Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B25/00—Load-accommodating arrangements, e.g. stowing, trimming; Vessels characterised thereby
  • B63B25/02—Load-accommodating arrangements, e.g. stowing, trimming; Vessels characterised thereby for bulk goods
  • B63B25/08—Load-accommodating arrangements, e.g. stowing, trimming; Vessels characterised thereby for bulk goods fluid
  • B63B25/082—Arrangements for minimizing pollution by accidents

Definitions

• the invention relates to a tanker of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1.
• tankers for the transport of oil that they must be provided with a raised floor so that no oil leaks out of the tanks when they come into contact with the ground.
• tankers would also have to be built with an outer double wall.
• the tankers currently in operation do not have a double bottom or double outer walls, and it will probably take decades before most of these ships are out of the transport of environmentally hazardous substances.
• Tank does not exceed 30,000 cubic meters. For this reason, the available loading space of such tankers is divided into a large number of tanks, so that the amount of oil which may escape when a tank is damaged is kept as small as possible.
• certain tanks or ballast tanks are kept empty when the tanker is operating, in order to enable oil to be pumped from damaged tanks, the side tanks in particular being affected.
• operational pumping equipment of high performance must be available, which cannot be ensured after all types of tanker accidents.
• the current rules stipulate that within two hours such a large amount of oil can be pumped from a damaged tank to another tank that the remaining outflowing amount of oil does not exceed the 30,000 cubic meters shown above. It can be assumed that this amount of oil will no longer be accepted in future regulations, so that possibilities must be found to limit the amount of oil escaping from a tanker now.
• the invention has for its object to provide a tanker of the type mentioned, which in a safe manner allows at least a substantial reduction in the amount of charge escaping when a tank is damaged.
• the charge for example oil or chemicals
• the charge can be pumped around very quickly from a damaged tank into the safety tank (s), since the flow resistances due to the negative pressure, which are unavoidable even with large cross sections and short line lengths of the safety pipelines be largely overcome.
• the high flow resistances of the pipes used in normal operation for filling and emptying and for pumping around are avoided, so that large amounts of oil can be pumped around in a short time.
• the safety system formed by the safety tank (s) and the safety pipelines is active as such, i.e. does not require any additional energy sources in the event of damage, it is still possible to pump over even in the event of major damage to the tanker and a resulting energy failure out of damaged tanks.
• Simply opening the shut-off devices in the safety pipelines is sufficient to bring at least a substantial part of the contents of a damaged tank to safety.
• these can be, for example, multi-stage Pump combinations are generated and maintained a significant negative pressure, which significantly increases the amount of oil pumped per unit of time.
• leak sensors can be arranged in particularly endangered tanks, in particular the side tanks, which control the automatic opening of the shut-off devices of the safety pipelines connected to this tank when a leak is detected, whereby preferably independent energy sources can be provided for actuating the shut-off devices.
• shut-off devices from the bridge of the tanker
• Control commands for example, via a hydraulic line system.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of the tanker and the tanks arranged therein,
• FIG. 1 is enlarged partial views of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1st
• the embodiment of the tanker shown only schematically in FIG. 1 has a loading space which is subdivided into a plurality of tanks which are intended for the transport of liquid substances, such as oil or other liquids, including chemical materials. This subdivision of the loading space is therefore carried out so that if the outer skin or the bottom surface of the ship is damaged, only a small number, preferably only one tank, is affected and the entire load cannot leak.
• liquid substances such as oil or other liquids, including chemical materials
• three rows of tanks are provided along the longitudinal axis of the ship, namely respective side tanks 20-25 or 20a-25a along the side walls of the ship, and intermediate tanks 30-35, which are arranged between the side tanks and therefore at collision through the side tanks are largely protected.
• safety tanks 2, 3 are provided in the area of the middle tanks 30 - 35, the arrangement of these safety tanks being, however, not restrictive.
• the safety tanks can be arranged at any point of the ship that is well protected in the event of a collision, suitable ballast tanks also being able to be used for this purpose.
• FIG. 2a shows the area of the side tanks 20-22 or 20a-22a
• FIG. 2b shows the area of the outer tanks 23-25 or 23a-25a.
• the tank 20 is a
• Safety pipeline 41 connected to the safety tank 2, while the tank 21 is connected to this safety tank via a safety pipeline 42.
• the tank 22 is over a
• the size of the safety tank or tanks is based on the amount of liquid to be taken up in the side tanks in the event of damage, although it may be sufficient to pump only a certain amount of charge from a damaged tank in the shortest possible time, for example the amount of charge located above the waterline .
• Shut-off devices for example in the form of hydraulically operated shut-off valves, which are normally closed, are provided at the confluence of the safety pipelines 41 to 46 in the respectively assigned side tank or in the course of this safety pipeline.
• a high negative pressure is maintained in the safety tanks 2, 3 and these safety tanks are provided with appropriate stiffeners or a corresponding shape (for example spherical shape) in order to be able to withstand the pressure acting on its outer walls when there is a high negative pressure.
• the safety tanks 2, 3 are arranged in relation to the side tanks 20 to 25 assigned to them in such a way that the lengths of the respective safety pipelines 41-46 are as short as possible.
• the side tanks 20a-25a are also provided with safety pipelines which are not provided with reference numbers and which open into the associated safety tank.
• FIG. 2a further shows that the safety tank 2 itself can be subdivided, the parts likewise being able to be connected to one another via shut-off valves.
• 2b shows the safety tank 3 which is assigned to the side tanks 23-25 and 23a-25a and is connected to these side tanks via safety pipelines 44-46.
• all side tanks 20-25 and 20a-25a are connected to safety tanks 2, 3 via corresponding safety pipelines 41-46, which in turn can be connected to one another via a connecting line 47 in order to pump over to allow between these safety tanks 2,3.
• the safety pipelines in this case the safety pipeline 42, are arranged at a certain distance from the bottom wall 4 of a side tank, so that if water enters through a leak in the side tank 21, this will be the case at the bottom of this side tank due to the higher specific weight compared to oil-collecting water when pumping around the contents of the side tank 21 does not get into the safety tank 2.
• Leak detectors can be arranged in the individual side tanks, which control the automatic opening of the shut-off devices arranged in this side tank to the safety pipelines when a leak is detected, whereby these shut-off devices can be formed, for example, by hydraulically operated valves, which may have their own energy stores, so that they can still be operated even if the power supply of the tanker 1 fails.
• a high negative pressure is generated in the safety tanks 2, 3 via (not shown) optionally multi-stage pumping devices, which very strongly supports the overflow of the contents of the side tanks into the safety tank caused by gravity when the shut-off devices of a side tank are opened, so that this at least largely emptying a damaged side tank can happen very quickly. Because of the short length and the large cross-section of the safety pipelines possible for these short lengths, their flow resistance is still low compared to the pipelines between the individual tanks intended for normal operation.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Loading And Unloading Of Fuel Tanks Or Ships (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=6414745

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (5)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1990
  • 1990-09-21 DE DE19904030018 patent/DE4030018A1/de active Granted
• 1991
  • 1991-09-19 AU AU85111/91A patent/AU8511191A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1991-09-19 WO PCT/EP1991/001788 patent/WO1992005069A1/de unknown

Patent Citations (4)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events