and an assembly of floating bodies equipped with this ballast system - Google Patents

Abstract

Ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) or a set of floating bodies (1), including at least two tanks (10, 10'), water pipes connecting these tanks (10, 10'), at least one pump (2) connected to the water pipe, and a control device connected to the pump (2) and/or to the water pipe for controlling the filling and emptying of the tanks (10, 10'). The water pipe includes at least one suction branch (3) with a mouth (4) in each tank (10, 10') and at least one filling branch (5) with a mouth (6) in each tank (10, 10'). The suction branch (3) is connected to the suction circuit of the pump (2) and the filling branch (5) is connected to the discharge circuit of the pump (2). The water pipe includes at least one supply pipe (7) and at least one drain pipe (8).

Description

A ballast system for controlling the draft and pitch of a floating body or an assembly of floating bodies and an assembly of floating bodies equipped with this ballast system

Field of technology

The invention relates to a ballast system, i.e. a system for controlling the draft and tilt of floating bodies, specifically pontoon blocks.

Current state of the art

Controlling the stability and position of floating bodies relative to the water level is one of the important aspects of maritime and river transport. For example, keeping the boat in a stable position was and is one of the priorities and laws of sailing and survival on the water. It is not only the very essence of ensuring the stability of people and cargo on board and below deck, but often also the ability of the ship to regulate its draft, i.e. the depth of immersion of the hull below the surface of the water.

A floating body is quite naturally exposed to the effects of water and weather. Waves, storms, strong winds and many other aspects of sailing cause destabilization of the ship and its heeling and can lead to the loss of people and cargo through overturning, or directly taking on water or capsizing the ship.

In the early days of shipping, the stability of ships was mainly determined by the shape of the hull, which determined the depth of the draft depending on the size, especially the weight of the cargo. The cargo was placed on the ship by weight so that its distribution was uniform. If necessary, it weighed up with unnecessary load that could be removed, e.g. to achieve a higher speed or after unloading the cargo.

With the development of technology, the trend of compartmentalized underdecks began to be introduced into the construction of ships and later submarines. The individual chambers could be hermetically closed and in the event of a hull puncture, the entire below deck could be prevented from flooding, as it used to be before and the ship sinking. Over time, the safety element began to develop into a functionally controlled element. The use of ballast systems in submarines is quite striking. The filling and emptying of the chambers of these bodies controls the tilt of the submarine and the depth of immersion. Overcoming buoyancy is a prerequisite for this vessel to function. Here, the ratio of water and air in the individual tanks is regulated, as is the case with document CN 111619775 A. The disadvantage of this system is primarily its complexity and the resulting high price.

The classic system of submersion and surfacing consists in regulating the alternating filling of ballast tanks with water and air. An example is the utility model CZ 17851 U1, where the submarine model has several ballast tanks, the interior of which is filled with gas, thereby changing the buoyancy and the resulting tilt and draft.

An example of the use of ballast balancing the stability of a floating body is patent document CZ 17851 U1. In this case, the ballast tanks, which are automatically filled with water using a system of water pipes and water pumps, are used to stabilize the submarine in the event of damage to any part of it, more precisely the gun turret. Each gun turret corresponds to a ballast tank arranged opposite. In case of damage to the tower and its flooding, the corresponding tank will also be flooded automatically by command of the control device, thus maintaining the horizontal stability of the vessel. The disadvantage of this solution is its only relative accuracy. An uncontrolled system is not able to react, for example, to whether the cannon was detached during damage, i.e. to what mass of the turret is still a load. Thanks to this, the accuracy of the stabilization, when the entire chamber is always flooded, is only relative.

This system surpasses the multifunctional floating dock according to document KR 102173166 B1. The controlled dive stabilization system is secured here by a group of ballast tanks filled alternately with air and water in different proportions. The system works autonomously based on a signal

- 1 CZ 2022 - 95 A3 from installed stability sensors. The disadvantage of this system is that it is only intended for horizontal stability control, not pitch control.

Another system for stabilizing the ship's tilt is the system according to document CN 111674521 A. In this technical solution, the lateral tilt of the ship is controlled by the transverse displacement of the balancing weight, which moves from the starboard side to the port side of the ship according to the need for stabilization along the cableway. The disadvantage of this solution is that it is only a stabilization in lateral tilt and also the speed of the reaction of the device is lower, because with fast movement there could be an effect of gravity force oscillation in the end positions, when the resulting force is the sum of movement and gravity force.

