Adjustable ballast tank, medium allocation method thereof and floating type offshore platform

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of ballast tanks, and discloses an adjustable ballast tank, a medium allocation method thereof and a floating type offshore platform. The adjustable ballast tank comprises a plurality of medium bags, the medium bags are sequentially nested or adjacently arranged, each medium bag is provided with an independent medium cavity, one medium can be stored in each medium cavity, and each medium cavity is communicated with the outside through a channel opening in the medium bag so as to be filled with or discharged out of the medium. According to the floating type offshore platform, multiple media can be stored by arranging the multiple medium cavities, so that the media can be blended and used when the floating type offshore platform works on the sea, the media are more convenient to obtain, and good economic benefits are achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of ballast tanks, and in particular to an adjustable ballast tank and a medium mixing method thereof, and a floating offshore platform. Background Art

[0002] A floating offshore platform is a large floating facility installed at sea. The floating offshore platform can be used as a supporting foundation to install other buildings on it (for example, a wind turbine can be installed on the floating offshore platform). Therefore, the floating offshore platform can be widely used in marine science, environmental protection, resource development, weather forecasting and other fields that require offshore operations.

[0003] As a key component of a floating offshore platform, the ballast tank can adjust the center of gravity distribution of the floating offshore platform and maintain the balance of the platform. Existing ballast tanks usually use water as the medium. By filling the ballast tank with water or draining water out of the tank, the platform's draft, stability and center of gravity height can be changed, thereby adjusting the platform's buoyancy to adapt to different operating requirements and environmental conditions. However, this type of ballast tank can only be adjusted using a single medium, which cannot meet the needs of using multiple media in complex offshore construction conditions. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides an adjustable ballast tank and a medium mixing method thereof, and a floating offshore platform to solve the problem that the existing ballast tank can only be adjusted using a single medium and cannot meet the demand for the use of multiple media in complex offshore construction conditions.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an adjustable ballast tank, comprising: a plurality of medium bags, wherein the plurality of medium bags are nested in sequence or arranged closely together, each of the medium bags has an independent medium cavity, each of the medium cavity can store a medium, and each of the medium cavities is connected to the outside through a channel opening on the medium bag to fill or discharge the medium.

[0006] Beneficial Effects

[0007] The adjustable ballast tank has multiple medium capsules, and each medium capsule has an independent medium cavity, in which medium can be stored. Since each medium cavity is independent, different medium cavities can store different types of medium. When the ballast tank is used for a floating offshore platform, different mediums can be filled into the ballast tank first. When the floating offshore platform is working at sea, manual personnel can extract the required medium (such as fresh water, oil, etc.) from the ballast tank and fill other medium (such as seawater) into other empty medium cavities in the ballast tank. In this way, the medium can be deployed and used, overcoming the difficulty of transporting resources at sea and the high transportation cost.

[0008] In an optional embodiment, the adjustable ballast tank includes three medium bags nested in sequence from the inside to the outside, and a connecting pipe is provided at the channel opening of each medium bag, and the medium cavity of the medium bag is connected to the outside through the connecting pipe.

[0009] Beneficial Effects

[0010] The medium bags are nested in sequence, which makes it easier to keep the center of gravity of the ballast tank stable and the balance better during the process of extracting and inputting the medium.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the length of the connecting pipe provided on the innermost medium bag is greater than the connecting pipe provided on the middle medium bag, and the length of the connecting pipe provided on the middle medium bag is greater than the connecting pipe provided on the outermost medium bag.

[0012] Beneficial Effects

[0013] Connecting pipes of different lengths are arranged according to different internal and external positions of the medium capsule to connect with the medium capsule, so as to ensure that the media in different medium cavities will not interact or mix during the medium transportation process.

[0014] In an optional embodiment, a control valve is provided on the connecting pipeline.

[0015] Beneficial Effects

[0016] The control valve can be set to control the on-off of the connecting pipeline, which makes it easier to control the process of filling or extracting the medium from the medium cavity.

[0017] In an optional embodiment, the medium capsule is a double-layer capsule membrane structure.

[0018] Beneficial Effects

[0019] The medium capsule adopts a double-layer capsule membrane structure with higher use strength and is not easy to be damaged, resulting in mixing of media in different medium cavities.

[0020] In an optional embodiment, the medium stored in the medium cavity is a gas medium or a liquid medium.

