Floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station

Abstract

A floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station includes a main hull, a lower base, and a positioning system. The base includes a bottom plate or at least two bottom plates fixedly connected by a splicing fixing structure. The bottom plate is also fixedly connected to the lower side of the main hull through the splicing fixing structure. Therefore, the main hull and the lower base of the floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station of the present invention can be assembled in a modular manner. The main hull and the lower base of the present invention can be built separately, and then connected and assembled in a modular manner at sea or on land. Therefore, the present invention can flexibly form supply stations of various forms and sizes to accommodate the berthing of LNG transport ships of different load capacities, thereby reducing its manufacturing cost. In addition, the supply station of the present invention allows the LNG ship to berth on its lower base in a bottom-sitting manner, and the LNG ship and the supply station are combined into a whole, so that excellent overall wave resistance can be obtained and the safety of offshore operations can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment, and in particular to a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station. Background Art

[0002] As countries around the world pay close attention to environmental protection, more and more countries have begun to use laws to force the elimination of traditional energy sources based on coal and fuel oil. The demand for new "clean energy" based on natural gas has continued to rise, which has greatly promoted the demand for LNG terminals. For areas with relatively weak infrastructure such as docks, the use of floating liquefied natural gas supply stations for natural gas supply has obvious advantages.

[0003] The offshore liquefied natural gas supply station is an important facility in the natural gas industry chain. It plays the core function of receiving, storing, regasifying and finally delivering liquefied natural gas (LNG) to downstream users. Compared with the land LNG receiving terminal, the offshore natural gas supply station has the advantages of small investment, short construction period, low requirements for land infrastructure configuration, and can be reused many times.

[0004] The existing floating devices usually show high motion amplitude and acceleration in the waves, and have poor wave resistance, which has an adverse effect on the unloading, regasification and external transmission of LNG. In addition, the existing floating LNG supply stations have high requirements for the meteorological conditions of their target sea areas. This has limited the use of floating LNG supply stations in wider sea areas to a certain extent.

[0005] In addition, in order to accommodate large-tonnage LNG ships, the main dimensions of the floating LNG supply station need to be increased accordingly. In this case, if a large-sized floating LNG supply station is built according to the current mainstream manufacturing method, higher requirements will be placed on its construction equipment and construction site. Under existing technology, a larger space for construction equipment and facilities and a larger construction site are required to build a large-sized floating LNG supply station. This limits the feasibility and economy of floating LNG facility engineering to a certain extent.

[0006] Existing floating liquefied natural gas supply stations have poor wave resistance and are difficult to adapt to the berthing of large ships in severe wind and wave conditions, making it difficult to meet the needs of a wider range of LNG terminals. Summary of the invention

[0007] In order to solve the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a floating reliable liquefied natural gas supply station, which can berth large LNG transport ships with a smaller main body scale, and improve the overall wave resistance performance during berthing by sitting on the bottom, so that it can be applied to a wider range of sea areas.

[0008] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, comprising: a main hull, which comprises: a liquefied natural gas storage tank, a natural gas processing module and a ballast water tank; the liquefied natural gas storage tank is arranged inside the main hull, and the natural gas processing module is connected to the liquefied natural gas storage tank; the ballast water tank is arranged at the lower part of the main hull. A lower base, which comprises at least one bottom plate. A splicing and fixing structure, which comprises a first splicing piece and a second splicing piece that cooperate with each other, at least one of the first splicing piece or the second splicing piece is arranged on the lower side of the main hull, and the other of the first splicing piece or the second splicing piece is correspondingly arranged on at least one side of the bottom plate; the main hull and the lower base are fixedly connected by the splicing and fixing structure.

[0009] Optionally, the above-mentioned floating moorable liquefied natural gas supply station further includes a positioning system, which is arranged at the lower part of the main hull or the lower base to fix the floating moorable liquefied natural gas supply station.

[0010] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the main hull includes two or more, and each of the main hulls is fixedly connected to a side surface of the bottom plate through the splicing fixing structure.

[0011] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the main hull is symmetrically arranged on two sides of the lower base, and is fixedly connected to the lower base via the splicing fixing structure.

[0012] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, each side surface of each base plate is respectively provided with the first splicing piece or the second splicing piece, and the base plates are fixedly connected by the splicing fixing structure.

[0013] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the lower base further includes piers or support rails, and the piers or support rails are arranged on the upper surface of the bottom plate.