Other frequently used floating bodies include floating pontoon blocks connected to floating building structures, assembly or mining platforms, bridge units or floating rafts forming a set of floating bodies. None of the known ship systems described above can be applied to these floating bodies, because the bodies are not equipped with any technology for pumping water or air as standard. At the same time, they don't even have a hull in which to install this technology. Floating pontoon blocks of a common type do not need the function of a ballast system, but special pontoon structures, especially for construction and military purposes, are often used to move equipment with very different weights, or with uneven weight distribution. When this type of equipment hits the pontoons, the entire assembly tilts. This inclination is regulated by the size of the assembly and its anchoring to shores and auxiliary vessels, because in a critical case, the caused tilt can cause the assembly to overturn, or it to tear at the connecting nodes and drown the transported equipment. In order to eliminate this problem, it is desirable to create a ballast system for individual pontoon blocks, i.e. separate floating bodies, as well as for the entire assembly of pontoon blocks.

The task of the present invention is therefore to create such a ballast system, which would be suitable for controlling the stability of floating bodies, such as floating pontoon blocks. The ballast system should be able to control the immersion depth, lateral and longitudinal plane stability, but at the same time it should be able to allow the lateral tilt of the floating body at an adjustable angle to all four sides, i.e. forward, backward and sideways. The system should be able to function both as fully automatically controlled and semi-automatically or manually controlled. The price of the system should be low and the operation as simple as possible. The system should be able to work with water pumped directly from the water source and should be able to accept even its subtle pollution. The system should be installable both on a separate floating body and on a set of floating bodies, and the control of the system should be variably adaptable to this.

The essence of the invention

The shortcomings of currently known devices are overcome by the described ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of the floating body and the assembly of floating bodies equipped with this ballast system. The ballast system for controlling the draft and pitch of the floating body includes at least two tanks, a water pipe connecting these tanks and at least one pump connected to the water pipe. At the same time, the ballast system also includes a control device connected to the pump and/or to the water pipe for controlling the filling and emptying of the tanks. The water pipe then consists of at least one suction branch, the mouth of which is arranged on the lower part of each tank, and at least one filling branch, the mouth of which is arranged on the upper part of each tank. The suction branch is connected to the suction circuit of the pump and the filling branch is connected to the discharge circuit of the pump. The water pipe further includes at least one supply pipe connected to the pump suction circuit and at least one drain pipe connected to the pump discharge circuit. It is the inlet and outlet pipes that perform the function of adding or subtracting the amount of water in the ballast system by allowing water to be pumped from the water tank or stream into the tanks, and vice versa to pump excess water from the tanks away from the ballast system back into the water tank or stream. The control device consists of at least one switch for switching on and off the pump's working function and control flaps installed on the water pipe.

- 2 CZ 2022 - 95 A3

In an advantageous embodiment, the pump is located outside the floating body. In the same way, the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe are arranged outside the floating body. The mouth of the inlet pipe is arranged below the line of minimum draft of the floating body.

In another advantageous embodiment, the pump is a sludge pump, i.e. a pump adapted for pumping polluted water, when the permitted size of impurities for this type of pump does not exceed 0.3 mm.

In another advantageous embodiment, each suction branch and each supply pipe are connected to a common suction node connected to the inlet of the pump suction circuit.

In the following advantageous embodiment, each filling branch and each drain pipe are connected to a common discharge node connected to the outlet of the pump discharge circuit.

In yet another advantageous embodiment, the control flaps are arranged at least one on each suction branch, filling branch, inlet pipe and drain pipe.

In another advantageous embodiment, the control flap has an automatic, and/or semi-automatic and/or manual control operating on the principle of electric and/or pneumatic and/or hydraulic and/or mechanical control force.

In another advantageous embodiment, the supply pipe is equipped with a solid particle filter for the reduction of large impurities sucked from the water source into the water pipe. The reason is to prevent the destruction of the pump when a large amount of dirt is sucked in from the water source.

