149results about "Buoyancy means" patented technology

A Method and Apparatus for Wake Enlargement System have been disclosed. By using water pick ups that are mounted or deployable on a boat controlled filling of ballast tanks is possible without the use of pumps.

A substantially cylindrical buoyancy module for a marine riser includes a plurality of buoyancy elements separated along at least one helical separation plane.

A flexible lifting tether system for lifting a marine vehicle or object is described which is capable of significantly improving the primary characteristics of an existing cable by enhancing load-carrying capabilities (e.g. in air), modifying the tether to have altered specific gravities in water, and relieving torsional stresses when in operation.

A wakesurfing boat includes a hull. A bottom of the hull defines a W-shape in cross-section, the W-shape including a central inverted V-shaped portion. A ballast system includes a plurality of sets of ballast tanks. The boat has a plurality of modes: a cruising mode with ballast tanks empty, a first portion of the bottom in contact with the water, a stern-down trim θ₁; a ballasted static mode with ballast tanks filled with ballast water, the hull displacing more water, a larger portion of the bottom in contact with the water, a bow-down trim θ₂; and a dynamic surfing mode with ballast tanks filled with ballast water, an intermediate portion of the bottom in contact with the water, and an intermediate trim θ₃. A wake wave, generated in the dynamic surfing mode is larger than a wake wave generated in the cruising mode.

An inflatable water-based motorised device docking station is described. The inflatable water-based motorised device docking station includes an inflatable tube configurable to form an open ended area to receive a water-based motorised device; a floor area coupled to a portion of the inflatable tube; and a ballast bag with dump attached to the floor area and configured to stabilise the inflatable water-based motorised device docking station.

The invention provides a semi-submersible type crane platform ballast system and method. The ballast system comprises multiple ballast tanks and ballast pipelines. The multiple ballast tanks are arranged in stand columns of a port and starboard and distributed in the height of the stand columns. The ballast pipelines are arranged in the stand columns and cross bracing and make all the ballast tanks in the port and the starboard communicated. Transfer of ballast water from the high position ballast tank to the low position ballast tank can be achieved through the ballast pipelines and gravity among the ballast tanks of different heights in the port and the starboard, work of a ballast pump is not needed, and the rapid reaction capacity of the ballast system is improved.

The invention discloses a measuring system for the mechanical properties of a seabed sediment suitable for full sea depth, comprising a waterborne monitoring unit and an underwater measuring device. The underwater measuring device comprises an observation platform and a measuring mechanism. The observation platform comprises a frame body; and floating bodies, wing plates, floating ball cabins, leveling mechanisms, counterweight mechanisms, and releasing mechanisms, which are mounted on the frame body. The floating ball cabins seal the system circuit. The wing plates are deployed when the underwater measuring device reaches a set height from the seabed, so that the underwater measuring device lands stably. The leveling mechanisms adjust the underwater measuring device to stand horizontallyon the seabed when the frame body reaches the seabed. The releasing mechanisms discard the counterweights to realize recovery after the underwater measuring device finishes the underwater operation. The measuring mechanism comprises a conical penetration measuring mechanism, a spherical penetration measuring mechanism, a cross plate shearing and measuring mechanism, or a sampling mechanism. The measuring system for the mechanical properties of a seabed sediment suitable for full sea depth can measure the mechanical properties of the seabed sediments of full sea depth.

Provided is a floating wind turbine including a hull, a wind turbine mounted on top of the hull and a counterweight suspended below the hull by a counterweight suspension is described. Also, a method for the installation is described. The counterweight includes one or more counterweight buoyancy tanks. When the internal volume of the buoyancy tanks is filled with air, the total buoyancy of the counterweight is close to or greater than its weight. Hereby it is capable of floating in a towing/maintenance position with moderate or no support in the vertical direction from the hull or other vessels. During towing, the hull substantially has the character of a barge, substantially relying on a large waterplane area and shallow draft to maintain stability.

