System for lifting sunken object

Abstract

FIELD: ship lifting equipment.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to technical devices for lifting sunken objects lying on board with a large list from the bottom of water areas. System for lifting a sunken object consists of paired barge platforms, where each has a displacement hull on which protective fenders located along the sides, rubbing strips along the entire perimeter in the surface part and sets of ship-lifting equipment are placed. Ship-lifting equipment includes power units and ship-lifting modules, each of which includes a hydraulic cable step jack and a dynamic load compensator, installed in hinged and deflecting when heeling strong frames, installed during lifting on both sides of the lifted object, placed on support beams, and connected to the barge platforms by load-bearing connections, selected by step cable jacks. Also included in the system are bottom arrays, consisting of a slab with a recess to increase the suction force, guide strips, brackets, guide rollers and sockets for attaching load-bearing connections, which are combined into a single field, for straightening the object on the bottom.EFFECT: reducing the time required to perform ship-lifting operations.1 cl, 11 dwg

Description

[0001] The invention relates to technical devices that ensure the recovery from the bottom of water areas of sunken objects lying on board with a large list (about 90 degrees).

[0002] A system for raising sunken submarines is known, protected by Russian Federation patent No. 2725027, including platform barges, lifting devices made in the form of hydraulic step-type cable jacks, installed vertically on the sponsons of the platform barges in such a way that the load-bearing ties run vertically, ballast tanks - counterweights and support beams with movable stops with a curved surface [1]. This system is taken as a prototype.

[0003] The disadvantages of using the above-mentioned system are the use of counterweight tanks, which require long-term filling with water in strict accordance with the loads acting on the load-bearing ties, and the complex technology of installing support beams under the object being lifted, which requires the development of extensive tunnels under the hull of the object, which encounters increasing difficulties as the depth of ship-lifting operations increases and when lifting sunken objects lying on board (with a list of about 90 degrees).

[0004] The first drawback is eliminated by using a ship-lifting device based on a hydraulic step-type cable jack, protected by Russian Federation patent No. 2792033, which has angular hinge joints, thanks to which the equipment located in a strong frame in the form of a step-type cable jack on a vertical displacement compensator has the ability to deviate when the barge platform tilts under load, which eliminates the need for constant and immediate leveling of the tilt during lifting [2].

[0005] The second drawback can be eliminated either by fastening the hull of the object being lifted with the formation of strong attachment points for the load-bearing ties, as was done during the raising of the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk [3], or by using a large-sized gripping device, as was planned during the raising of the sunken submarine S-80 [4], or by installing keel beams after sequentially lifting first one end of the object being lifted above the ground, and then the other end, as was done during the raising of the South Korean ferry Sewol [5]. The listed existing fastening methods are applicable with limitations and are not universal. The use of the first method is possible, as a rule, only for submarines with a powerful, strong hull, and is not suitable for surface ships and vessels with relatively thin plating.Large-scale grabbing devices, complex and expensive to design and build, are typically designed for a single specific object, making them virtually impossible to reuse. The third method, using end-lifting, requires the use of equipment capable of generating concentrated forces equal to at least half the lifting weight of the object being lifted. For example, during the raising of the Sewol ferry, ship-lifting equipment similar to the prototype system was supplemented by a high-capacity floating crane. Without such a floating crane, the existing system for lifting sunken objects, based on platform barges equipped with stepper cable jacks, becomes impossible to use, meaning the system ceases to be self-sufficient.

[0006] The example of raising the Sewol ferry demonstrates that a significant list of the object being lifted leads to the loss of self-sufficiency of a barge-based system for raising sunken objects. In this case, it cannot be set afloat after raising; the raising is completed by loading the raised object onto a semi-submersible transport vessel (barge). Given the large size and weight of the object being lifted, a larger semi-submersible transport vessel (barge) is required, further increasing the cost of raising the raising cost.