In the following advantageous embodiment, a single floating body is arranged in such a way that it forms an integral unit consisting of four internal tanks of the same size, which completely fill the internal space of this floating body.

In yet another advantageous embodiment, at least one mouth of the suction branch and at least one mouth of the filling branch are located in each tank of the floating body, which ensure the suction or, conversely, the inflow of water into the individual tanks, while the source or recipient of the water is another tank or water source.

The assembly of floating bodies comprises at least two floating bodies separately connected into one assembly of floating bodies, each floating body being provided with the same ballast system that is described in some of the previous embodiments.

In an advantageous embodiment, each separately connected floating body is provided with its own water pipe and its own pump.

In another advantageous embodiment, the ballast systems of individual separately connected floating bodies have a common electronically controllable synchronization unit, which serves for synchronized control of the draft and tilt of the entire connected set of floating bodies.

In another advantageous embodiment, each separately connected floating body is provided with its own water pipe and the assembly of separately connected floating bodies is provided with one common pump.

The main advantage of this invention is that the classic pontoon blocks representing a floating body, which previously contained a tank ensuring only stable navigation without control of pitch or draft, are now controllable. The ballast system enables operational and smooth control of the tilt of the floating body and assembly of floating bodies and their draft, while for this regulation it uses a water pipe with a pump that directs and regulates the amount of water in the individual tanks. A control system based on controlling the flow through the water pipeline through controllable control flaps ensures the accuracy and synchronization of the entire process of changing the depth of immersion or changing

- 3 CZ 2022 - 95 A3 tilt, while control of the ballast system can be carried out either manually, semi-automatically or automatically. The ballast system does not require its own water tank, but for water management it uses water from the water reservoir on which the floating body is placed.

Clarification of drawings

The invention will be further explained with the help of the attached drawings, in which it shows:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a cross section of a floating body with four internal tanks equipped with a ballast system in the design of a single common water pipe consisting of a single suction branch, a single filling branch and one inlet and outlet pipe, while in each tank there is exactly one mouth of the filling branch and one mouth of the suction branch. The water pipeline is equipped with a pair of synchronously working pumps and control flaps.

fig. 2 top view of a floating body with four internal tanks equipped with a ballast system in the design of a single common water pipe consisting of a single suction branch, a single filling branch and one inlet and outlet pipe, while in each tank there is exactly one mouth of the filling branch and one mouth suction branches. The water pipeline is equipped with a pair of synchronously operating pumps and a connecting pipe for connecting the ballast systems of several floating bodies. The water pipe is equipped with 12 separate control flaps at the same time.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a floating body with four internal tanks equipped with a ballast system in the design of a single common water pipe consisting of a single suction branch, a single filling branch and one inlet and outlet pipe, while in each tank there is exactly one mouth of the filling branch and one mouth suction branches. The water pipeline is equipped with a pair of synchronously operating pumps and a connecting pipe for connecting the ballast systems of several floating bodies.

Fig. 4 is a frontal view of a section of the floating body according to Fig. 1 with an illustration of the longitudinal tilt control mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the section of the floating body according to Fig. 2, showing the lateral tilt control mechanism.

Fig. 6 assembly of two floating bodies, where each floating body is equipped with its own water pipe and its own pump.

Examples of implementation of the invention

It is to be understood that the specific embodiments of the invention described and shown below are presented for illustration, not as a limitation of the embodiments of the invention to the examples shown. Those skilled in the art will find or be able to find, using routine experimentation, a greater or lesser number of equivalents to the described embodiments of the invention.

According to Fig. 1 to 5, the ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of the floating body 1 includes at least two tanks 10, 10', a water pipe connecting these tanks 10, 10' and at least one pump 2 connected to the water pipe. At the same time, the ballast system is equipped with a control device for controlling the processes of filling and emptying the tanks 10, 10' connected to the pump 2 and/or to the water pipe. The floating body 1 here represents one pontoon block used for the construction of larger floating platforms, bridges, footbridges, boat moorings, breakwaters, rafts or ferries.

