KR101358121B1 - Apparatus for laying a marine pipeline and system having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for laying a subsea pipeline and a laying system including the same are disclosed. The subsea pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is a structure that is located behind the pipe laying line, and the lamp is provided on the structure to guide the acquisition of the pipeline and to form a pipeline support path associated with the stinger of the pipe laying line It may include.

Description

Submarine pipeline laying apparatus and laying system including same {APPARATUS FOR LAYING A MARINE PIPELINE AND SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a subsea pipeline laying apparatus, and more particularly, to a pipeline laying apparatus for supporting a pipeline placed in the water in the rear of the pipe laying vessel and a laying system including the same.

S-laying and J-laying are known as methods for laying pipelines on the seabed. The S-type method is a method of laying down the pipeline from the Pipe Laying Vessel to the S-shaped bottom. The J-fitting method is a method of laying pipelines down from the pipe line to the J-bottom.

In the S-type laying method, pipelines are formed by welding, non-destructive inspection and coating work in various working areas on the pipe laying line. The pipeline is then moved to the rear of the pipe laying vessel and laid down underwater while supported by a stinger. Pipeline The stinger at the end of the line supports the pipeline that enters into the water with a safe curvature.

The S - type piping method has a faster pipeline lay - up speed than the J - type piping method because it can perform piping work in various work areas of pipe pipelines. However, this method is preferred when pipelines are laid at shallow depths because it is difficult to apply pipelines to deep sea waters. This is because the deeper the water, the greater the weight of the pipeline, and the greater the load on the stinger.

U. S. Patent No. 3,559, 413 has proposed a technique for separately installing a float in the rear of a pipe laying vessel and lowering a cable connected to the float to support underwater pipelines.

However, the technique of supporting the pipeline by lowering the cable connected to the floating body in water may be difficult to stably support the pipeline because the support portions connected to the plurality of cables are arranged at predetermined intervals.

In addition, when the weather is worsening during pipeline laying, the pipeline laying work is suspended, and afterwards, the preceding work is carried out to resume laying the pipeline, which is called Abandonment & Recovery (hereinafter referred to as A & R). This is called. In other words, when the laying of the pipeline is stopped, the end of the pipeline is fixed to the wire and the abandonment of laying the pipeline on the sea floor is carried out by using the winch provided in the laying line. When restarting the laying work, use winch again to recover the pipeline to the end of the pipeline. In the conventional A & R work, a series of work processes are complicated, and in the case of deep sea work, a large amount of winches are required.

Patent Document 1: US Patent No. 3,559,413 (August 02, 1971)

An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a pipeline laying apparatus and a laying system including the same to enable the laying of deep sea pipeline by stably supporting the pipeline falling into the water.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a pipeline laying apparatus and an laying system including the same that can easily perform A & R work without using a winch.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a structure located at the rear of the pipe laying vessel, a lamp provided in the structure to guide the acquisition of the pipeline and forming a pipeline support path associated with the stinger of the pipe laying vessel, and on the lamp It may include a detachable unit for fixing or releasing the pipeline to the structure.

The lamp may be inclined downward along the central axis of the structure.

The lamp may include a connection portion coupled with the stinger.

The structure may include a fixing unit for fixing the structure to the pipe laying vessel.

Ballast tanks provided on the structure to provide buoyancy, and buoyancy control unit for adjusting the buoyancy of the structure so that the structure sinks or rises to the sea floor.

The buoyancy control unit may further include an outside air supply line for supplying outside air to the ballast tank when the water of the ballast tank is discharged to the outside.

One end of the outside air supply line may be in communication with the ballast tank and the other end may be connected to the buoy at sea.

The buoyancy control unit may raise and lower the structure by providing a neutral buoyancy to the structure.

The structure may further include a control unit for controlling the buoyancy control unit to be located between the pipe support position and the abandoned position.

The apparatus may further include a receiver configured to receive an external control signal, and the controller may control the buoyancy control unit according to the control signal input to the receiver.