[0014] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the first splicing piece and the second splicing piece are fixed by welding or clamping or fixedly connected by pouring an adhesive material.

[0015] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the positioning system includes any one of a mooring system, a dynamic positioning system, a pile positioning system, and a direct seabed seating system, or a combination thereof.

[0016] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating moorable liquefied natural gas supply station, the mooring system includes a mooring cable, one end of the mooring cable is fixed to the seabed, and the other end of the mooring cable is fixed to the lower part of the main hull or the lower part of each bottom plate.

[0017] Optionally, in the above-mentioned floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, the pile positioning system includes a plurality of positioning piles, one end of the positioning piles is fixed to the seabed, and the other end of the positioning piles is fixed to the lower part of the main hull or the lower part of each bottom plate.

[0018] Optionally, the above-mentioned floating moorable liquefied natural gas supply station, wherein the floating moorable liquefied natural gas supply station is directly seated on the seabed to achieve positioning.

[0019] Compared with the existing solutions, the present invention has the following technical effects:

[0020] 1. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station provided by the present invention includes: a main hull, a lower base, and a positioning system. The base includes a bottom plate or at least two bottom plates fixedly connected by a splicing fixing structure, and the bottom plate is also fixedly connected to the lower side of the main hull through the splicing fixing structure. Therefore, the main hull and the lower base of the floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station of the present invention can be assembled in a modular manner. The main hull and the lower base of the present invention can be built separately, and then connected and assembled in a modular manner at sea or on land. Therefore, the present invention can flexibly form supply stations of various forms and sizes to accommodate LNG transport ships of different load capacities.

[0021] 2. Since the main hull, lower base and other components of the present invention can be assembled and arranged by smaller modular units, it is not necessary to provide a larger construction site and special large-scale equipment for building a large-scale floating liquefied natural gas supply station. The present invention can effectively reduce the manufacturing cost of a large-scale supply station.

[0022] 3. In addition, the supply station of the present invention can adjust the draft between the two so that the LNG ship can be moored on the lower base in a bottom-sitting manner, so that the LNG ship and the supply station are combined into a whole. Therefore, the floating natural gas supply station of the present invention can obtain excellent overall wave resistance. At this time, under the influence of external ocean wind, waves, currents and other environmental factors, the supply station and LNG will achieve synchronous movement, and there is basically no relative displacement between the two, which improves the safety of offshore operations. And by selecting a suitable positioning system, such as mooring chains and anchors, piles, direct bottom sitting on the seabed, etc., this device can be used in sea areas with various water depths from shallow water to deep water, has strong universality, and can be applied to a wider range of sea areas.

[0023] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0025] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a first implementation mode of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a first implementation mode of the present invention when a small or medium-sized LNG ship is berthed;

[0027] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a first implementation mode of the present invention when a large LNG ship is berthed;

[0028] Figure 4 A top view of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a first embodiment of the present invention when a conventional LNG ship is berthed;

[0029] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a second implementation mode of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a second implementation mode of the present invention when a very large LNG ship is berthed;

[0031] Figure 7 A top view of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a second implementation of the present invention when a very large LNG ship is berthed;

[0032] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of positioning a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station in a pile-insertion manner according to a third implementation of the present invention;

[0033] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention being positioned in a seabed bottom manner;

[0034] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the connection mode between two splicing parts of the splicing fixed structure in the floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0036] refer to Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, which belongs to offshore oil and natural gas production facilities. The device is mainly composed of a main hull 100, a lower base 200, a positioning system 30, a berthing system, etc.

[0037] The main hull 100 includes a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tank and a cargo containment system, a natural gas processing module 101 and a ballast water tank 104. The natural gas processing module 101 mainly includes: a regasification module, an LNG unloading module, and a gas export module.

[0038] The lower base 200 includes a support structure, piers or support rails composed of a plurality of bottom plates 202.

[0039] The positioning system 30 can be in various forms, for example: Figure 1 The mooring lines and anchors shown, Figure 8 The plugging shown, such as Fig. 9 As shown, the seabed is directly seated on the bottom.

[0040] The berthing system mainly includes connecting cables 302, anti-collision pads, etc.

