Tower hanging installation and method for assembling a subsea foundation tower

Abstract

A tower hanging installation includes a plurality of vertical towers, a plurality of inclined support trusses, at least one load platform, and a plurality of hoisting cranes. The vertical towers are arranged at intervals and extend in a vertical direction. The inclined support trusses are respectively arranged between the vertical towers and extend obliquely from the vertical towers to the spaces between adjacent vertical towers. The load platform is fixed on the inclined support trusses. The hoisting cranes are installed on the load platform. A method for assembling a subsea foundation tower involves using the tower hanging installation to connect an upper tower section to a lower tower section, thereby forming a subsea foundation tower.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a slinging device and an assembly method, particularly a tower slinging device for slinging large towers and an assembly method for assembling submarine foundation towers using the tower slinging device. Prior Technology

[0002] In recent years, global environmental issues have received increasing attention, particularly climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy consumption, prompting countries to actively seek green energy alternatives. Among these, wind power, with its renewable and low-carbon emission characteristics, has become an important source of electricity generation.

[0003] Compared to onshore wind turbines, offshore wind power, being located at sea, offers more stable wind speeds and higher power generation efficiency, effectively reducing the occupation of land resources and thus attracting attention from governments and businesses worldwide. With technological advancements and improved infrastructure, offshore wind power is gradually becoming one of the key projects driving energy transition.

[0004] Generally speaking, the structure of offshore wind turbines can be roughly divided into the turbine body and the underwater foundation. Since the underwater foundation is the basic structure for the stable operation of the wind turbine, it must have sufficient strength to withstand the weight of the turbine body and dynamic loads.

[0005] As mentioned above, due to the extremely large size of offshore wind turbines, they require segmented assembly. Since the assembly method of the underwater foundation is crucial to the safety and durability of the overall structure, in practice, underwater foundations are mostly divided into two sections and assembled using a vertical assembly method. Maintaining verticality during assembly ensures even stress distribution, reduces unnecessary stress concentration, and improves the overall structural durability. Furthermore, vertical assembly helps improve construction accuracy, avoiding additional adjustments or reinforcement work due to angular errors, thereby increasing construction efficiency and reducing costs. Overall, vertical assembly effectively improves the structure's load-bearing capacity, ensures installation accuracy, extends the equipment's service life, and ensures the long-term stable operation of the wind turbine.

[0006] To facilitate the assembly of underwater foundations using a vertical assembly method, current technology primarily utilizes large lifting equipment such as crawler cranes or jib cranes to suspend the upper tower of the underwater foundation and place it on the lower tower. However, both crawler cranes and jib cranes rely on the boom to suspend objects, and this method requires counterweights to maintain balance. Furthermore, since the assembly of underwater foundations requires lifting the upper tower above the lower tower, extremely long booms are necessary. However, the longer the boom extends, the lower its lifting capacity and stability become. Therefore, to lift such large objects as underwater foundations, larger cranes are often required, and the required counterweights are also increased to prevent the entire crane from tipping over. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In the prior art, the underwater foundations of offshore wind turbines are usually assembled using large lifting equipment such as crawler cranes or ring-rail jib cranes. However, existing large lifting equipment usually uses a boom to suspend objects. Therefore, when the objects are large and heavy, not only is an extremely long boom required, but the counterweight requirement also increases accordingly. In particular, the upper part of the underwater foundation tower needs to be suspended to a certain height, which greatly increases the length of the boom extension required, easily affecting the stability of the suspension and thus increasing the risk of the entire assembly operation. Therefore, the main objective of this invention is to provide a tower lifting device and an assembly method for the seabed foundation tower, which can effectively suspend the upper part of the underwater foundation tower to a high altitude for assembly with the lower part of the tower.

[0008] To address the problems of prior art, the present invention provides a tower hoisting device for assembling a submarine foundation tower of an offshore wind turbine. The tower hoisting device includes a plurality of vertical towers, a plurality of inclined support trusses, at least one load-bearing platform, and a plurality of winch cranes.

[0009] A plurality of vertical towers are spaced apart from each other and extend in a vertical direction. A plurality of inclined support trusses are respectively disposed between the vertical towers and extend obliquely from the vertical towers to the spaces between adjacent vertical towers. A load-bearing platform is fixed to the inclined support trusses. A plurality of winch cranes are disposed on at least one load-bearing platform.

[0010] In one of the auxiliary technical means derived from the aforementioned necessary technical means, each vertical tower includes a bottom fixed section, an extension section, and a top connecting section. The extension section extends from the bottom fixed section along the vertical direction. The top connecting section is connected to the other end of the extension section relative to the bottom fixed section, and the inclined support trusses are respectively connected to the top connecting sections of the vertical towers.