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According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pipe laying vessel formed with a stinger for guiding the pipeline, and a structure positioned behind the pipe laying vessel to provide buoyancy for supporting the pipeline, the structure is the center of the structure It may include a ramp provided to be inclined downward along the axis and coupled with the stinger to form a pipeline support path, and a detachable unit for fixing or releasing the pipeline on the ramp to the structure.

It may further include a fixing unit for fixing the structure to the pipe laying line.

A buoyancy control unit for adjusting the buoyancy of the structure, and may further include a control unit for controlling the buoyancy control unit so that the structure sinks or rises to the sea floor.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a structure located behind the pipe laying vessel, a lamp provided on the structure to guide the acquisition of the pipeline, a support provided on one side of the lamp to support the weight of the stinger, and It may include a detachable unit provided to secure the pipeline on the lamp to the structure.

The pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may stably support a pipeline falling into the water by providing a ramp that forms a pipeline support path in connection with a stinger of the pipe laying vessel in a structure providing buoyancy.

In addition, the pipeline laying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can easily perform the A & R work without using the winch is provided that the structure can be elevated to the sea or the seabed.

In addition, the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention can remotely control the upper and lower positions of the structure.

In addition, the pipeline laying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can easily adjust the height of the lamp to the corresponding height of the stinger because the draft can be adjusted by the ballast tank.

1 is a side view of a pipeline laying system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view of a pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention from the front.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from the rear.
5 is a perspective view of a fixing device of a pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view showing an A & R (Abandonment & Recovery) operation state of the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is an operation diagram showing the operation of raising and lowering the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view showing an abandonment state of the pipeline laying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a control block diagram of a pipeline laying system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the subsea pipeline laying system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pipe laying vessel 100 capable of laying a pipeline on the seabed by an S-laying method and a pipe. The pipeline laying apparatus 200 may be provided to support the pipeline 300 which is laid underwater in the rear of the laying vessel 100 to allow the deep sea installation of the pipeline 300.

Pipe laying vessel 100 may be provided with a plurality of propellers 111 for propulsion at the bottom of the hull (110). The hull 110 is provided with a storage room 112 for storing the pipes 310 having a predetermined length, and the pipes 300 are connected to the decks 121 and 122 formed of a double layer on the upper side to produce the pipeline 300. A work area is provided.

The work area includes a main work line 130 connecting the pipes long to form a final pipeline 300, and a plurality of sub work lines 140 connecting pipes to be supplied to the main work line 130 to a desired length. can do. The sub work line 140 may include work areas for performing beveling, preheating, welding, inspection, etc. for connecting pipes, and may include a deck 122 or another floor of the same floor as the main work line 130. The deck 121 may be arranged to form a parallel work line.

As shown in Fig. 1, the main operation line 130 is elongated in the direction from the bow 101 to the stern 102. As shown in Fig. Here, welding areas 131 are provided at a plurality of locations, so that the pipes produced in the sub-work line 140 can be quickly connected in a state where the pipes are arranged in series. The main work line 130 is provided with a work area for inspecting and covering the welded portions, respectively.

At the rear of the main operation line 130, an inclined guide portion 125 is provided which is inclined downward toward the stern 102 to guide the produced pipeline 300 to the water. In addition, the main work line 130 may be provided with a plurality of tensioners 150 to move the pipeline 300 while supporting the weight of the pipeline 300 to be placed in the water.

On the rear side of the hull 110, the stinger 160 for supporting the pipeline 300 is transferred from the main work line 130 is installed.

The stinger 160 forms a pipeline support path associated with the inclined guide part 125 so that the pipeline 300 transferred to the pipeline laying apparatus 200 can be bent down to a safe curvature.

The stinger 160 is arranged with a pair of inclined rollers 162 spaced apart at predetermined intervals for smooth transfer of the pipeline 300, and the end of the stinger 160 is associated with a lamp 240 to be described later A first connector 164 is provided for coupling with the lamp 240 to form a support path of the pipeline 300 (see FIG. 3).