[0041] The main special feature of the present invention is that the main hull and the lower base can be separately constructed in modular form, and then connected in a modular manner at sea or on land to form supply stations of various geometric forms. Therefore, it can flexibly form supply stations of various forms and sizes to accommodate LNG transport ships of different load capacities. In addition, the LNG ship is moored at the lower base of the supply station in a bottom-sitting manner, and the two form a whole through the piers or support rails thereon, that is, a supply station-LNG ship combination is formed, so that excellent overall wave resistance and operating window conditions can be obtained, so that the supply station can be applied to target sea areas with stricter meteorological conditions, thereby improving the safety of offshore operations. The device does not require a large supply station hull construction site and has good engineering feasibility.

[0042] Specifically, in the first implementation of the present invention, reference is made to Figure 1 As shown. The lower side of the main hull 100 is Fig.10 or Figure 5 The splicing and fixing structure shown in the dotted frame realizes the free combination of the main hull and the lower base through the first splicing piece 5 and the second splicing piece 6 that cooperate with each other. In this way, the main hull 100 and the lower base 200 can be combined into a semi-open or fully open supply station, which can be widely applied to LNG ships of various main sizes.

[0043] Figure 1 In the implementation shown, the main hull 100 and the lower part of the lower base 200 of the above-mentioned supply station are also connected to a mooring system 301. The mooring system 301 includes a mooring cable, one end of which is fixed to the seabed, and the other end of which is fixed to the lower part of the main hull 100 or the lower part of each bottom plate 202. The mooring system 301 fixes the fully open floating supply station composed of the main hull 100 and the lower base 200 on the seabed to achieve long-term mooring of the supply station. In a typical implementation, the above-mentioned main hull 100 mainly includes a natural gas processing module 101, a discharge device 102, a liquefied natural gas storage tank 103, a ballast water tank 104, and a gas transmission pipeline 105. The lower base 200 is mainly composed of a pier / support rail 201 and a base structure 202.

[0044] like Figure 2 As shown, after the LNG carrier 400 arrives, the supply station of the present invention adjusts the ballast so that the LNG carrier 400 is seated on the bottom of the lower base 200; and the supply station and the LNG carrier are further connected by connecting the cable 302. Subsequently, the LNG is unloaded from the LNG carrier through the unloading device 102, and regasification is achieved through the natural gas processing module 101 and the downstream users are continuously supplied with gas through the gas transmission pipeline 105 until the LNG carried by the LNG carrier 400 is completely consumed. In this process, the main function of the LNG storage tank 103 is to use the LNG in the storage tank 103 to continue to supply gas to the user uninterruptedly when the previous LNG carrier leaves and the next LNG carrier 400 has not yet completely berthed and started to unload. Due to the bottom berthing, the LNG carrier 400, the main hull 100 and the lower base 200 form a whole, and there is basically no relative movement between them. Therefore, the operating weather window and applicable sea area of ​​the whole set of equipment can be greatly improved.

[0045] In particular, reference Figure 3 As shown in the figure, since the supply station of the present invention is an open structure, a smaller supply station can be used to accommodate large ships. Accordingly, after a large LNG ship berths at the supply station, the draft between the two can be adjusted to allow the LNG ship to berth on the lower base. At this time, most of the bottom of the LNG ship still remains on the lower base. The top view of the connection relationship is shown in FIG. Figure 4 Therefore, under the influence of external ocean wind, waves, currents and other environmental factors, the supply station and the LNG ship can still maintain synchronous movement, and there is basically no relative displacement between the two, which greatly increases the applicable sea area of ​​the supply station.

[0046] It is worth noting that the main hull 100 and the lower base 200 provided by the present invention can be constructed separately and then connected, so it can also be implemented when there is a lack of a large construction site.

[0047] In the second implementation of the present invention, referring to Figure 5 As shown, the target users of the supply station are ultra-large LNG carriers, so its main dimensions, especially the ship width, are relatively large. At this time, two sets of main hull 100 and lower base 200 modules can be used for left and right docking to form a semi-open structure for LNG carriers to berth. In this way, the ultra-large LNG carriers can sit on the bottom when berthing. Figure 6 or Figure 7 Other subsequent operation modes are similar to the previous implementation mode.

[0048] In a third implementation of the present invention, referring to Figure 8 As shown, the positioning method of the supply station is pile positioning, and the pile or positioning pile 300 can be inserted into the seabed through the operating mechanism to achieve long-term positioning of the entire supply station device. The specific operation method of this supply station is similar to the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0049] refer to Fig. 9 As shown, in the fourth implementation of the present invention, the supply station can also adjust the ballast tank 104 so that the ballast tank 104 is seated on the seabed as a whole to achieve long-term positioning. In the splicing and fixing structure, the first splicing piece 5 and the second splicing piece 6 can be fixed by welding, clamping, or pouring adhesive materials to connect and fix, so that each bottom plate 202 and the main hull 100 are connected as a whole.

