KR20150119308A - System and method for discharging a waste fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for draining waste liquid from a floating unit (100) suitable for floating in a body of water (103). The system is suitable for discharging the waste liquid to the water body 103 surrounding the floating unit 100. The system includes a mooring line compartment 105 adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line 108 for the floating unit 100 and an outlet 115 suitable for discharging the waste liquid to the mooring line compartment 105. [ . The system includes an outlet 113 suitable for discharging the waste liquid from the mooring line compartment 105 to the water body 103.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and a method for discharging a waste liquid,

The present invention generally relates to systems, floating units and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to draining a waste liquid from a floating unit.

In oil and / or gas drilling and production, rainwater is collected at the decks of the floating unit. To prevent people on or near the floating unit from being hit or splashed by the fluid stream drained from the floating unit and / or to prevent objects, structures and / or objects on or near the floating unit In order to prevent the devices from being damaged by the fluid stream drained from the floating unit, the drain pipes are used to guide the collected rainwater to the body of water at least partially surrounding the floating unit. The above-mentioned floating unit can be used in various applications such as an oil platform (also referred to as an oil rig), a gas platform, a drilling platform, a seabed mining apparatus, a marine biology laboratory, a power plant, a crane platform, Lakes or rivers, or any other structure located within the vicinity of these.

Additionally or alternatively, a drain pipe can be used for discharging additional fluids, gasses or liquids, which are unnecessary in the floating unit for some reason and also considered as waste liquids. Examples of such waste liquids are working fluids such as cooling fluids, rainwater, ballast fluids or bilge fluids that need to be discharged from the floating unit at least partially into the surrounding water body.

The drainpipe may be fixedly attached to a support member of a floating unit, such as a support leg of an offshore facility, for example by a plurality of connection means welded to the floating unit. However, waves, currents and winds can exert considerable force on the floating unit and the drain pipe, which can damage the floating unit, and in the worst case, drain pipe can be separated from the floating unit. In addition, the drain pipe is accompanied by an increased weight of the floating unit in addition to the cost of the increased steel. Drain pipes generally require thick walls and supports to withstand environmental loads.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate at least one of the above-mentioned disadvantages and / or to provide an improved discharge of waste liquid from the floating unit.

According to a first aspect, the object is achieved by a system for discharging a waste liquid from a floating unit suitable for floating in a body of water. The system is suitable for discharging the waste liquid to the water surrounding the floating unit. The system includes a mooring line compartment adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line for the floating unit. The system includes a discharge portion suitable for discharging the waste fluid to the mooring line compartment and an outlet suitable for discharging the waste fluid from the mooring line compartment to the water body.

According to a second aspect, the object is achieved by a floating unit comprising a system as described above for discharging a waste liquid.

According to a third aspect, the object is achieved by a method for discharging a waste liquid from a floating unit to a body of water surrounding the floating unit. The floating unit comprises a system including a mooring line compartment, an outlet, and an outlet adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line for the floating unit. The waste liquid is discharged from the floating unit through the discharge portion to the mooring line compartment. The waste liquid is discharged from the mooring line compartment to the water via the outlet.

Since the mooring line compartment is utilized to drain the waste liquid from the floating unit, the evacuation of the improved waste liquid from the floating unit is provided.

The present invention can provide at least one of the following advantages.

An advantage of the present invention is that instead of having a separate drain pipe, the total weight of the floating unit is reduced when the mooring line compartment is utilized to discharge the waste liquid. This also reduces material costs for the floating unit.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the system is simple and does not require any substantial changes in the mooring line compartment.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the leakage of the system does not flood any manned space in the floating unit.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the system is robust, simple to configure, repair and maintain.

The invention is not limited to the features and advantages described above. Those skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in further detail in the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments.

1 is a schematic view showing a floating unit including an embodiment of a system for discharging a waste liquid;
2 is a flow chart showing embodiments of a method for discharging a waste liquid.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale, and the dimensions of certain features may be exaggerated for clarity. Instead, it is emphasized herein to explain the principles of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates a floating unit 100 in which the present invention may be practiced. The floating unit 100 includes an oil platform (also referred to as an oil rig), a gas platform, a drilling platform, a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, a column buoy, a tension leg platform Platform, TLP, a submarine mining facility, a marine biology laboratory, a power station, a crane platform, an algae line, or any other structure located within the sea, ocean, lake or river,

The floating unit 100 is suitable to float in the water body 103. When the floating unit 100 floats in the water body 103, the floating unit 100 is at least partly surrounded by the water body 103. The floating unit 100 includes a system for discharging the waste liquid from the floating unit 100. As described above, the waste liquid is discharged from the floating unit 100 to the water area 103 at least partly surrounding the floating unit 100, for example, a cooling fluid, a drainage fluid, a rainwater, a ballast Fluid or bilge fluid, and the like.