Since the pipe laying vessel 100 lays the pipeline 300 in a relatively shallow sea area (less than about 1000 m), the weight of the pipeline 300 acting on the stinger 160 is relatively large. Can be used to lay subsea pipelines. That is, the pipeline 300 can be laid on the seabed without connecting the pipeline laying apparatus 200 to be described later. And when laying the pipeline 300 in the deep sea (approximately 1000m or more) by connecting the pipeline laying apparatus 200 to the rear can be laid pipeline 300 by the S-type laying method. Of course, when the diameter of the pipeline 300 is large and the radius of curvature is large and the weight increases, the pipeline laying apparatus 200 may be used even in a shallow sea area.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pipeline laying apparatus 200 connects the structure 210 to maintain the state floating in water during the pipeline laying operation, and connects the structure 210 to the rear side of the pipe laying line 100. To provide buoyancy to the structure 210 and the lamp 240 is installed below the structure 210 to form a pipeline support path associated with the connecting device 220 and the stinger 160 of the pipe laying vessel 100 The ballast tank 250 and the structure 210 may include a buoyancy control unit 260 that can adjust the buoyancy of the structure 210 to sink or rise to the seabed.

The structure 210 may be provided similar to the hull of a barge having a wide width and a flat bottom. Of course, the structure 210 may be changed in various forms since the lamp 240 may be in a state in which the lamp 240 is inclined downward in the front and rear directions along the central axis thereof. It may be in the form of connecting a plurality of floating bodies with steel structures, or in the form of catamarans connected from the deck side in the same spaced apart two hulls. For reference, in the description of the present embodiment, the direction in which the pipe laying line 100 moves forward while referring to the position or direction of the structure 210 or a component mounted thereto is referred to as 'front' and the opposite side is referred to as 'rear'.

The fixing unit 220 connecting the structure 210 and the pipe laying line 100 may be provided as a long truss structure as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The fixing unit 220 is rotatably connected to one end of the support portion 221 provided in the upper front of the structure 210, the opposite end is also rotatable to the rear of the pipe laying line 100 by a fixing pin 223, etc. Can be connected.

A first fixing part 222 to which the fixing pin 223 is coupled may be provided at the rear of the pipe laying line 100 to couple the fixing unit 220. Fixing unit 220 may be composed of one or a plurality, when not in use to remove the end portion of the pipe laying vessel 100 is rotated to the rear second fixing part 224 on the deck of the structure 210 It can be fixed by connecting the fixing pin 223 to. When the fixing unit 220 is connected to or separated from the pipe laying vessel 100, a crane 103 (see FIG. 1) provided on the pipe laying vessel 100 may be used.

2 to 4, the lamp 240 may be provided in the structure 210 while maintaining an angle corresponding to the stinger 160 of the pipe laying line 100.

The lamp 240 is formed on the central axis 212 of the structure 210 formed to be inclined downward in the front-rear direction and its inclination angle is maintained at a constant angle as shown in FIG. Correspondingly, the inclination angle may be gradually increased toward the rear side.

The front of the lamp 240 is provided with a second connector 242 coupled with the first connector 164 of the stinger 160 is provided to connect the first connector 164 of the stinger 160 to the second connector of the lamp 240 ( By inserting and fixing to 242, the pipe laying line 100 and the structure 210 form a support path of the pipeline 300 so as not to interfere with the pipeline laying work even when relative movement is performed at sea.

The front of the lamp 240 is provided with a support portion 214 to support the weight of the stinger 160, the lower part of the stinger 160 is supported by the support portion 214, the pipeline is caught on the stinger 160 ( The structure may be supported by a load of 300).

The end of the stinger 160 is supported in front of the structure 210, the pipeline 300 is advanced to the seabed in the rear of the structure 210, the load applied to the pipeline laying apparatus 200 is the structure 210 Before and after the dispersion, the structure 210 may maintain a stable posture even when a large load is applied to the lamp 240.

