RU2027632C1 - Liquid cargo transportation device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: marine. SUBSTANCE: device has tug and underwater tanker connected with tug. Body of tanker is made up of outer and inner permeable carcasses installed with clearance relative to each other. Located in inner carcass space is flexible hermetically sealed reservoir and two flexible envelopes, one of which is arranged under hermetically-sealed reservoir and the other, over reservoir. EFFECT: enlarged operating capabilities. 5 cl, 4 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to transport devices for the aquatic environment, namely for the transport of environmentally hazardous goods, such as petroleum products, and can be used not only in free water, but also for transport operations in ice conditions behind an icebreaker.

 A transport device for the aquatic environment is known, which comprises a towing vessel and one or more barges connected with rods (B.S.E., t. 2).

 The disadvantages of such a transport device are the possibility of collision with a violation of the integrity of the hull of the barge and the ingress of environmentally hazardous cargo into the aquatic environment, the occurrence of a fire, since the barge is in contact with atmospheric oxygen, the barge itself has at least one drive, for example, a pump, which can be a source of ignition for due to its sparking, an increase in temperature above the permissible level in sunny weather, an increase in evaporation and the possibility of a fire hazard.

 Known transport device for transporting oil, which contains a towing vessel, which is connected via a traction to an underwater tanker (Schenknecht R. Ships and shipping of the future. L .: Sudostroenie, 1981, p. 98-99, Fig. 72).

 The disadvantages of the described device are the need for complex and remotely controlled systems on an underwater tanker to maintain the required depth of immersion during the movement of the towing vessel, a high probability of sinking of the underwater tanker when the control lines that go from the towing vessel are broken, cargo loss together with the underwater tanker in an accident and ecological contamination of the aquatic environment after it is crushed by hydrostatic pressure in a deep water place, the possibility of explosive processes on a tanker, since is unattended when driving power units with their drives and power supplies, a possible interruption of traction at a storm with all its consequences, increased metal consumption subsea tanker to withstand without breaking the hydrostatic pressure on the calculated and very limited depth of immersion at emergency immersing the bottom reservoir.

 The aim of the invention is to increase the safety of the transportation of environmentally hazardous goods by eliminating all drives on an underwater tanker, the practical unsinkability of the tanker, cargo safety in the unlikely event that the tanker drops to any depth of the reservoir, which allows the tanker to be removed without violating the ecological state of the water area, reducing the tanker's metal consumption, the possibility use in any storm without destroying the tanker, the safety of the buoyancy and integrity of the tanker in case of breakage of rods.

 This goal is achieved by the fact that the device for transporting liquid cargo containing an underwater tanker, connected by a link to the towing vessel, is equipped with bow and stern connected to each other floating elements, while the bow floating element is connected via additional rods to the aft end of the towing vessel and the fore end of the tanker, and the stern floating element is connected with the stern end of the underwater tanker, which includes an external and installed with a clearance relative to it permeable frames with removable upper parts, as well as a flexible sealed container located in the cavity of the inner frame with a neck attached to the frames having a lid, a flexible shell of more than one, one of which is located in the cavity of the inner frame under a flexible sealed container, and the other above this capacity in the gap between the outer and inner frames, and flexible shells are connected to the floating elements through pipelines.

 The ends of the underwater tanker are equipped with pins to which the ends of the indicated rods are attached, and the outer frame includes hollow ones located mainly in the upper part of the pipe, while the ends of the rods that connect the nose pin of the underwater tanker and the nose of the floating element form a loop on the aft parts of the towing vessel is a pulley, and the underwater tanker is equipped with a fairing on its hull.

 In FIG. 1 shows a device in a working transport position; in FIG. 2 - underwater tanker; in FIG. 3 is a section AA in FIG. 2; in FIG. 4 is a section BB in FIG. 1.

 A device for transporting liquid cargo comprises a towing vessel 1, floating elements 2, an underwater tanker 3 (hereinafter the vessel and the tanker). These parts are connected by rods 4, and the thrust between the bow of the tanker 3 and its floating element 2 forms a loop on the pulley 5, which is placed on the stern of the vessel.