The system includes a mooring line compartment 105 adapted to receive at least a portion of one or more mooring lines 108 for station keeping of the floating unit 100. Mooring line 108 may include segments, or combinations of segment types, such as wire, chain, polyester rope, and the like. For example, the wire segment as well as the chain segment can be made at least partially of a metal such as a steel. The mooring line dividing section 105 may be located in the pontoon deck of the floating unit 100. By way of example only, mooring line compartment 105 includes a mooring line opening 110 suitable for receiving mooring line 108. The mooring line segment 105 of the embodiment shown in Figure 1 includes a mooring line trunk 105 'and a mooring line pipe 105 ". The mooring line pipe 105 " .

The system further includes a discharge portion 115 suitable for discharging the waste liquid to the mooring line compartment 105. The discharge portion 115 may be located on the deck of the floating unit 100, for example, the middle deck 111a, the bottom deck 111b or the main deck 111c. That is, the system may be suitable for discharging the waste liquid from the decks of the plurality of floating units 100, or from any other part of the floating unit 100 where the waste liquid needs to be discharged. The discharge portion 115 may have any shape and size suitable for discharging waste fluid such as, for example, circular, square, elliptical, and the like. The discharge portion 115 may comprise a plurality of discharge sub-portions, each lower portion being suitable for discharging the waste fluid. Hereinafter, the term discharge portion 115 shows both an embodiment having only one discharge portion and an embodiment having a plurality of discharge sub-portions. By way of example only, the discharge portion 115 may be adapted to be in fluid communication with the connection assembly (not shown) of the discharge.

The system includes an outlet 113 suitable for discharging the waste liquid from the mooring line compartment 105 to the water body 103. The outlet 113 can be separated from the mooring line opening 110. The outlet 113 may have any shape and size suitable for discharging the waste fluid to the body of water 103, such as, for example, a circle, a square, an ellipse, and the like. The outlet 113 may be located at any suitable location in the mooring line partition 105. The outlet 113 may be located within the mooring line trunk 105 'and / or the mooring line pipe 105 ", but any other suitable location is also possible. For example from the mooring line compartment 105 to the bottom of the floating unit 100 or to a side of the floating unit 100. The outlet 113 may be in the form of a mooring line compartment For example, permanent fluid communication between the reservoir 105 and the body of water 103. The outlet 113 may comprise a plurality of sub-outlets, each sub- The outlet 113 may include a grating at the bottom of the mooring line partition 105. In the following, the term outlet 113 is a single An embodiment with only an exit of the < RTI ID = 0.0 > In Figure 1, various implementations of the exit 113 have been shown, it should be appreciated, however, that an embodiment of the system may include only one of the executions of the exit 113 .

In some embodiments, the discharge portion 115 is suitable to be positioned above the outlet 113. In some embodiments, the discharge portion 115 is suitable to be positioned above the stationary water surface 114 of the water body 103 when the floating unit 100 floats in the water body 103 in the operating state. The outlet 113 may be adapted to be positioned below the stationary water surface 114 of the water body 103 when the floating unit 100 floats in the water body 103 in the operating state.

The discharge portion 115 may be located at the upper end of the mooring line pipe 105 ", for example, close to a chain jack or a mooring winch. The mooring line pipe 105 " ) May also be referred to as a chain locker or a chain pipe. The mooring line pipe 105 "may include, for example, void spaces into the mooring line compartment 105 located at the lower end of the mooring line pipe 105 ", and voids extending into the interior of the floating unit 100 through ballast tanks . The mooring line 108 may extend, for example, through the mooring line pipe 105 " toward the mooring line trunk 105 '.

At least a portion of the system may be located within the floating unit 100, for example, within the support column of the floating unit 100. The support column may be at least a substantially vertical structure suitable for supporting the deck of the floating unit 100.

In some embodiments, the system includes an overflow pipe 116 suitable for being positioned above the outlet 113, and the overflow pipe 116 may be overflowed when the mooring line compartment 105 is overflowed with waste liquid Is suitable for guiding the waste liquid through the pipe (116). In this way, the waste liquid can be guided to a space in which the waste liquid is not at any risk.