The connection between the lamp 240 and the stinger 160 may be provided by inserting the first connecting portion 164 into the ring-shaped second connecting portion 242 as an example, but is not limited thereto. Of course, various ways of connecting may be employed to minimize the mutual movement of the 160.

The lamp 240 may be provided with a roller 244 in the same or similar shape as the roller 164 disposed on the stinger 160 so that the pipeline 300 transferred from the stinger 160 can move and receive smoothly. Can be.

In one embodiment, the lamp 240 is inclined over the sea level, so that the pipeline 300 transferred from the stinger 160 is obtained while moving along the lamp 240. Depending on the design, the lamp 240 is Located below the sea level, the pipeline 300 may be obtained while moving along the Stinger 160 and then descended to the seabed along the ramp 240.

The ballast tank 250 may adjust the height of the structure by adjusting the draft of the structure 210.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ballast tank 250 includes a plurality of chambers 251, 252, and 253 that are mutually partitioned.

The plurality of chambers 251, 252, and 253 may be arranged successively in forward and rearward directions in a mutually partitioned state. Although not shown in the drawings, the two sides of the structure 210 may be provided in an equivalent form to each other. Therefore, the structure 210 may adjust the draft by filling or discharging water in the chambers 251, 252, and 253, and maintain the balance of the structure 210 by changing the level of each chamber 251, 252, 253 as necessary.

As described above, the ballast tank 250 may naturally connect the pipeline support path leading from the stinger 160 to the lamp 240 by adjusting the height of the structure 210 by adjusting the level of each chamber 251, 252, 253.

Although not shown in the drawing, a plurality of azimuth thrusters may be installed below the structure 210. The structure 210 can adjust the posture through the operation of the azimus thruster in the process of laying the pipeline 300, it may be propelled by itself if necessary.

This embodiment includes a buoyancy control unit 260 to adjust the buoyancy of the structure 210 to allow the structure 210 to sink or rise to the seabed.

The buoyancy control unit 260 supplies water to the ballast tank 250 or discharges the water supply and drainage (261, 262, 263) to the outside of the ballast tank 250, and the structure 210 located on the sea floor to the sea When the water of the ballast tank 250 is discharged to the outside to increase the air pressure supply line 265 for supplying air so that negative pressure is not applied to the ballast tank 250.

The supply / drainage devices 261, 262, and 263 may be formed as submersible pumps, and may be formed in plural to correspond to the plurality of chambers 251, 252, and 253, respectively, to independently adjust the water levels of the chambers 251, 252, and 253.

When supplying the pipeline laying apparatus 200 to the pipeline laying vessel 100, the water supply and drainage devices 261, 262 and 263 supply a predetermined amount of water to the chambers 251, 252 and 253 so that the stinger 160 and the lamp 240 may be discharged. After the heights correspond to each other, the pipeline 210 may discharge water from each chamber 251, 252, 253 according to the load of the pipeline 300 so that the structure 210 may have a large buoyancy if necessary.

The supply and drainage devices 261, 262, and 263 may fill the ballast tank 250 so that the structure 210 may sink to the sea floor, and the ballast tank 250 so that the structure 210 that has sunk on the sea floor may rise. ) Can be discharged to the outside.

The outside air supply line 265 is for supplying air so that negative pressure is not applied when water is discharged from the ballast tank 250 of the structure 210 that has sunk on the seabed, and one end is connected to the ballast tank 250. The other end communicates with the sea. Therefore, when water is discharged from the ballast tank 250 of the structure 210 located on the sea floor using the supply and drain devices 261, 262 and 263, the corresponding air may be injected into the ballast tank 250.

The other end of the outside air supply line 265 may be fixed to the buoy 280 located on the sea to be positioned on the sea surface.