[0007] The objective of the invention is to reduce the cost and time required for ship salvage operations by creating a system for raising a sunken object lying on the seabed with a significant list. This system is versatile, meaning it is suitable for raising sunken objects of varying dimensions and weights, and is self-sufficient, meaning it does not require additional complex and expensive technical equipment. A limitation of the system's use is the requirement that the object being salvaged have a relatively flat bottom. This does not diminish the value of the invention, as a flat bottom is typical of most surface ships and vessels.

[0008] The problem is solved by removing the ballast system in the form of deck-mounted tanks from the prototype lifting system according to patent No. 2725027 and supplementing it with a ship-lifting device according to patent No. 2792033. The structurally complex individual support beams are replaced by a field of smooth support beams, and the system includes bottom arrays used to place the sunken object being lifted on the field of support beams.

[0009] Figures 1 and 2 show the vertical lift equipment included in the system, mounted on a platform barge (side, top, and front views). The system consists of an even number of equipped platform barges. Each platform barge has a displacement hull 6, on which protective fenders 3 are placed along the sides, rubbing beams 7 along the entire perimeter in the above-water part, power energy blocks 2, ensuring the operation of mooring winches 11 with mooring lines for positioning above the work site, ship-lifting modules 1, each of which includes a hydraulic cable step jack, a dynamic load compensator, a compactly wound load-bearing connection 5 with a connecting link 4 at the running end and is driven by a group of cylinders with compressed nitrogen 8, a stand for the control system of the compensator operation 9 and a stand for the control system of the jack operation 10.The equipment is removable and can be rearranged depending on the task being performed and the weight and size characteristics of the object being lifted.

[0010] Fig. 3 shows the field of support beams that is part of the system (side, top and front views) and consists of lower common longitudinal connecting elements (beams) 12, numerous longitudinal power beams 14, connected in pairs from below by separate short connecting elements (beams) 13. The extreme short elements are equipped with sockets 15 for attaching load-bearing ties.

[0011] Fig. 4 shows the design of one of several bottom arrays (side, top and front views) included in the system, which consists of a plate 16 with a recess for increasing the suction force 20, guide strips 17, knees 18, guide rollers 19 and sockets 21 for attaching load-bearing ties.

[0012] The technology for using the system to lift the most difficult to lift sunken objects lying at an angle of about 90 degrees is shown in Fig. 5-11.

[0013] Bottom massifs 23 (Fig. 5) and a field of support beams 24 (Fig. 6) are delivered to the work area on one of the two platform barges 22, on which the ship-lifting modules and equipment for their operation, taken from the other (paired) platform barge, are temporarily placed. The bottom massifs and the support field are secured with load-bearing ties under the bottom of the platform barge and pressed against it to eliminate the destructive dynamic effects of sea waves during transportation.

[0014] In the work area, the platform barge with the delivered bottom arrays and the field of support beams is placed on pre-installed sets of roadstead equipment, after which it is lowered to the bottom of the water area using cable step jacks and laid under the control of a remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicle (ROV) from the bottom of the object being lifted 25 (Fig. 7). The field of support beams 24 is placed close to the bottom so that the connecting sockets are in the same sections with the nodes 26 created on the hull of the object being lifted for fastening the auxiliary load-bearing ties 27, which ensure the straightening of the sunken object being lifted 25. The bottom arrays 23 are installed next to the field of support beams so that their guide rollers are also in the same sections with the nodes 26.

[0015] The straightening of the sunken object is carried out by turning it around its cheekbone (Fig. 8), during which the bottom of the sunken object 25 being lifted rests on the field of support beams 24. The force for straightening is created by the operation of step cable jacks placed on a platform barge 22 installed above the work site and positioned above the bottom massifs using sets of roadstead equipment 29 and mooring lines 28, selected or paid out by mooring winches. The straightening force is transmitted from the load-bearing ties, selected by step cable jacks, to the auxiliary load-bearing ties 27, secured to the straightened object 25 by nodes 26 and changing the direction from vertical to almost horizontal through the rollers of the bottom arrays 23. The connection and attachment of the load-bearing ties is performed by divers, whose work is facilitated by the manufacture of load-bearing ties 27 from synthetic ropes with zero buoyancy.