A method for discharging the waste liquid from the floating unit 100 to the water body 103 surrounding the floating unit 100 according to some embodiments will now be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. The floating unit 100 includes a system. The system includes a mooring line compartment 105, an outlet 115 and an outlet 113 adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line 108 for the floating unit 100. The discharge portion 115 may be located above the outlet 113. In some embodiments, the outlet 115 is located above the stationary water surface 114 of the water body 103 and the outlet 113 is located below the surface 114 of the water body 103. The outlet 113 may be located in the lower portion of the mooring line partition 105. The waste liquid may be at least one of a cooling fluid, a drainage fluid, a rainwater, a ballast fluid, and a bilge fluid. The method includes the following steps, which steps may be performed in a similar order as well as those described below.

Step 201

The waste liquid is discharged from the floating unit 100 to the mooring line partition 105 through the discharge portion 115.

Step 202

The waste liquid is discharged from the mooring line dividing section 105 through the outlet 113 to the water body 103.

Step 203

In some embodiments, the waste liquid is directed through the overflow pipe 116 when the mooring line compartment 105 is overflowed with waste liquid. The overflow pipe 116 may be located above the outlet 113. This step may be carried out simultaneously with step 201, concurrently with step 202, between step 201 and step 202, or after step 202.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments defined by the appended claims.

The term " comprising / containing "is taken to specify the presence of features, integers, steps or components discussed in the specification when used in this specification, Quot; does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements, components, or groups thereof. It should also be appreciated that the singular representation of an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.

It should also be emphasized that the steps of the methods defined in the appended claims may be practiced in an order different from the order presented in the claims without departing from the invention.

Claims (13)

A system for draining a waste liquid from a floating unit (100) suitable for floating in a body of water (103)
The system is suitable for discharging the waste liquid to the water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100)
The system comprises:
A mooring line compartment 105 adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line 108 for the floating unit 100;
- a discharge section (115) adapted to discharge said waste liquid to said mooring line partitioning section (105); And
- an outlet (113) suitable for discharging said waste liquid from said mooring line compartment (105) to said water body (103). The method according to claim 1,
The outlet (115) is adapted to be positioned above the outlet (113), for discharging the waste liquid from the floating unit (100). 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The outlet 115 is adapted to be positioned above the still water surface 114 of the water body 103 when the floating unit 100 floats in the water body 103, Is positioned below the stationary water surface (114) of the water area (103) when the floating unit (100) floats in the water area (103). 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The outlet (113) is adapted to be located in a lower portion of the mooring line compartment (105). 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Further comprising an overflow pipe (116) adapted to be positioned above said outlet (113)
The overflow pipe 116 is adapted to discharge the waste liquid from the floating unit 100, which is suitable for guiding the waste liquid through the overflow pipe 116 when the mooring line partition 105 is flooded by the fluid. For the system. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Wherein the waste liquid is at least one of a cooling fluid, a drainage fluid, a rainwater, a ballast fluid, and a bilge fluid. A floating unit (100) comprising a system for discharging a waste liquid according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A method for discharging a waste liquid from a floating unit (100) to a water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100)
The floating unit 100 includes a system including a mooring line compartment 105 adapted to receive at least a portion of the mooring line 108 for the floating unit 100, Outlet 113,
The method comprising:
(201) discharging the waste liquid from the floating unit (100) to the mooring line partitioning part (105) through the discharge part (115), and
(202) from the mooring line compartment (105) through the outlet (113) to the water body (103) And discharging the waste liquid to the water body (103). 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the discharge portion (115) is located above the outlet (113) from the floating unit (100) to the water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100). 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9,
Wherein the discharge portion 115 is located above the stationary water surface 114 of the water body 103 and the outlet 113 is located below the stationary water surface 114 of the water body 103 100) to the water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100). 11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10,
Wherein the outlet (113) is located in a lower portion of the mooring line compartment (105) from a floating unit (100) to a water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100). The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11,
Further comprising guiding (203) the waste liquid through the overflow pipe (116) when the mooring line partition (105) overflows with the waste liquid,
Wherein the overflow pipe (116) is located above the outlet (113) from the floating unit (100) to the water body (103) surrounding the floating unit (100). 13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12,
The waste liquid is at least one of a cooling fluid, a drainage fluid, a rainwater, a ballast fluid, and a bilge fluid. The waste fluid is discharged from the floating unit 100 to a water body 103 surrounding the floating unit 100 .

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