The buoy 280 is located in the structure 210 so as to determine the position of the structure 210 when the structure 210 sinks to the sea floor, and the connection line connecting the buoy 280 and the structure 210 to The outside air supply line 265 may be combined, or as shown in FIG. 7, the connection line itself may be replaced with the outside air supply line 265.

The laying device 200 includes a detachable unit 270 that can firmly fix the end of the pipeline 300 to the structure 210 after finishing the pipe during the aeration work, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. can do.

Detachable unit 270 by fixing the pipeline 300 to the structure 210 or by fixing the pipeline 300 from the structure 210, by using the buoyancy control unit 260 for abandon operation Before the structure 210 sinks to the sea floor, the end of the pipeline 300 is fixed to the structure 210 using the detachable unit 270 so that the pipeline 300 sinks to the sea floor even if the structure 210 sinks to the sea floor. To prevent it from leaving structure 210.

In addition, during pipeline laying or regenerative operation, the removal unit 270 is released to allow the pipeline 300 to move relative to the lamp 240 so that the pipeline 300 may be laid.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 9, the transmission unit 160 for transmitting a signal for driving the buoyancy control unit 260, the receiving unit 291 for receiving the signal of the transmitting unit 160, and receiving in the receiving unit 291 The control unit 293 for controlling the driving of the buoyancy control unit 260 according to the received signal may be further included.

The transmission unit 160 is provided in the pipeline laying line 100, and if it is determined that A & R work is necessary by grasping weather conditions and the like, the worker transmits a signal for performing A & R work.

The receiver 291 receives a signal from the transmitter 160 and transmits the signal to the controller 293, and the controller 293 controls the buoyancy control unit 260 according to the transmitted signal to provide buoyancy in the marine structure 210. It is to be removed to sink to the seabed, or to supply buoyancy to the structure 210 submerged on the seabed to rise to the sea, the buoyancy is adjusted by driving the supply and drainage (261, 262, 263) according to the signal of the controller 293 As a result, the structure 210 may be positioned between the pipe support position and the abandoned position.

The pipe support position includes a position where the structure 210 is located on the sea and a position where the pipe laying operation is possible and a regenerative position.

Abandoned position refers to any one position of the sea floor, and not only located on the sea floor, but also a position where the influence of currents can be minimized so that the installed pipeline 300 is not moved even if it is spaced a predetermined distance from the sea bottom. It may include.

The following describes how to use the pipeline laying apparatus 200.

When laying the pipeline 300 at a relatively shallow depth, the pipeline 300 may be laid on the sea floor using only the pipe laying line 100 without using the pipeline laying apparatus 200. And when laying the pipeline 300 in a relatively deep depth, as shown in Figure 1, because the weight of the pipeline 300 is lowered in the water increases, the pipeline laying apparatus 200 to the rear of the pipe laying line 100 Pipeline 300 can be laid in the state in which the pipeline support path is extended in the water by installing a).

When connecting the pipeline laying apparatus 200 to the pipe laying line 100, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, the fixed unit 220 provided in the structure 210 to expand the pipe laying line 100 toward the rear pipe Can be connected to the laying line (100).

Understand the weather conditions during pipeline laying work, and if it is determined that it is no longer possible to lay it out, give up.

After finishing the end of the pipe as shown in Figure 6 using a removable unit 270 is fixed to the pipeline 300 to the structure 210 firmly.

Thereafter, when the installation line 100 transmits the abandon signal, the receiving unit 291 receives it, and the control unit 293 controls the buoyancy control unit 260 to fill the ballast tank 250 with water. When the ballast tank 250 is filled with water, the laying apparatus 200 sinks to the sea floor as shown in FIG. 7.

At this time, the buoy 280 connected to the laying apparatus 200 may be located on the sea to determine the position where the laying apparatus 200 has sunk.