A semi-submersible structure. The hull includes four columns that are supported by two pontoons. The columns support the topsides and the topsides structural framing serves as horizontal framing between the columns. A truss frame is attached to the columns. The truss frame preferably includes heave plates. The truss frame extends downward below the pontoons a sufficient distance in the water such that it minimizes motions caused by environmental forces. The hull section and the truss space frame are constructed separately and assembled together at the offshore site where the structure is used for drilling and/or production.

The present invention provides a method and device for launching a ship using additional buoyancy, wherein, in order to keep the ship balanced during launching, the additional buoyancy is applied to the inside or outside of the ship instead of adding ballast to the ship. The method includes: placing a buoyant body of a size determined by the weight and buoyancy of the partially constructed ship on the bottom surface of the ship or on the side of the ship; fixing the buoyant body on the hull to generate additional buoyancy Maintaining the balance of the hull during launching; loading water into the dock to launch partially built and fully built boats; transporting fully built boats out of the dock; draining the dock to dock partially built boats bottom of the dock; and separating the buoy from the partially constructed hull.

A wakesurfing boat for creating a wave suitable for surfing in the wake of the boat. A length to beam (L/B) ratio of 3.21 combined with a rounded hull bottom proximate the transom minimizes losses in the wake wave. Elliptical arcuate portions extending from starboard and port points on the transom to selected positions on the respective starboard and port bulwarks further minimize losses in the wake wave. The hull bottom defines an M-shaped portion and a V-shaped portion. A propulsion system includes an exhaust pipe projecting from the hull bottom below the waterline, with an exhaust opening forward of the transom. A propeller has a hub and at least three blades. A blade area, defined by a sum of the area of the blades, is larger than 70% of a disc area, defined by a sum of the hub and the blades.

A submarine vehicle may include a storage area for storing loads. The submarine vehicle may further include a pressure hull. The submarine vehicle is configured to pick loads up from a seabed and/or set loads down on the seabed. The storage area may be positioned outside the pressure hull and, in some examples, between numerous pressure hulls. Further, the storage area may include a lower hatch disposed on an underside of the pressure hull or an upper hatch disposed on a top side of the pressure hull. Some submarine vehicles may include a load transporting system for picking the load up from the seabed, setting the load down on the seabed, and/or conveying the load within the storage area.

An LNG production plant and a method of constructing the LNG production plant is disclosed. The LNG production plant includes at least one plant module and a support structure to support the plant module. Each plant module is dry transported by a heavy lift vessel and subsequently transferred to the support structure without lifting the plant module from a deck of the vessel. The support structure includes a landing substructure onto which the plant module is transferred from the vessel. Landing substructure may be onshore or offshore. The support structure may also include one or more onshore support substructures and a transfer path enabling a plant module to be moved from the landing substructure to a corresponding onshore support substructure.

A buoyant apparatus and method of use buoyancy to offset the weight of a load during immersion of the load in a fluid medium such as a payload manipulated by a cable and crane or by a remotely operated undersea vehicle. Buoyancy modules that can be of different size and shape have elongated supports that are attachable via complementary connection fixtures at the ends. The attached supports form a skeleton of the array. The connection fixtures are axially resiliently compressible and maintain the buoyancy modules in abutment notwithstanding shrinkage or expansion of the buoyant material due to hydrostatic pressure that increases with depth.

A buoyancy-based lifting system can be dynamically controlled to lift, move, or hold a load an object of arbitrary size at a fixed depth. The control system can control the trajectory of a flexible gas-filled lift bag and attached load by opening or closing inflation and deflation valves based on ambient pressure readings obtained during a lift. Stable control can be achieved and maintained without having to directly measure the actual volume of gas in the lift bag, and without having to accumulate measurements of gas flows into and out of the bag. A controller can pre-determine limits of instability and lift control parameters, then use this information in conjunction with ambient pressure readings to prevent the system from becoming unstable during a lift. User intervention is generally unnecessary to maintain the system's instability.