- 4 CZ 2022 - 95 A3

The water pipe includes at least one suction branch 3, whose mouth 4 is arranged in the lower part of each tank 10, 10', and at least one filling branch 5, whose mouth 6 is arranged in the upper part of each tank 10, 10'. The suction branch 3 is connected to the suction circuit of the pump 2 and the filling branch 5 is connected to the discharge circuit of the pump 2. The water pipe is connected to the water, i.e. the water source on which the floating body 1 is located, for pumping the necessary water into the tanks 10, 10 ' or vice versa for draining excess water from these tanks 10, 10' into the water source. For this purpose, the water pipe is supplemented with at least one supply pipe 7 connected to the suction circuit of pump 2 and at least one drain pipe 8 connected to the discharge circuit of pump 2. The control device here consists of at least one switch for switching on and off the working function of pump 2 and control valves 9 installed on the water pipe.

From physical principles, it is sufficient to control the draft of any floating body 1 if this floating body 1 contains at least one tank 10, 10'. By filling or releasing water or air or another medium well known to the expert, the weight of the floating body 1 is then controlled, which changes its draft due to its constant volume. In order to control the draft and at least the longitudinal or lateral tilt, according to the not shown example of the implementation of the invention, it is necessary for the floating body 1 to have at least two tanks 10, 10', where the draft is the result of the total weight of the floating body 1 in relation to its volume and the tilt is given by the difference in content of filling medium in its tanks 10, 10'. According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 1 to 5, for the ideal control of the draft and simultaneous longitudinal and lateral inclination, it is suitable for the floating body 1 to have at least four tanks 10, 10', 10'', 10'', which in ideally, they have the same size and volume and thus evenly divide the internal space of the floating body 1 between them.

According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 1 to 5, the pump 2 is located outside the floating body 1. Similarly, the supply pipe 7 and the drain pipe 8 are arranged outside the floating body 1. The mouth 14 of the supply pipe 7 is arranged in this example of the arrangement of the invention below the line of minimum draft of the floating body 1.

According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 1 to 5, the pump 2 can be formed by a single pumping unit or a group of interconnected and synchronously operating pumping units. In order to use pump 2 for pumping water directly from a water source of polluted water, it is suitable for pump 2 to be in the design of pump 2 sludge. Sludge pump 2 is adapted for pumping polluted water. According to a specific example of the implementation of the invention, the used sludge pump 2 is capable of working with polluted water with a size of impurities not exceeding 0.3 mm. In order to eliminate the possibility of sucking in larger impurities, according to another, this time not shown example of the implementation of the invention, the supply pipe 7 is provided with a solid particle filter.

According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 1, 2 and 4, each suction branch 3 and each supply pipe 7 are mouthed into a common suction node 11 connected to the inlet of the suction circuit of the pump 2.

According to the same embodiment of the invention, each filling branch 5 and each drain pipe 8 are connected to a common discharge node 12 connected to the outlet of the discharge circuit of the pump 2. Thanks to this arrangement of the water pipe, according to the previous two examples of the invention, the pump 2 performs its operation without influence of where the water is pumped from. The direction of the water flow is thus controlled only by the control flaps 9 by their opening and closing.

To ensure sufficient directivity of the water flow in the water pipe, according to the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1 to 5, control valves 9 are arranged at least one on each suction branch 3, filling branch 5, supply pipe 7 and drain pipe 8.

According to one non-illustrated embodiment of the invention, the control valve 9 has an automatic and/or semi-automatic and/or manual control operating on the principle of electric and/or pneumatic and/or hydraulic and/or mechanical control force. Synchronization of the opening control

- 5 CZ 2022 - 95 A3 and closing the control flaps 9 is a necessary prerequisite for the smoothness of the process of controlling the draft and tilt of floating bodies.

According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 1 to 5, the single floating body 1 is arranged in such a way that it forms an integral unit consisting of four internal tanks 10, 10', 10'', 10'' of the same size, which completely fill the internal space of this floating body 1.

According to the same embodiment of the invention, at least one mouth 4 of the suction branch 3 and at least one mouth 6 of the filling branch 5 are located in each tank 10, 10', 10, 10' of this floating body, which ensure the suction or, conversely, the inflow of water into the individual tanks 10, 10', 10'', 10''', where the source or receiver of water is another reservoir 10, 10', 10'', 10''' or water source.