As shown in FIG. 8, when it is determined that the pipeline laying operation is possible because the weather condition is improved in the state where the laying apparatus 200 sinks to the sea floor, the installation line 100 transmits a regenerative signal, and the receiving unit 291. The controller 293 receives this to discharge the water in the ballast tank 250 to the outside by controlling the buoyancy control unit 260. At this time, the sea air is introduced into the ballast tank 250 through the outside air supply line 265 as the water is discharged to the outside to prevent the supply and drainage (261, 262, 263) is overloaded.

When water is discharged into the ballast tank 250, the laying apparatus 200 may rise to the sea surface to perform a preceding work for laying the pipeline.

Next, the attachment / detachment unit 270 may be opened, and the laying of the pipeline may be resumed by coupling the subsequent pipeline to the end of the pipeline 300.

In this embodiment, the buoyancy control unit supplies water to the ballast tank or discharges the water to adjust the lifting and lowering of the laying apparatus, but the submarine's lifting and lowering principle can be applied, and at this time, the ballast of the structure Fill the tank with water to adjust the gravity of the structure, and prepare a separate buoyancy tank to draw or blow compressed air into the buoyancy tank to supply water to the buoyancy tank or to drain the water from the buoyancy tank to adjust the neutral buoyancy. The device can be raised and lowered.

100: pipe laying vessel, 160: stinger,
200: pipeline laying device, 210: structure,
220: fixed unit, 240: lamp,
250: ballast tank, 260: buoyancy control unit,
261, 262, 263: supply and drainage, 265: air supply line,
270: detachable unit, 280: buoy,
291: receiving unit, 293: control unit.

Claims (15)

A structure located behind the pipe laying vessel,
A ramp provided in the structure to guide the acquisition of the pipeline and to form a pipeline support path associated with the stinger of the pipeline;
And a detachable unit for fixing or releasing the pipeline on the ramp to the structure. The method of claim 1,
The ramp is a subsea pipeline laying device formed inclined downward along the central axis of the structure. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The lamp subsea pipeline laying apparatus including a connection portion coupled to the stinger. The method of claim 1,
The structure is a subsea pipeline laying apparatus comprising a fixing unit for fixing the structure to the pipe laying vessel. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
A ballast tank provided on the structure to provide buoyancy;
A subsea pipeline laying apparatus further comprises a buoyancy control unit for adjusting the buoyancy of the structure so that the structure sinks or rises to the sea floor. The method of claim 5,
The buoyancy control unit further comprises an external air supply line for supplying air to the ballast tank when the water in the ballast tank is discharged to the outside. The method according to claim 6,
One end of the outside air supply line is in communication with the ballast tank and the other end is a subsea pipeline laying device connected to the buoy. The method of claim 5,
The buoyancy control unit is a subsea pipeline laying device for providing a neutral buoyancy to the structure to raise and lower the structure. The method of claim 5,
And a control unit for controlling the buoyancy control unit so that the structure is located between the pipe support position and the abandoned position. 10. The method of claim 9,
Further comprising a receiving unit for receiving an external control signal,
The control unit is a subsea pipeline laying device for controlling the buoyancy control unit according to the control signal input to the receiving unit. delete A pipe laying vessel having a stinger for guiding the pipeline,
Located in the rear of the pipe laying vessel and includes a structure for providing a buoyancy for supporting the pipeline,
The structure is provided inclined downward along the central axis of the structure and includes a lamp coupled to the stinger to form a pipeline support path, and a removable unit for fixing or releasing the pipeline on the lamp to the structure.
Subsea pipeline laying system. 13. The method of claim 12,
Subsea pipeline laying system further comprises a fixing unit for fixing the structure to the pipe laying vessel. The method according to claim 12 or 13,
Buoyancy control unit for adjusting the buoyancy of the structure,
And a control unit for controlling the buoyancy control unit to sink or climb the structure to the sea floor. A structure located behind the pipe laying vessel,
Lamps provided in the structure to guide the acquisition of the pipeline,
A support part provided on one side of the lamp to support the weight of the stinger;
A subsea pipeline laying apparatus comprising a detachable unit provided to fix the pipeline on the ramp to the structure.

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