 Tanker 3 has at its extremities pins 6 to which rods 4 are connected. Floating elements 2 are made in the form of a sealed and hollow body 7 with a reinforced hole 8, in which there is a rod 4 connected to the winch 9. On top of the case 7 with the winch 9 is hermetically closed casing 10. The body of the tanker 3 has a fairing 11 in the front of the nose, and the body itself is made in the form of a lattice of longitudinal pipes 12 and transverse links forming respectively the outer 13 and inner 14 frames.

 The tanker hull is shown in the form of a cylinder. Its shape is selected from the conditions of maximum capacity and minimum draft in the surface position for a given water area with its ports. In addition, this form provides minimal hydraulic resistance to movement under water. However, another profile is possible in the cross section of tanker 3.

 The upper pipes 12-1 are hollow for a stable position of the selected tanker form 3.

 The distance between the frames 13 and 14 is determined by pipes 12, which are connected at their ends by power belts 15 with a fairing 11 on the bow, which ensures the seaworthiness of the tanker and protects the internal cavity from the hydraulic pressure of water.

 A flexible sealed container 16 with a neck 17 and a cover 18 is placed in the frame 14. The latter are placed between the frames 13 and 14 so that there are no parts protruding beyond the fairing 11. Under the sealed container is a flexible shell 19, which has a flexible pipe 20, and between the frames 13 and 14 in the upper part there is a flexible shell 21 with an opening for the outlet of the neck 17.

 Pipelines 20 and 22 are made of flexible high-pressure hose with armor and have several revolutions around the vertical rod 4, and they are fixed with their upper part on the floating element 2.

 The sealed containers are made of rubberized fabric and enclosed in a synthetic mesh, for example, of kapron, which gives reinforcement to the base material and perceives an external load. Flexible shells 19 and 21 are similarly arranged. The pressurized container 16 and flexible shells 19 and 21 are fastened to the inner frame 14 in order to avoid overlapping with force jamming. Dotted line 16-1 shows the position of the container 16 when there is no load.

 In the upper part of the tanker there are removable upper parts 23 along the entire hull of the tanker 3 for laying and removing the tank 16 with cargo or empty, one or more. To increase stability during movement, the pins 6 can be bent up. With a significant carrying capacity of tanker 3 or the transportation of several tankers connected in series, a second tug must be provided at the rear for braking and maneuvering.

 The device operates as follows.

 In a flexible shell 21 from an external source air is supplied under pressure through a pipe 22 and the tanker 3 occupies a stable surface position. The neck 17 is connected to the oil pipeline and the tank 16 is filled, which at the end of the filling comes into contact with the inner frame 14 through a nylon mesh. At the same time, the positive buoyancy of the tanker is practically unchanged, since oil products have a density close to water. Tanker 3 should be designed taking into account the transportation of the “lightest” liquid in the submerged position, therefore, only if there is air in the flexible shell 21 can it maintain positive buoyancy. Next, the oil pipeline is disconnected, the neck 17 is closed by a lid 18 and the shell 21 is connected to the atmosphere. Air leaves the specified shell and the tanker is immersed in accordance with the length of the rods at the winches 9. The device is ready for transportation.

 The depth of immersion is chosen (in the open sea) so that no surface vessel could touch the tanker with 3 keels. For submarines, a constant signal from the ship should be provided. When a strong disturbance of the aquatic environment (a storm of any force) occurs, the ship disconnects the thrust 4 and leaves for another area, and a lighthouse is installed on the floating elements, and the tanker is lowered by winches 9 to the depth at which there are no wave vibrations (50-100 m). During a storm, the floating elements 2 occupy a position at the level of the troughs of the waves, since the tanker is inertial due to the large mass, and the floating elements create a slight positive lifting force due to their own insignificant positive buoyancy. If, due to unbelievable circumstances, one of the rods 4 breaks off when the vessel is disconnected, the tanker will occupy a vertical position and it can be saved. If both rods break off from the floating elements 2, the tanker will go to the bottom, but will not be crushed, since the external pressure will be balanced by the internal pressure of the oil, and it can be at any depth until the whole tank 16 (is not destroyed by the chemical action of water), therefore, the tanker is also subject to rescue with cargo. At the end of the storm, the ship finds the tanker by signals, attaches the thrust and continues transportation.

