RU2575367C2 - Device of fast personnel evacuation from surface objects of ocean engineering under ice conditions (versions) - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: rescue operations.

SUBSTANCE: device of fast personnel evacuation from surface objects of ocean engineering under ice conditions comprises a lifeboat with skids, launching devices, guiding trays, and a braking system. The guiding trays are designed for sliding of skids of the lifeboat. The braking system reduces the lifeboat launching speed, and consists of two bent bars mounted on the launching device, and comprises at least two rows of stops on each side of the lifeboat.

EFFECT: increased speed of the rescue operation, reduction of the overload on impact with ice, and increase in reliability of fast evacuation of personnel.

8 cl, 5 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the rescue devices of ships and offshore platforms and can be used as a means of emergency rescue of personnel from surface objects of ocean engineering (stationary and floating drilling rigs, drilling ships) in the event of fires or other emergency and catastrophic situations.

The expansion of work on the development of natural resources in marine areas with freezing waters (including the Arctic regions) necessitates the creation of reliable and easy-to-maintain devices for the rapid evacuation of personnel from surface fire hazardous ocean engineering facilities in ice conditions.

A device for evacuating personnel from offshore drilling facilities (US patent "System for the evacuation of offshore drilling rigs" No. 4. 781, 144, 1988), including:

- means for launching the lifeboat into the water, consisting of at least one support beam, which at one end is pivotally connected to the superstructure of the platform, and at the other end carries one support cradle for placement of the boat; the beam is able to rotate and due to this rotation its end with the supporting cradle is transferred from the upper position to the lower one and vice versa;

- means for controlling the transition of this device from an upper position to a lower one;

- a similar ladder hermetically sealed and connected to the lifeboat from the living area of the platform to the place of personnel loading into the boat;

- an on-board computer on the boat to monitor external conditions, the state of the platform and control the process of launching the boat into the water.

The disadvantages of this evacuation device are:

- the long duration of the operation to rescue personnel from high-level facilities;

- high intensity impact of the lifeboat on the surface of ice and water;

- large force impact on the design of the boat;

- high probability of destruction of the boat with its moderate weight;

- high overload experienced by rescued personnel during impacts;

- high probability of death of personnel when trying to rescue from high-placed premises;

- the impossibility of the functioning of the rescue system in the event of failure of the power supply system;

- low reliability of the device during fires and accidents.

A device is known for emergency evacuation of personnel from a drilling vessel in ice conditions, including trays installed in the aft end of the vessel at an angle to the horizon with lifeboats located on them. The device is located in the ship’s room, located inside the ship’s hull above the waterline. The height from which the boats descend is selected from the condition of ensuring a safe exit along the tray to the ice surface of the lifeboat with personnel through the opening made in the ship’s hull, and the boats exit the premises onto the tray using the folding ramp - prototype (utility model, patent of the Russian Federation " Device for emergency evacuation of personnel from a drilling vessel in ice conditions ", 122364 U1, 2012). The disadvantage of this device is the ability to save personnel only with a low location, since its high location leads to high speeds of collision of the boat on ice, the appearance of large loads on its structure, the development of high accelerations of the boat and the risk of death of rescued personnel. The use of the device is possible only if an additional system for the rapid evacuation of personnel from high-level rooms to low-level ones in emergency conditions is created, which leads to a significant decrease in the speed of the rescue operation and its possible disruption.

The task of the invention is to remedy these disadvantages of the device.

Two design options are proposed for the evacuation device, characterized by the location of the shock-absorbing device, which reduces the intensity of the impact of the lifeboat on the ice surface.

To achieve the above results, solutions are proposed for both versions, as explained by the drawings:

- diagram of the prototype device located in the opening of the hull (Fig. 1),

- the proposed launching device mounted on a stationary drilling platform (Fig. 2) side view - a), top view - b),

- launching device and lifeboat (sections AA and BB) - FIG. 3

- a lifeboat with a shock absorber (Fig. 4), side view - a), front view - b), section B-B,

- trigger device with a shock absorber installed on it (Fig. 5), side view, section G-G.