[0021] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a method for preparing medium in an adjustable ballast tank, which is applied to the adjustable ballast tank and comprises:

[0022] Filling one or more medium chambers of the ballast tank with medium to adjust the center of gravity of the ballast tank to a suitable position;

[0023] The required medium is extracted from the medium cavity storing the medium, and other medium is simultaneously filled into other medium cavities to maintain the center of gravity position of the ballast tank unchanged.

[0024] Beneficial Effects

[0025] Through this medium mixing method, the medium in the ballast tank can be mixed and used while maintaining the center of gravity of the ballast tank unchanged and keeping it balanced. The medium originally stored in the medium cavity and required by the staff can be extracted and replaced with other types of medium, which is convenient for construction and use.

[0026] In a third aspect, the present invention further provides a floating offshore platform, comprising the adjustable ballast tank, and further comprising:

[0027] A floating body assembly, the floating body assembly comprising a plurality of buoys and a plurality of cross braces, the plurality of buoys being arranged in a circular array, and two adjacent buoys being connected by the cross braces, and each buoy being provided with the adjustable ballast tank;

[0028] A support assembly, the support assembly comprising a deck and a plurality of columns, one of the columns being disposed on each of the buoys, the adjustable ballast tank being disposed inside each of the columns, and the deck being disposed at the top ends of the plurality of the columns;

[0029] The mooring assembly comprises a plurality of mooring cables, one end of each mooring cable is connected to the column, and the other end of each mooring cable is connected to the seabed.

[0030] Beneficial Effects

[0031] Because the floating offshore platform includes an adjustable ballast tank, it has the same effect as the adjustable ballast tank and will not be described in detail here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0033] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an adjustable ballast tank according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a floating offshore platform according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of ballast tanks in a floating offshore platform according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Description of reference numerals:

[0037] 1. adjustable ballast tank, 11. medium bag, 12. medium cavity, 13. connecting pipe;

[0038] 2. floating body assembly, 21. buoy, 22. cross brace;

[0039] 3. Support assembly, 31. Deck, 32. Column;

[0040] 41. Mooring line. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The technical solution of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship, are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0043] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0044] In addition, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0045] In the related technology, a ballast tank is installed on the floating offshore platform to adjust the center of gravity of the platform and maintain the balance of the platform. However, there is only one cavity inside the ballast tank, which is used to store the medium. During use, the draft and center of gravity height of the platform can be changed by adding the same medium to the cavity or extracting the medium in the cavity, and the medium itself will not play any other role. But in fact, since the floating offshore platform is set at sea, many liquid or gas resources are not easy to obtain and need to be transported by sea. It is difficult to obtain resources and the cost is high.

[0046] In order to solve the difficulty of obtaining resources on floating offshore platforms and the high transportation and production costs, the ballast tanks were improved to utilize the medium, making it easier for floating offshore platforms to obtain resources. Figures 1 to 3 , describing an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] According to an embodiment of the present invention, on the one hand, an adjustable ballast tank 1 is provided, and the ballast tank can be applied to a floating offshore platform. The adjustable ballast tank 1 includes: a plurality of medium capsules 11. The plurality of medium capsules 11 are nested in sequence or arranged closely together, each medium capsule 11 has an independent medium cavity 12, each medium cavity 12 can store a medium, and each medium cavity 12 is connected to the outside through a channel opening on the medium capsule 11 to fill or discharge the medium.

[0048] There are two ways to set up multiple media capsules 11. One way is to nest them from the inside to the outside, that is, the second media capsule 11 is placed on the outside of the first media capsule 11 (the innermost media capsule 11), and the third media capsule 11 is placed on the outside of the second media capsule 11, and so on. In this way, the entire space of the media cavity 12 of the first media capsule 11 can store the media, but because the first media capsule 11 will occupy part of the space of the media cavity 12 of the second media capsule 11, the space between the second media capsule 11 and the first media capsule 11 is the space in which the media cavity 12 of the second media capsule 11 can store the media, and so on, that is, the space occupied by the inner media capsule 11 minus the space of the media cavity 12 of the outer media capsule 11 is the space in which the media cavity 12 can actually store the media. Another way is to set up multiple media capsules 11 in close proximity, such as single row and multiple columns, multiple rows and single column, and multiple rows and multiple columns. In this way, the entire space of the media cavity 12 of each media capsule 11 can store the media. Regardless of the arrangement, the medium chambers 12 of the different medium capsules 11 are not intercommunication, but are independent of each other, and can only communicate with the outside through corresponding passages to achieve medium input or output. In this way, different types of media can be stored in different medium chambers 12 without mixing or interfering with each other.