According to Fig. 6, the assembly 15 of floating bodies 1, 1' contains at least two floating bodies 1, 1' separately connected to one assembly 15 of floating bodies 1, 1', while each floating body 1, 1' is equipped with the same ballast system, which is described in some of the previous embodiments.

According to the example of the implementation of the invention, shown in Fig. 6, each separately connected floating body 1, 1' of the set of 15 floating bodies 1, 1' is provided with its own water pipe and its own pump 2.

According to a non-illustrated example of the implementation of the invention, the ballast systems of individual separately connected floating bodies 1, 1' of the assembly 15 have a common electronically controlled synchronization unit, which serves for synchronized control of the draft and tilt of the entire connected assembly 15 of floating bodies 1, H

According to another non-illustrated embodiment of the invention, each separately connected floating body 1, 1' of the assembly 15 is provided with its own water pipe, and the assembly 15 of separately connected floating bodies 1, 1' is provided with one common pump 2.

Industrial applicability

The ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of floating bodies is used in the construction of floating pontoon blocks forming the basic construction element of floating pontoon blocks connected to floating construction structures, assembly or extraction platforms, bridge units or floating rafts.

Claims (10)

1. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) or an assembly (15) of floating bodies (1), including at least two tanks (10, 10'), water pipes connecting these tanks (10, 10'), at least one a pump (2) connected to a water pipe and a control device connected to the pump (2) and/or to the water pipe for controlling the filling and emptying of the tanks (10, 10'), characterized in that the water pipe includes at least one suction branch (3 ), whose mouth (4) is arranged in the lower part of each tank (10, 10') and at least one filling branch (5) whose mouth (6) is arranged in the upper part of each tank (10, 10'), while the suction the branch (3) is connected to the suction circuit of the pump (2) and the filling branch (5) is connected to the discharge circuit of the pump (2), the water pipe also includes at least one supply pipe (7) connected to the suction circuit of the pump (2) and at least one drain pipe (8) connected to the discharge circuit of the pump (2) and the control device consists of at least one switch for switching on and off the working function of the pump (2) and control flaps (9) installed on the water pipe. 2. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the pump (2) is located outside the floating body (1), that the inlet pipe (7) and the outlet pipe (8) are arranged outside the floating body (1), and that the mouth (14) of the supply pipe (7) is arranged below the line of minimum draft of the floating body (1). 3. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the pump (2) is a mud pump, adapted to work with polluted water with impurities up to 0.3 mm in size. 4. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each suction branch (3) and each supply pipe (7) are connected to a common suction node (11) connected to the inlet of the pump suction circuit (2). 5. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each filling branch (5) and each drain pipe (8) are connected to a common discharge node (12) connected to the outlet of the pump discharge circuit (2). 6. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the control flaps (9) are arranged at least one on each suction branch (3), filling branch (5) , supply pipe (7) and drain pipe (8). - 7 CZ 2022 - 95 A3 11. An assembly (15) of floating bodies (1, 1') equipped with a ballast system according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it includes at least two separately connected floating bodies (1, 1'). 12. Assembly (15) of floating bodies (1, 1') according to claim 11, characterized in that each separately connected floating body (1, 1') is provided with its own water pipe and its own pump (2). 13. The assembly (15) of floating bodies (1, 1') according to claim 12, characterized in that the ballast systems of individual separately connected floating bodies (1, 1') have a common electronically controlled synchronization unit for synchronized control of draft and pitch, all connected assemblies of floating bodies (1, 1'). 7. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the control flaps (9) have automatic, and/or semi-automatic and/or manual control and the control power source is electric and/or pneumatic and/or hydraulic and/or mechanical. 8. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the supply pipe (7) is equipped with a solid particle filter for reducing large impurities sucked from the water source into the water pipe. 9. A ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the floating body (1) forms an integral unit consisting of four tanks of the same size (10, 10', 10'' , 10''') forming a complete filling of the inner space of this floating body (1). 10. Ballast system for controlling the draft and tilt of a floating body (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that at least one mouth (4) of the suction branch (3) is located in each tank (10) of the floating body (1) ) and at least one mouth (6) of the filling branch (5). 10 14. Assembly (15) of floating bodies (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that each separately connected floating body (1, 1') is provided with its own water pipe and the assembly of floating bodies (1, 1') is provided with one common pump (2).