FR2507994A1 - DEVICE FOR QUICK MOORING A FLOATING INSTALLATION TO AN ANCREATED MARINE INSTALLATION - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A DEVICE FOR QUICK MOORING AND LAUNCHING OF A VESSEL THAT CAN AVOID AROUND AN ANCHORED BUOY OR OSCILLATING COLUMN. IT INCLUDES A RIGID ARM 5 ARTICULATED ON THE BOW OF A SHIP 1 AND CARRYING A STRUCTURAL RING 9 EQUIPPED WITH TIRE WHEELS 15 TO 15J AND 16 TO 16J. DURING THE AVOIDANCE, THE WHEELS MOVE AROUND THE BICONIC COLLAR 17 STYLING THE BUOY 2 BY Leaning on the two truncated walls 18 and 19 which constitute it. MOORING OR LAUNCHING OF THE BUOY IS AUTHORIZED BY THE REMOTE CONTROL OF THE SIMULTANEOUS RADIAL RELEASE OF THE LOWER WHEELS 16 TO 16J ALLOWING EITHER THE LOWERING OF ARM 5 AND THE LOCKING OF THE UPPER WHEELS, WHICH PRECEDES LOCKING IN THE WORKING POSITION OF THE WHEELS LOWER, EITHER LIFTING THE ARM BY MEANS OF A WINCH 23 INSTALLED ON THE VESSEL. THE INVENTION APPLIES PARTICULARLY TO THE INTERMITTENT ANCHORING OF TEMPORARY OIL PRODUCTION VESSELS ON BUOYS OR OSCILLATING COLUMNS PREVIOUSLY ANCHORED AND CONNECTED TO SUBWELL HEADS.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for fast docking of a

  floating installation at a marine installation with a sensitive position

  fixed relative to the bottom of the water and at which the floating installation

  is connected via a rigid arm.

  The floating installation can be a ship and the marine facility a mooring buoy anchored at a distance from the coast The marine facility can be also a tower, a dolphin, an oscillating column, a trunk, a tank , etc. It can also be a buoy for loading and / or unloading the cargo of a vessel, an installation from which are carried out or controlled operations such as drilling of seabed, recovery of petroleum products, etc. The floating installation can also be a thermal energy recovery plant

  of seas or a floating plant for the treatment and storage of

tankers.

  Mooring systems of a ship are already known on a

  such as a floating trunk or an oscillating column, using arms

  Such systems are described, for example, in the French patent.

  1403493 and in United States Patents 3354479 and 3908212 In these systems, the mooring structure is capped by a rigid arm secured to the ship and extending it beyond the bow.

  at which it is articulated in pitch.

  the arm and the ship around the vertical axis of the structure, the connection between the arm and the mooring structure is made using a pivot, to

  Sou roller ball bearing, called rotary table or crown of

tation.

  Such devices have the major disadvantage of not allowing the docking and quick release of the vessel on a body of water agitated by the

  own means of this ship Indeed the assembly between the prolonged arm

  the vessel and the marine installation using a turntable

  usually heavy lifting means external to the ship such as floating cranes and the required positioning accuracy can be obtained only on a very calm water level. Generally this assembly is carried out in a shipyard on an immobile body of water. and the assembly formed by the buoy, the arm and the ship is towed to the site of use where the anchorage is carried out.

  such a set are very delicate, require the support of several

  The use of the device according to the invention, which makes possible a quick docking at sea of the ship on the buoy or the oscillating column makes it possible to split the setting place of installation in two phases: the first-being a conventional buoy anchoring operation

  or setting up an oscillating column, the second is a radial operation

  The method of use of the device according to the invention also allows rapid decoupling between ship and buoy by leaving it in place.

  possibility, new compared to currently known devices, pre-

  is of great interest for the use of such floating installations moored to marine

  submarine oil, in parts of the world where the sea is relatively

  calm throughout the year (Gulf of Mexico Indonesia) but o

  Occasionally an extremely severe disturbance occurs (cy-

  clone for example) Such occasional disturbances exert on installations which must remain in place, as it is the case with the current technique, solicitations incommensurate with those which

  are generated by the usual oceanological conditions.

  in this case, to interrupt the operation for a moment by releasing the

  ship and leaving on the site only the buoy alone which represents the

  In general, it is a hundred times smaller than this. It is also excessively profitable to do this repair work on the ship carrying the oil processing equipment to be able to convey it.

  alone to a shipyard rather than bringing

  ship, arms and buoy after raising the anchor lines and

  connecting pipes with the bottom.

  The main object of the invention is to provide a new device

  turning a ship into a marine installation

  jettie at at least one fixed point from the seabed using a rigid arm which allows the mooring and rapid release of the vessel on the high seas without

  other means than those carried by this vessel.