[0049] The adjustable ballast tank 1 has multiple spaces for storing media by setting multiple media capsules 11. Therefore, different types of media can be stored, so the media in one or more media chambers 12 can be used, and the total amount of media in the ballast tank can be maintained unchanged by adding other types of media to other media chambers 12, thereby ensuring that the center of gravity of the ballast tank will not change due to the use of media. In practical applications, the ballast tank can be filled with media on land, and then set on a floating offshore platform, and then the floating offshore platform can be set on the sea. During work, the media required for life or construction (such as fresh water, oil, special gases, etc.) can be extracted from the ballast tank, and the media (seawater) that is easily available at sea can be added to the ballast tank. In this way, the required resources can be quickly obtained at sea to meet the needs of life or construction, which greatly improves convenience, and no longer needs to be transported from land by ships, which reduces the difficulty and cost of sea transportation, and has good economic benefits.

[0050] In one embodiment, the adjustable ballast tank 1 includes three medium bags 11 nested in sequence from the inside to the outside, and a connecting pipe 13 is provided at the passage opening of each medium bag 11 , and the medium cavity 12 of the medium bag 11 is connected to the outside through the connecting pipe 13 .

[0051] Specifically, in this embodiment, the ballast tank includes three medium capsules 11, and the three medium capsules 11 are nested in sequence from the inside to the outside, that is, the medium cavities 12 of the three medium capsules 11 are enlarged in sequence. Figure 1 As shown, the shape of the ballast tank from the outside is similar to a vertical cuboid, and the corresponding outermost medium capsule 11 has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to its height direction. However, the two inner medium capsules 11 are both similar to cylinders, that is, the cross sections of the two inner medium capsules 11 perpendicular to their height direction are both circular, but the outer diameters of the two medium capsules 11 are different. It should be noted that Figure 1 It is only a schematic cross-sectional view of the ballast tank in a certain state. Since the medium bag 11 itself is soft and will expand freely after being filled with the medium, its cross-sectional shape is not fixed and can be other regular shapes or irregular shapes.

[0052] Furthermore, since the innermost medium capsule 11 is located inward and is difficult to be directly connected to the outside through the passage opening, a connecting pipe 13 is provided at the passage opening of each medium capsule 11 to facilitate the medium cavity 12 to be connected to the outside, so as to facilitate the filling of the medium into the medium cavity 12 or the extraction of the medium in the medium cavity 12. Moreover, the three medium capsules 11 are arranged concentrically in this nesting manner, so that the center of gravity of the ballast tank can be better controlled when the medium is extracted or filled, and the stability of the ballast tank can be maintained.

[0053] For example, water with a volume of 0.8V can be placed in one of the medium chambers 12 of the ballast tank, and air with a volume of 0.2V can be placed in another medium chamber 12. Then, when in use, the water and air can be gradually pumped out, and oil with a volume of V can be gradually filled into the other empty medium chamber 12. The total weight and average center of gravity position of the ballast tank in this three-layer nested structure do not change during the whole process.

[0054] In another embodiment, the three medium capsules 11 may also be arranged in sequence along one direction. In this arrangement, the medium cavity 12 of the medium capsule 11 will not be additionally occupied, so the space for storing the medium is larger.

[0055] Of course, no matter which arrangement is adopted, in other embodiments, the number of medium capsules 11 can be adjusted, for example, it can be two, four, etc., and this embodiment does not make any specific limitation.

[0056] In one embodiment, a control valve is provided on the connecting pipe 13 .

[0057] The connecting pipe 13 connects the medium chamber 12 and the outside world, and a control valve is arranged on the connecting pipe 13 to control the on-off of the connecting pipe 13. Specifically, a solenoid valve can be used, which facilitates automatic control.

[0058] Furthermore, in other embodiments, a flow meter may be provided on the connecting pipe 13, and the amount of medium input into or output from the medium cavity 12 may be counted by the flow meter, thereby facilitating the maintenance of the dynamic balance of the ballast tank.