In the prototype device for emergency evacuation of personnel from a drilling vessel in ice conditions at the aft end of the vessel 1, trays 2 are installed parallel to each other with lifeboats 3 located on them. The device is located in the ship’s room inside the vessel’s hull, above the waterline, at a height that ensures safe exit on a tray to the ice surface of a boat with personnel through an opening in the ship’s hull. The exit of boats from the premises to the tray is carried out using the folding ramp 4.

The proposed device for the rapid evacuation of personnel from surface objects of ocean engineering in ice conditions is aimed at providing in an emergency situation the safe launching on ice (water) of several lifeboats from one launch device in the form of a boom 5 truss pivotally mounted on an offshore platform 6. Using hinged supports 7, cable system 8 and drive 9 mounted on the platform, the boom can be rotated in a vertical plane. In the working position, it is located above the surface of the ice (water) and rests on two extendable adjustable stops 10 mounted on the wall of the platform. The boom contains two guide rails 11, along which the runners 12 of the lifeboat slide. The boat on both sides is supported by runners on the guide rails of the launching device.

The boat is equipped with a shock absorber located on the bottom side and representing at least two flexible shells 13 of polymeric materials - fabrics made of polyamide fibers impregnated with elastomers (rubber or polyurethane). The flexible shells contain a deformable polyurethane foam core 14. The flexible shells are made in the form of interconnected cylindrical and conical parts oriented along the bottom of the boat. In the bow of the boat, flexible shells are fixed to the rigid structure of the boat using clamping straps 15. The movements of the flexible shells in the transverse direction are limited by a flexible casing 16 of the same polymeric materials, covering flexible shells with a deformable filler and fixed to the boat's body using clamping straps.

The launching device and the lifeboat contain elements of the brake system. The brake system consists of cylindrical stop elements 17 arranged in two rows on each side of the boat in a checkerboard pattern, fixedly connected to the skids of the lifeboat using a reinforced plate 18, and two bending strips 19, each of which is connected to one of the guide rails of the launching device . The thickness of the bending strips is variable both in length and in width. The thickened (in width) part of the bending strip over most of its length is in contact with the thrust elements of the moving boat. The longitudinal edge of the bending strip, located on the side of its thin part, is fixedly connected to the wall of the beam of the launching device. The end of the bending strip in the upper part of the release device along its entire width has the same thickness equal to the thickness of the thin part of the strip in its middle (in length) part.

The decrease in the impact intensity of the lifeboat on the ice surface is achieved by braking the boat, reducing the speed of its collision, shock absorption and increasing the area of action of the loads that occur when the boat hits the ice. This increase in area is achieved due to the position of the main plane of the boat at the moment of impact, close to horizontal. This position is ensured if the angles of inclination of the runners of the lifeboat to its main plane differ from the angle of inclination of the guide planes of the trays to the horizon by no more than 10 °.

To ensure the dumping of boats in the area located beyond the possible accumulation of ice in front of the object of ocean engineering, the approach of ships to these objects and to reduce the likelihood of icing of the low-lying parts of the launching device, which is possible under the influence of wind and waves in low temperatures and the absence of ice cover, the launching device is performed form of truss arrow. Its fixation in the upper (inoperative) position, in which the probability of icing is small, and the rotation in the vertical plane are carried out using a cable block system.

At the initial section of the discharge of the boat between the supporting elements is the end of the bending strip with a small thickness equal to the thickness of the thin part of the bending strip. With the position of the boat in this section, the strip is not deformed. When the boat is subsequently advanced downward, the thickened part of the strip comes into contact with the thrust elements. In this case, the elastoplastic bending of the thickened part of the strip and the elastic deformation of its thin part occur. In the process of such bending, resistance forces arise to the movement of the boat, caused by friction and plastic deformation of the strip material, reducing the speed of the boat lowering along the launching device. At the end of the launch of the boat, its shock absorber comes into contact with ice (water). Thanks to the shock absorber and the braking device, which reduces the speed of launching the boat, the intensity of its impact on the ice surface (water surface) is reduced, the forces acting on the structure of the boat are reduced.