  The features and advantages of the invention will be better understood at

  reading of the description which follows of an example of realization and in

  referring to the attached drawings, in which

  FIG. 1 is a view from above of an embodiment of the device

  According to the invention, certain details are shown in section along a horizontal plane. FIG. 2 is an elevational view and partially in section along line I of FIG. 1 of this embodiment.

  FIG 3 is a sectional view along line II of FIG 1.

  FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show an exemplary embodiment of the device

  tif mooring and release according to the invention o a floating installation

  1, such as a ship, is moored around a marine installation 2, such as

  the floating buoy, subject to the seabed by lines of

  funicular cage 3, 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, the level of the sea being schematized by

line 4.

  The device comprises a rigid arm 5 in the form of a cross which is composed

  two forks 6 and 7 The two branches 6a and 6b of the fork 6 take

  clamp the end of the floating installation 1 with which the arm is articulated along a substantially horizontal axis with the bearings 8 and

  The two branches 7a and 7b of the fork 7 take a pinch

  toric structural ring 9, preferably made of bent steel tube, with which the arm is articulated along a substantially horizontal axis to

using bearings 10 and Oa.

  The two forks 6 and 7 constitute two sections of the rigid arm in extension of one another, connected so as to allow the coaxial rotation of one of the sections relative to the other, by two coaxial bearings 11 and 12 , and two stops 13 and 14 taking the tensile forces

  and compression applied to the rigid arm by the movements of the

  floating installation compared to the marine installation.

  the toric structural ring 9 supports two sets of tire wheels 15 and 16 to 16 j which cooperate with a biconical circular structure 17 which cap buoy 2 This circular structure 17 consists of two superimposed tron-conical walls 18 and 19 opposed by their base

  to form a projecting circular ridge 20.

  The toric structural ring 9 is positioned around the biconical structure 17, in the plane of the edge 20 so that the wheels 15 to j, distributed around its periphery, but more particularly disposed outwards and towards the outside. inside the arm to recover the efforts due to the

  approaching and moving away from the buoy,

  normally apply to the upper conical wall 18

  wheels 16 to 16 j mounted in the lower part of the structural ring and re-

  parts in the same way that the wheels 15 to 15 j come to apply

  maliciously on the lower conical wall 19.

  The wheels 16 to 16 j are connected to the structural ring 9 by means of eccentric axles 21 whose rotation advantageously controlled by

  a hydraulic actuator 22 has the effect of moving them away or bringing them closer together.

  expensive wall 19 We see in Figure 3 that the wheel 16 is in the position

  16 p, applied against the wall 19 with prestressing, which produces a scratch

  the tire while in position 16 r it is

  FIG. 19 shows that, when the wheels 16 to 16 j are in the close position 16, a lock is obtained for the attachment of the arm on the wall 19 to the outside of the biconical structure 17. buoy 2 On the other hand their distance to the position 16 r auto-

  raise or lower the arm 5.

  FIG. 2 also shows the rigid arm 5 in the 5 r position and the

  9 in position 9 r, positions they occupy either before docking the ship 1 on the buoy 2, or after dropping the buoy. The maneuver that allows to move up or down the arm between these

  two positions 5 and 5 r is controlled by the winch 23 which winds up or

  rolls the cable 24 extended by a crowbar whose two strands 25 and 25a are fixed on the two branches 7a and 7b of the front fork 7 of the arm via the fittings 26 and 26a To reduce the traction component on this cable due to the mass of the arm, the winch is mounted on a

  raised structure 27 installed on the front deck 28 of the ship 1.

  To facilitate the docking operations of the tires of the wheels 15 to 15 j on the conical wall 18 of the circular structure 17, the structural ring 9 is maintained in a substantially horizontal position during the operations of lowering and raising the arm 5 by lowering of its center of gravity thanks to the weights 29 and 29 suspended at the end of the arms 30 and 30a fixed on its articulation hubs 31 and 31a, weights which

  give the ring 9 a pendulum stability.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the embodiment detail of the mechanisms

  The wheel 15, shown here equipped with plain bearings 32 and 33, can rotate around the rocket 34 which extends the axle 35 whose axis is offset relative to the axis 15. to the axis of said rocket to form an eccentric such that the rotation of the axle 35 in one direction allows to move said wheel from the conical wall 18 constituting its raceway, while the rotation in the other meaning makes it possible to apply it again against

  This arrangement gives the possibility, while the link between

  the buoy and the ship is established, to replace a damaged wheel during a period when the sea state allows it The set of wheels 15 to 15 j being in working position resting on their raceway formed by the wall 18, the described mechanism allows to move away one of them to perform its removal and replacement It goes without saying that it

  the same applies to the wheels 16 to 16, each of whose axles

  Z which mainly serve to lock the ring 9 of the arm 5 on the biconical structure 17 of the buoy 2, can also be used to move only one of them from its raceway to perform

its removal and replacement.