[0059] Specifically, Figure 1 As shown, the shape of the ballast tank from the outside is similar to a vertical cuboid, and the corresponding outermost medium capsule 11 has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to its height direction. However, the two inner medium capsules 11 are both similar to cylinders, that is, the cross sections of the two inner medium capsules 11 perpendicular to their height directions are both circular, but the outer diameters of the two medium capsules 11 are different.

[0060] In other embodiments, the cross-section of the medium capsule 11 perpendicular to its height direction may also be other shapes, such as a trapezoid, a triangle, etc.; the cross-sections of adjacent medium capsules 11 perpendicular to their height direction may be the same or different, for example, the cross-sections of three medium capsules 11 perpendicular to their height direction may all be circular.

[0061] In one embodiment, the medium capsule 11 is a double-layer capsule membrane structure.

[0062] The medium capsule 11 with a double-layer capsule membrane structure is more durable and not easy to be damaged, so as to avoid the mixing of different types of media in adjacent medium cavities 12 due to damage of the medium capsule 11 and thus make them unusable.

[0063] In one embodiment, the medium stored in the medium cavity 12 is a gas medium or a liquid medium.

[0064] Specifically, gaseous media such as air, hydrogen, helium, etc., and liquid media such as fresh water, oil, etc. can be selected according to the needs of life or construction. The medium cavity 12 of each medium capsule 11 can store one medium, and the medium cavities 12 of different medium capsules 11 can store the same type of medium or different types of medium. For example, when only one resource is needed, the medium of this type can be stored in multiple medium cavities 12; if multiple resources are needed, different types of media can be stored in different medium cavities 12. For the same size of ballast tank, if one medium is stored, the total amount is larger, while if multiple media are stored, the amount of each medium is smaller.

[0065] According to an embodiment of the present invention, on the other hand, a medium mixing method for an adjustable ballast tank 1 is also provided, which is applied to the adjustable ballast tank 1 provided in the above embodiment for mixing the medium. The medium mixing method comprises:

[0066] Filling the medium into one or more medium chambers 12 of the ballast tank to adjust the center of gravity of the ballast tank to a suitable position;

[0067] The required medium is extracted from the medium chamber 12 storing the medium, and other medium is simultaneously filled into other medium chambers 12 to maintain the center of gravity position of the ballast tank unchanged.

[0068] Specifically, the medium required later is filled into the medium chamber 12 of the ballast tank. This step is generally performed on land. According to the weight and type of the required medium, one medium chamber 12 is selected to be filled with the medium, or the same or different types of medium are filled into multiple medium chambers 12. Generally, the number of medium chambers 12 selected is less than the total number of medium chambers 12, so as to facilitate the subsequent use of the medium. However, no matter how many medium chambers 12 are selected to be filled with the medium, the final center of gravity position of the ballast tank must be ensured to be appropriate.

[0069] Furthermore, the ballast tank filled with medium is installed on a floating offshore platform and transported to the sea for construction work. When a certain medium is needed, the medium in the corresponding medium cavity 12 can be extracted through the connecting pipe 13. At the same time, the medium needs to be filled into other medium cavities 12. At this time, the same medium can be filled into the medium cavity 12 storing other types of medium, or other types of medium can be filled into the empty medium cavity 12. Moreover, the medium can be filled into one medium cavity 12, or the same medium can be filled into multiple medium cavities 12, or different types of medium can be filled into multiple medium cavities 12. The total amount of medium filled and extracted is equal, that is, this process is dynamically balanced, thereby keeping the center of gravity of the ballast tank unchanged as a whole, thereby ensuring the balance of the floating offshore platform.

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present invention, on the other hand, a floating offshore platform is also provided, which includes: an adjustable ballast tank 1, a floating assembly 2, a support assembly 3 and a mooring assembly. The floating assembly 2 includes a plurality of buoys 21 and a plurality of cross braces 22, wherein the plurality of buoys 21 are arranged in a circumferential array, and two adjacent buoys 21 are connected by the cross braces 22, and an adjustable ballast tank 1 is arranged in each buoy 21; the support assembly 3 includes a deck 31 and a plurality of columns 32, wherein a column 32 is arranged on each buoy 21, and an adjustable ballast tank 1 is arranged inside each column 32, and the deck 31 is arranged at the top of the plurality of columns 32; the mooring assembly includes a plurality of mooring cables 41, one end of the mooring cables 41 is connected to the column 32, and the other end is connected to the seabed.