[0016] After straightening, the lifted object, under the control of the ROV, is moved with rotations into the centerline of the support beam field using the variable operation of the stepping cable jacks located at the ends and in the middle of the platform barge. This is facilitated by a significantly reduced resistance force, which eliminates the interaction of the sunken object with the seabed soil, leaving only the frictional force of the hull metal against the smooth surface of the support beam field.

[0017] Lifting the sunken object (Figs. 9 and 10) is accomplished by the simultaneous operation of stepping cable jacks. The presence of a field of support beams 24 helps overcome the soil's pull-out resistance, the magnitude of which is significantly reduced due to the lack of direct interaction between the hull of the object being lifted 25 and the soil.

[0018] The raising of the sunken object is complete when its entire length, the upper deck, is exposed to the surface (Fig. 11), and it is possible to temporarily repair the hull damage for subsequent water pumping. This work can be performed either directly on-site or after transporting the raised object, along with the platform barges that form the system, to an area sheltered from wind and sea waves.

[0019] The new distinctive features of the system for lifting a sunken object are the presence in its composition of a field of support beams and bottom arrays, the installation of which is ensured by other elements of the system - a platform barge on which a full set of ship-lifting modules (from two platform barges) is temporarily installed.

[0020] These distinctive features give the system its versatility. It can be used to lift sunken objects of varying size and weight across a wide range of depths. In addition to direct lifting, it can right the sunken object in shallow water for subsequent lifting by other means (using ship-lifting pontoons or pumping water), as well as horizontally move the sunken object to remove it from fixed berths, creating conditions for the use of other vessel-lifting equipment.

[0021] The economic effect of implementing a system for lifting a sunken object consists of reducing the range of expensive technical equipment used in ship lifting, such as floating cranes and semi-submersible transport vessels, simplifying and accelerating the technology of fastening the lifted sunken object, straightening it on the ground, overcoming breakaway resistance and setting it afloat.

[0022] Literature:

[0023] 1. Asminin V.V. et al. System for raising sunken submarines. Patent of the Russian Federation No. 2725027, dated June 29, 2020.

[0024] 2. Voronin K.P. et al. Ship-lifting device based on a hydraulic stepper cable jack. Patent of the Russian Federation No. 2792033 dated March 15, 2023.

[0025] 3. Kramorenko A.V. Raising the nuclear submarine Kursk: notes of a participant. Journal "Marine Heritage", No. 2 (14), 2015. - P. 18-25.

[0026] 4. Kramorenko A.V., Chumarov R.I. Ship lifting as an alloy of advanced marine technologies. / / Development of the sea depths. Moscow: Publishing house "Weapons and Technologies", 2018. - P. 443-450.

[0027] 5. Asminin V.V., Kramorenko A.V. 6825 tons from 44 meters. Raising the ferry "Sewol". - Magazine "Neptune. Diving Project", No. 5, 2017. - P. 18-27.

Claims

A system for lifting a sunken object, consisting of paired platform barges, where each of them has a displacement hull on which protective fenders are located along the sides, rubbing beams along the entire perimeter in the above-water part and sets of ship-lifting equipment are placed, characterized in that the ship-lifting equipment includes power energy units and ship-lifting modules, each of which includes a hydraulic cable step jack and a dynamic load compensator, installed in hinged and deflecting when tilting strong frames installed during lifting on both sides of the lifted object, placed on support beams, and connected to the platform barges by load-bearing ties selected by step cable jacks, the system also includes bottom arrays consisting of a plate with a recess to increase the suction force, guide strips, knees, guide rollers and sockets for attaching load-bearing ties,which are combined into a single field to straighten the object at the bottom.

Images