  The rotational control of the axle 35 can advantageously be effected

  killed by the operation of the worm 36 implanted like this inside the housing 37 fixed on the structure of the ring 9 by the studs 38 etc. This worm actuates the toothed wheel 39 which is secured to

the axle 35.

  The operation of the worm 36 can be performed manually or

  by an electric or hydraulic motor not shown.

  Moreover, each of the chambers 40 of the tires 41 equipping the

  15 is connected by means of the pipes 42, 43 and the coupling

  glove 44 to a common control unit 45 for generating and adjusting the pressure

  in order to adjust it to the charges that are applied to these

  pneumatic tires depending on the state of the sea.

  The operation of the system thus described is easy to understand.

  Buoy 2 having been previously anchored on the site, the vessel 1 is pre-

  The ship is equipped with its rigid link arm 5 which is suspended in position 5 r by the cable 24 The ship

  maneuver to present the structural ring 9, carried by the arm,

  above the buoy 2 The wheels 16 to 16 j mounted in the lower part of

  ring 9 were previously placed in position 16 through the

  rotation of the hydraulic actuators 22, such that they circumscribe a circle greater than the circle of the edge 20 of the two conical walls 18 and 19 of the structure 17 covering the buoy Thus the rigid arm can be lowered by the winch 23 from position 5a to position 5

  until the wheels 15-15 are in contact with the upper conical wall 18.

  At this moment the wheels 16 to 16 j are in front of the wall 19 above

  under the edge 20 and one can perform the locking of the ring 9 on

  the structure 17 by the control of the hydraulic actuators 22 which,

  dragging in rotation the eccentric axles 21, come to apply those

  against this wall with compression of their tires.

  During this downward movement of the arm 5, the structural ring 9 carrying the tires has been maintained in a substantially horizontal position thanks to the weights 29 and 29a which give it a pendular stability and ensures by calm sea an almost simultaneous contact of the tires. wheels 15 to

  j on the wall 18 which receives them however the resilience of these pneumatics

  The conical shape of the receiving structure makes it possible to carry out this anchoring operation in good conditions even if the buoy 1 and the ship 2, subjected to the swell, are moved slightly with respect to one another. other, and if the structural ring 9 is not precisely positioned in the axis of the buoy at the moment of impact After docking of the upper wheels 15 to 15 j and locking in the working position of the

  lower wheels 16 to 16 days by remote control from the ship, the

  The buoy of the vessel 1 on the buoy 2 is completed Therefore, under the combined effects of wind, current and waves, the ship 1 undergoes efforts that tend to move away from the buoy 2 These traction forces are transmitted to the buoy by pressing on its conical walls 18 and 19 of the wheels 15 to f and 16 to 16 f located in the front zone of the ring 9 with compression of the tires which crash more especially than the effort to which they are subjected is high By against the wheels 15 g to 15 d and 16 g to 16 d located in

  the rear zone of the ring 9 are unloaded and their poeumatiques, pre-

  constrained at the moment of mooring, tend to return to their

  without losing contact with the conical walls 18 and 19. When, under the effect of the orbital movements of the swell, the ship 1 is subjected to a movement of caval, the movement of the latter in the direction of the buoy 2 leads the loading of the wheels

  g at 15 d and 16 g at 16 d located in the rear zone of ring 9 with

  pressure of the tires which crash in proportion to the load they receive In the same way the wheels 15 to 15 f and 18 to 18 f located

  in the front zone of the ring are unloaded and their tires

  to resume their circular shape, losing their initial prestressing

  however, even for extreme loads, lose contact

with the conical walls 18 and 19.

  When the directions of the wind and the current change, the ship 1 avoids around the axis of the buoy 2 and takes a new position The wheels,

  driven in rotation, walk on the two conical walls 18 and 19.

  The mooring as performed by the device according to the invention also makes it possible to dissociate the heave and pitching movements of the buoy 2 from those of the ship 1 thanks to the two extreme joints of the arm 5 materialized by the bearings 8 and 8 has liaison with the ship 1 and the

  bearings 10 and the link with the structural ring 9 carrying the wheels.

  Similarly, this device makes it possible to dissociate the roll movements of the ship from those of the buoy by virtue of the articulation of the two forks 6 and 7 which make up the arm 5, materialized by the bearings 11 and 12 and the stops

  13 and 14 which are arranged along the longitudinal axis of this arm.