According to the second embodiment, the launching device at the bottom contains a removable shock absorber for safe launching of boats. The shock absorber is installed on the boom only if there is ice cover on the water surface. However, equipping lifeboats with a shock absorber is not required. In this embodiment, to prevent splashing of the shock absorber with sea water and covering it with ice, the boom of the launching device and the shock absorber in the absence of an emergency situation are moved to the upper position, in the event of an emergency - to the lower position, which ensures the launch of the boats.

In this embodiment, the trigger device is equipped with a shock absorber located on the support frame 20, mounted on the trigger device. This shock absorber is similar in design to the shock absorber used in the first version of the device for the rapid evacuation of personnel and contains at least two flexible shells 21 made of polymeric materials - fabrics made of polyamide fibers impregnated with elastomers (rubber or polyurethane). Inside the shells, a deformable aggregate 22 is made of polyurethane foam. The transverse movement of these flexible shells is limited by a flexible casing 23, covering flexible shells with a filler and mounted on a support frame.

At the end of the descent, the boat comes into contact with the shock absorber, their impact interaction occurs, leading to a decrease in the vertical speed of the boat and its inertial motion in the horizontal direction, followed by soft contact with the ice surface and sliding on ice.

Thus, the proposed device options for the rapid evacuation of personnel from surface objects of ocean engineering in ice conditions allow:

- significantly speed up the operation to rescue personnel from high-level facilities,

- reduce the intensity of the impact of the lifeboat on the ice surface (water surface),

- reduce the forces acting on its structure, reduce the likelihood of destruction, as well as reduce the overload experienced by the rescued personnel upon impact, and the likelihood of death of people,

- to provide the possibility of reliable operation of the system in the event of failure of the power supply system, in case of fires and accidents.

These advantages distinguish the proposed variants of the invention from the prototype.

Claims (8)

1. A device for the rapid evacuation of personnel from surface objects of ocean engineering in ice conditions, including a lifeboat with runners and launching devices connected to the ocean engineering object with guide trays located at an angle to the horizon for sliding the runners of the lifeboat with personnel in it, a braking system that reduces speed of the launch of the boat when moving along the tray, characterized in that the braking system consists of two bendable polo mounted on the launch device with located parallel to the guide rails and connected to them, and contains on each side of the boat at least two rows of stops, causing when entering into contact with the strips deformation of the bending strips located between them. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the angles of inclination of the skids of the lifeboat to its main plane differ from the angle of inclination of the guide planes of the trays to the horizon by no more than 10 °. 3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the launching device is made in the form of a truss boom at an oceanographic facility and protruding from it above the water surface, and it is equipped with a means for turning it, its locking mechanism in the idle position, pivotally mounted on the object ocean engineering with the ability to rotate in a vertical plane. 4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the launching device is equipped with adjustable stops for mounting the lower part of the launching device at the required height to compensate for fluctuations in the level of the water surface during ebbs and flows, as well as when the level of protrusions of the ice field (hummocks) changes. 5. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the locking in the inoperative position of the trigger device and its rotation in a vertical plane are carried out using a cable system. 6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lifeboat contains a shock absorber located on the side of its bottom surface. 7. The device according to claim 1 or 6, characterized in that the shock absorber of the lifeboat is equipped with at least two flexible casings made of polymeric materials located on the side of the bottom of the boat, covering flexible shells filled with a deformable filler, mainly polyurethane foam, and for the most part the length of the boat flexible shells are made in the form of interconnected cylindrical and conical parts. 8. The device according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the descent device in the lower part contains a removable shock absorber installed in the presence of an ice cover of the water surface and comprising one or more flexible shells of polymeric materials filled with a deformable aggregate, mainly polyurethane foam, and limited by a flexible casing.

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