[0050] The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station of the present invention has the following adjustable degrees of freedom due to its modular design:

[0051] The interface division between the main hull, lower base, positioning system and berthing system can be freely selected according to needs;

[0052] The berthing equipment between the supply station and the LNG ship, such as connecting cables, fenders, etc., and related operating mechanical systems can be freely selected according to needs;

[0053] The combination of the main hull and the lower base can be freely selected according to needs to form different forms of supply stations;

[0054] The main hull and lower base can be freely selected in terms of shape and main dimensions according to needs;

[0055] Adjust the draft of the supply station and the LNG ship, and the method and principle of realizing the LNG ship berthing at the supply station can be appropriately selected according to needs;

[0056] The extended deck structure of the main hull can be freely selected according to needs, and the form and geometric dimensions of the extended deck structure of the main hull can be further optimized, or the extended deck can be not provided;

[0057] The connection system between the main hull and the lower base can be freely selected according to needs, such as selecting its connection method, connection parts, connection materials, etc.;

[0058] The construction method and process flow of connecting the main hull and the lower base on land and / or at sea can be freely selected according to needs;

[0059] In the supply station, the geometry, size and layout of the LNG tank can be freely selected according to needs;

[0060] In the supply station, the LNG cargo containment system can be freely selected according to needs;

[0061] In the supply station, the setting, increase or decrease of LNG unloading, storage, regasification, external transmission and other functions can be freely selected according to needs;

[0062] In the supply station, the internal design of LNG unloading, storage, regasification, external transmission and other subsystems can be freely selected according to needs;

[0063] In the supply station, the setting, increase or decrease of the ballast function can be freely selected according to needs;

[0064] The geometric form, size and layout of the ballast water tanks in the supply station can be freely selected according to needs;

[0065] In the supply station, ballast can be freely selected according to needs;

[0066] The structural form, main material, arrangement, spacing and quantity of the pier / support rail can be freely selected according to needs;

[0067] The positioning system can adopt the mooring method. The layout of the mooring system, the composition of the mooring line, the main material of the mooring line, the intermediate joints, the terminal joints, the anchoring method of the mooring system on the seabed, the anchoring equipment, and the operating mechanical system of the mooring system can be freely selected according to the needs;

[0068] The positioning system can be a pile, and the arrangement of the pile or positioning pile, the structural size, the main material, the pile manipulation mechanical system, the pile implementation principle, etc. can be freely selected according to the needs;

[0069] The supply station device as a whole can be directly seated on the seabed. The implementation principle of the seabed seating, the operating mechanical system, the necessary local reinforcement of the bottom of the ship, the seabed foundation pretreatment conditions, etc. can be freely selected according to the needs;

[0070] The positioning system can be freely selected as other positioning methods according to needs, such as dynamic positioning system;

[0071] The water surface connection method and control mechanism between the supply station and the LNG ship can be freely selected according to needs;

[0072] The supply station can be freely selected to have self-propulsion function according to needs.

[0073] Thus, the advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0074] The main hull and the lower base can be conveniently combined into supply stations of various geometric forms, such as semi-open or fully open, so that a small-scale supply station can be used to accommodate the berthing of large LNG carriers.

[0075] Modular design can significantly reduce the requirements for the scale and facilities of the construction site, and can use the existing construction facilities around the target sea area for manufacturing, providing greater flexibility and wider applicability for its engineering application, and reducing the construction period and cost. The modular method is adopted to design and manufacture the main hull and the lower base separately. Through their free combination, various floating supply station forms can be flexibly realized, such as semi-open and fully open, so that the whole set of equipment can adapt to the berthing of LNG ships of various sizes, and realize the berthing of large LNG ships at small-scale supply stations. The modular construction method can also be used for manufacturing in a smaller construction site.

[0076] The floating berthing liquefied natural gas supply station of the present invention provides an excellent berthing method for LNG ships. The LNG ship can directly sit on the pier / support rail of the lower base of the supply station to form a supply station-LNG ship combination structure, thereby significantly improving the overall wave resistance and operating weather window, so that the device can be applied to a wider range of sea areas. The bottom-sitting berthing method of the LNG ship greatly reduces the relative movement between the supply station and the LNG ship. Compared with the traditional berthing operation method, the operating weather window of the device is increased by at least 40% to 50%. In addition, when the pile insertion or seabed bottom-sitting method is adopted, its operating window will be wider.