 In a head-on collision of a tanker with an obstacle, the fairing 11 may be damaged (wrinkle), then a hydraulic shock is perceived by a flexible tank 16 with balanced external pressure of the external aqueous medium, which will prevent its destruction.

 If, when the vessel is disconnected, there is a danger of the tanker moving to a dangerous place where it could be damaged, and these are shallow places in the coastal zone, then tanker 3 sinks to the bottom and it serves as an anchor for itself and floating elements. A tanker in this position can also keep the vessel from demolition if it has not disconnected.

 All possible cases during transportation are considered above and none of them creates an emergency situation with the destruction of a tanker.

 Oil is unloaded during technological operations in the reverse order. The rise of the tanker is possible with the help of winches 9, and by supplying air to the flexible shell 21. Other operations are standard. Upon entering the port, the tanker can be raised almost to the surface, which allows loading and unloading operations at berths with shallow depth. The option of unloading the entire tank (one or more) is possible if the upper removable parts 23 are removed, and the tank can serve as a storage both in the aquatic environment and on land even with the entire tanker, since the cost of its manufacture is commensurate with the cost of any storage.

 The pins 6 allow you to raise the entire tanker 3 to the surface (with or without cargo), since their location below the neck 17 is sufficient to accommodate the floating element 2 on this height difference taking into account its length. The flexible shell 19 can be used to supply liquid under pressure through a pipe 20, which, when the shell is deformed, displaces oil from the tank 16. This case is the only possibility when the diameter of the tank is much more than 10 m or the oil receiving station is not equipped with the appropriate equipment. An equivalent technical solution is to pump oil from tank 16 with a submersible pump, but then it is necessary to pump air from the upper cavity of the tank using a vacuum system to eliminate the excessive positive buoyancy of the tanker 3. When changing the type of transported liquid cargo, it is enough to replace the tank through the upper removable parts 23. Placement thrust 4 on the pulley allows you to refuse to agree on the depth of immersion, speed and its segments between the pulley 5 and the place of attachment of the ends of the thrust 4 on the tanker 3 and the floating element e 2. This is especially important when waves on the surface of the aquatic environment in order to avoid overloads on the ship.

 Thus, the proposed device allows to ensure the integrity of the tanker with any force of the storm and its drift by the current in the coastal zone, the integrity of the tanker in a collision and sinking to the bottom, to reduce the metal consumption and energy consumption of the towing vessel.

Claims (5)

 1. DEVICE FOR TRANSPORTING LIQUID CARGOES, containing an underwater tanker connected by means of traction to the towing vessel, characterized in that it is equipped with interconnected bow and stern floating elements, while the bow floating element is connected via additional rods to the aft end of the towing vessel and bow of the bow the tip of the underwater tanker, and the stern floating element - with the aft end of the underwater tanker, which includes the external and installed with a clearance relative to it lower permeable frames with removable upper parts, as well as a flexible sealed container located in the cavity of the inner frame with a neck attached to the frames having a lid, flexible shells, one of which is located in the cavity of the inner frame under the flexible sealed container and the other above this container in the gap between the outer and inner frames, with flexible shells connected to the floating elements through pipelines.  2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the ends of the underwater tanker are equipped with pins to which the ends of the said rods are attached.  3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the external frame includes hollow sealed pipes located mainly in its upper part.  4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the ends of the rods attached respectively to the bow pin of the underwater tanker and the bow floating element, are connected to each other with the formation of a loop connected to the pulley mounted on the stern of the towing vessel.  5. The device according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the nasal tip of the hull of the underwater tanker is equipped with a fairing.

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