[0071] Specifically, Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the floating assembly 2 includes three buoys 21 and three cross braces 22. The cross section of the buoy 21 is semicircular, and the three buoys 21 are arranged in a triangle. Two adjacent buoys 21 are connected together by the cross brace 22. Correspondingly, the support assembly 3 includes a deck 31 and three columns 32. The three columns 32 are respectively arranged on the three buoys 21, and the deck 31 is connected to the top of the three columns 32. The buoy 21 and the columns 32 are both hollow, and an adjustable ballast tank 1 is arranged inside. In addition, the inside of the cross brace 22 can also be hollow, and an adjustable ballast tank 1 can also be arranged. The center of gravity position of the entire floating offshore platform is adjusted by the adjustable ballast tank 1. The mooring cable 41 in the mooring assembly connects the column 32 and the seabed to maintain the position of the floating offshore platform at sea.

[0072] Further, such as Figure 3 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the adjustable ballast tank 1 inside the floating offshore platform. In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the buoy 21 is approximately semicircular, and the corresponding adjustable ballast tank 1 arranged in the buoy 21 is also a curved surface adjacent to the curved surface of the buoy 21, which matches the buoy 21. The cross brace 22 and the column 32 are columnar, and their cross-sectional shape is rectangular. The corresponding adjustable ballast tank 1 arranged in the cross brace 22 and the column 32 is also a rectangular cross-sectional shape, which matches the cross brace 22 and the column 32. In this way, the internal space of the buoy 21, the cross brace 22 and the column 32 can be greatly utilized, and the total volume of the storage medium is larger. Of course, the number of adjustable ballast tanks 1 in the buoy 21, the cross brace 22 and the column 32 can be one or more.

[0073] In actual application, some ballast tanks in the floating offshore platform can be filled with fresh water, which can be supplied to the workers on nearby islands during construction, while other ballast tanks can be supplemented with seawater.

[0074] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and such modifications and variations are all within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An adjustable ballast tank, characterized in that: include: A plurality of medium capsules (11) are nested in sequence or arranged closely together, each medium capsule (11) has an independent medium cavity (12), each medium cavity (12) can store a medium, and each medium cavity (12) is connected to the outside through a channel opening on the medium capsule (11) to fill or discharge the medium.

2. The adjustable ballast tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: It comprises three medium capsules (11) nested in sequence from the inside to the outside, and a connecting pipe (13) is provided at the channel opening of each medium capsule (11), and the medium cavity (12) of the medium capsule (11) is connected to the outside through the connecting pipe (13).

3. The adjustable ballast tank according to claim 2, characterized in that: The length of the connecting pipe (13) provided on the innermost medium bag (11) is greater than the length of the connecting pipe (13) provided on the middle medium bag (11), and the length of the connecting pipe (13) provided on the middle medium bag (11) is greater than the length of the connecting pipe (13) provided on the outermost medium bag (11).

4. The adjustable ballast tank according to claim 2, characterized in that: The connecting pipeline (13) is provided with a control valve.

5. The adjustable ballast tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: The medium capsule (11) is a double-layer capsule membrane structure.

6. The adjustable ballast tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: The medium stored in the medium cavity (12) is a gas medium or a liquid medium.

7. A method for preparing medium in an adjustable ballast tank, applied to the adjustable ballast tank (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: include: Filling one or more medium chambers (12) of the ballast tank with medium to adjust the center of gravity of the ballast tank to a suitable position; Required medium is extracted from the medium chamber (12) storing the medium, and other medium is simultaneously filled into other medium chambers (12), so as to maintain the center of gravity position of the ballast tank unchanged.

8. A floating offshore platform, characterized in that: The adjustable ballast tank (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it also comprises: A floating body assembly (2), the floating body assembly (2) comprising a plurality of buoys (21) and a plurality of cross braces (22), the plurality of buoys (21) being arranged in a circular array, and two adjacent buoys (21) being connected by the cross braces (22), and each buoy (21) being provided with the adjustable ballast tank (1); A support assembly (3), the support assembly (3) comprising a deck (31) and a plurality of columns (32), each of the buoys (21) being provided with one of the columns (32), each of the columns (32) being provided with the adjustable ballast tank (1), and the deck (31) being provided at the top ends of the plurality of columns (32); A mooring assembly comprises a plurality of mooring cables (41), one end of each mooring cable (41) is connected to the column (32), and the other end of each mooring cable (41) is connected to the seabed.

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