[0077] By reasonably selecting the form of positioning system, such as mooring chain and anchor, pile insertion, direct seabed bottoming, etc., this device can be used in sea areas with various water depth conditions from shallow water to deep water, and has strong universality. Through the optimization design of the positioning system, this device can adapt to various water depth operation conditions from shallow water to deep water, further expanding its applicable sea areas. For example, in shallow waters, it can be directly bottomed on the seabed; in medium-depth waters, it can be positioned by pile insertion; in deep seas, mooring positioning can be used.

[0078] The device can adopt an extended deck structure, so that a larger deck area can be obtained without increasing the main dimensions of the hull to provide sufficient operating space.

[0079] The entire supply station device requires small investment, short construction period, does not require large-scale land terminal infrastructure, and can be operated in different sea environments, thus having good economic efficiency throughout its life cycle.

[0080] The structural form of the pier / support rail can reduce the local load of the LNG ship when it is berthed at the bottom, so that a large-load LNG ship can berth at the supply station in a bottom-sitting manner.

[0081] The optimized design of the liquid tanks in the supply station can apply a variety of LNG cargo containment systems, especially the use of C-type tanks to store LNG, thereby achieving total cost optimization.

[0082] The whole set of equipment is fully functional, with all functions including LNG ship berthing, LNG unloading, storage, regasification, and external transmission, and can realize independent operation.

[0083] LNG unloading, regasification, external transmission and other process modules can adopt a compact design, further reducing the demand for the main hull deck area and main dimensions, thereby reducing the cost of the entire device.

[0084] The entire device can adopt an open overall layout design, which significantly improves the safety of LNG berthing and departure.

[0085] Those skilled in the art can understand that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention is described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein by equivalents. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station, characterized in that: include: A main hull (100) comprising: a liquefied natural gas storage tank (103), a natural gas processing module (101) and a ballast water tank (104); the liquefied natural gas storage tank (103) is arranged inside the main hull (100), and the natural gas processing module (101) is connected to the liquefied natural gas storage tank (103); the ballast water tank (104) is arranged at the lower part of the main hull (100); A lower base (200) comprising at least one bottom plate (202); A splicing fixing structure, comprising a first splicing piece (5) and a second splicing piece (6) that cooperate with each other, wherein at least one of the first splicing piece (5) or the second splicing piece (6) is arranged on the lower side of the main hull (100), and the other of the first splicing piece (5) or the second splicing piece (6) is correspondingly arranged on at least one side of the bottom plate (202); The main hull (100) and the lower base (200) are fixedly connected via the splicing fixing structure; A positioning system (30) is arranged at the lower part of the main hull (100) or the lower base (200) to fix the floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station; The main hull (100) comprises two or more, and each of the main hulls (100) is fixedly connected to a side surface of the bottom plate (202) via the splicing fixing structure; Each side surface of each base plate (202) is provided with the first assembling piece (5) or the second assembling piece (6), and each base plate (202) is fixedly connected via the splicing fixing structure.

2. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main hull (100) is symmetrically arranged on two side surfaces of the lower base (200), and is fixedly connected to the lower base (200) via the splicing fixing structure.

3. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lower base (200) further comprises a buttress or a support rail, wherein the buttress or the support rail is arranged on the upper surface of the bottom plate (202).

4. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first assembling piece (5) and the second assembling piece (6) are fixed by welding or clamping or fixed by pouring an adhesive material.

5. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 4, characterized in that: The positioning system (30) comprises any one of a mooring system (301), a dynamic positioning system, a pile positioning system (300), and a direct seabed seating system, or a combination thereof.

6. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 5, characterized in that: The mooring system (301) comprises a mooring cable, one end of which is fixed to the seabed, and the other end of which is fixed to the lower part of the main hull (100) or the lower part of each bottom plate (202).

7. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 5, characterized in that: The pile-insertion positioning system comprises a plurality of positioning piles, one end of each positioning pile is fixed to the seabed, and the other end of each positioning pile is fixed to the lower part of the main hull (100) or the lower part of each bottom plate (202).

8. The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station according to claim 5, characterized in that The floating berthable liquefied natural gas supply station is directly seated on the seabed to achieve positioning.

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