  When the ship 1 must leave her anchorage on the buoy 2, the

  remote control of the hydraulic actuators 22, produces the radial clearance

  simultaneous dial of the lower wheels 16 to 16 j, which allows the raising of the arm from position 5 to the position 5 r The tires of the wheels 15 to j leave their raceway, the ring 9 is cleared and the ship

1 is released.

  The advantages of the present invention result essentially from the possibility of quickly mooring a ship on an already anchored buoy and

  to liberate it at will, by statistically moderate moderate sea

  quent. The device according to the invention also makes it possible to ensure periodic and preventive maintenance of the arm-buoy link members at the level of the wheels and their bearings, without having to interrupt this connection, by depositing a wheel in the same condition as the has seen above, the other wheels remaining in working position, and replacing it with another wheel

in state.

  The quick docking and unloading device of a ship shall apply

  specifically for the production of temporary oil production facilities from an underwater field, where the anchored buoy supports the flexible 46 to 46-g linkages between the underwater headheads and the surface and o the vessel is an equipped tank ship

  installation of this production.

  For this purpose, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the transfer of production to the vessel 1 can be performed using the rotating joint

  47, of the rigid pipe 48 supported by the cables 49 and 50 to form

  sea a rotating arm, and flexible pipes 51, 52, and 53 which allow

  attempt to maintain the continuity of the transfer line despite the relative movements of the buoy, the two forks 6 and 7 of the rigid arm

5, and ship 1.

  We have described above an example of realization that seemed to us

  the most judicious of the quick-docking device according to the invention.

  vention also applies to any other embodiment using elastic bandage wheels carried by a rigid arm extending the ship / equi cooperate with a biconical structure covering the installation

  anchored navy, and in particular to another embodiment where the structure

  biconical structure instead of being composed of two conical walls opposed by the base to form a flange are two conical walls opposite the top to form a groove in which the ring -porting them

wheels comes to imprison.

Claims (7)

  1 Mooring and dumping device for a floating installation that can be avoided around a marine installation subject to at least one   fixed point at the bottom of the sea to which the floating installation is   connected by means of a rigid arm, characterized in that one of the ends of said arm is connected to the floating installation by a hinge whose axis is substantially horizontal to allow the descent or the said   arm lift and the other end of which carries a balanced structural ring   guide means, which cooperate during the course of   floatation system with a circular structure which covers the installation   rine, said circular structure being constituted by two conical walls forming a flange, and characterized in that means for erasing   temporary guide means carried by the structural ring allow-   try either the docking and the retention of said ring on said flange after the descent of the rigid arm for docking, or the release   of the said hose to allow the lifting of the rigid arm during the pledge of the buoy.   2 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide means carried Dar structural ring ending the rigid arm are constituted by two wheel sets equipped with tires, the axes of the wheels of each of the trains being arranged so that the   said wheels normally apply against the conical walls on the   which they walk during the evasion of the floating installation.   3 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide means carried by the structural ring terminating the rigid arm   consist of two sets of wheels equipped with solid elastic bandages.   the axes of the wheels of each of the trains being disposed of   so that the said wheels apolate normally against the conical walls   on which they travel during the evasion of the floating installation. 4 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the temporary erasing means of the guide means are of interest to the wheel train intended to c Seminer on the lower conical wall of the collar covering the marine installation, said wheels being mounted on eccentric axles whose remote control in rotation allows   simultaneous radial clearance of said wheels out of the year   structural water that carries them. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that each   only guide wheels intended to run on the upper conical wall   The top of the collar covering the marine installation is fixed on the structural ring by means of an eccentric axle whose local control in rotation in one direction allows, when the connection between the installation   marine and floating installation is established, to move the corresponding wheel away from   of the conical wall which constitutes its raceway while the other wheels remain in the working position, and whose control in   rotation in the opposite direction makes it possible to apply the said wheel on its min running.   6. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the end   mity of the rigid arm connectable to the marine installation is spread out in fork whose two branches carry the structural ring to which they are   connected by a joint whose axis is narallel to the plane of the ring.   Device according to claims 1 or 6, characterized in that   the rigid arm is constituted by two sections extending one from the other and rotatable relative to each other, the connection of said sections being provided by at least two coaxial bearings and two abutments taking the efforts of compression and traction applied to said arm by the relative movements of the marine installation and the floating installation.   8 Device according to claim 6 characterized in that the   articulated structural skin at the end of the rigid arm is equipped with at least one ballast lowering its center of gravity relative to its axis of articulation, so that during the descent and lifting maneuvers of the   said arm, the structural ring has a pendulum stability which makes it   shovel substantially horizontally.   9 Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the chambers of the tires are connected by means of pipes and rotary connections to a common pressurizing and   adjustment in order to adjust the pressure of said tires to the   applied to them according to the state of the sea.