[0011] Preferably, the top connecting section has at least one side support frame, and the inclined support trusses are respectively fixed to the at least one side support frame of the vertical towers.

[0012] In one of the auxiliary technical means derived from the aforementioned necessary technical means, the inclined support trusses each have a horizontal elevation angle, which is between 70° and 73°.

[0013] The present invention also provides a method for assembling a submarine foundation tower, wherein the submarine foundation tower is assembled by the aforementioned tower hoisting equipment, and the method for assembling the submarine foundation tower includes the following steps (A) to (D).

[0014] Step (A) is to use the hoisting cranes to lift an upper half of the tower; step (B) is to move a lower half of the tower below the upper half of the tower; step (C) is to use the hoisting cranes to lower the upper half of the tower to a position adjacent to the lower half of the tower; step (D) is to assemble the upper half of the tower to the lower half of the tower to form the subsea foundation tower.

[0015] As described above, the present invention mainly utilizes the cooperation of vertical towers, inclined support trusses, load-bearing platforms and hoists to allow the upper half of the submarine foundation tower to be vertically suspended in the air, thereby allowing the lower half of the tower to be moved below the upper half of the tower, and then the submarine foundation tower to be assembled. Therefore, the present invention can effectively improve the assembly stability of the submarine foundation tower and effectively reduce the risk of assembly operations.

[0016] The specific embodiments adopted in this invention will be further explained through the following embodiments and drawings. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0017] The first figure shows a perspective view of the tower suspension device provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention; The second figure shows a plan view of the tower hoisting device provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention; The third figure is a plan view showing another perspective of the tower hoisting equipment provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention; The fourth figure shows a perspective view of the upper half of the tower frame suspended from the seabed foundation using the tower hoisting equipment provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention; The fifth figure shows a perspective view of the lower half of the tower being moved below the upper half of the tower after the upper half of the tower is lifted using the tower hoisting device provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sixth figure is a plan view showing the lower half of the tower being moved below the upper half after the upper half of the tower is lifted using the tower hoisting device provided in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and The seventh figure shows a plan view of the upper half of the tower being assembled to the lower half of the tower using the tower hoisting device of the present invention to form a submarine foundation tower base. Implementation

[0018] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the tower hoisting device provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of the tower hoisting device provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 3 shows a plan view of the tower hoisting device provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention from another perspective.

[0019] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a tower hoisting device 100 includes three vertical towers 1a, 1b and 1c, four inclined support trusses 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d, two load-bearing platforms 3a and 3b, and eight winch cranes 4a (only four are shown in the figure, and one is marked).

[0020] Vertical towers 1a, 1b and 1c are spaced apart from each other and extend along a vertical direction D1.

[0021] Taking a vertical tower 1a as an example, the vertical tower 1a includes a bottom fixed section 11a, an extension section 12a, and a top connecting section 13a. The bottom fixed section 11a is directly fixed to the ground (not shown in the figure), while the extension section 12a extends from the bottom fixed section 11a along the vertical direction D1. The top connecting section 13a is connected to the other end of the extension section 12a relative to the bottom fixed section 11a.

[0022] Specifically, the bottom fixed section 11a, the extension section 12a, and the top connecting section 13a are actually formed by connecting multiple beams and columns together through bolts and welding to form multiple square steel frame structures. In this embodiment, since the bottom fixed section 11a and the top connecting section 13a are located at the two ends of the entire vertical tower 1a, each square steel frame structure constituting the bottom fixed section 11a and the top connecting section 13a is also provided with a concentric diagonal bracing steel frame structure to effectively disperse the stress borne by the square steel frame structure. Since the extension section 12a connects the bottom fixed section 11a and the top connecting section 13a at both ends, the extension section 12a is provided with a concentric diagonal bracing between two units of square steel frame structures, thereby enhancing the lateral bending moment resistance of the entire vertical tower 1a.

[0023] In addition, the top connecting section 13a also has four side support frames 131a (only one is shown in the figure), which are arranged around the square steel frame structure of the top connecting section 13a.

[0024] On the other hand, the vertical tower 1b also includes a bottom fixing section 11b, an extension section 12b and a top connecting section 13b. However, since the structure of the vertical tower 1b is similar to that of the vertical tower 1a, it will not be described in detail here.

[0025] It should be noted that the top connecting section 13b of the vertical tower 1b also has a side support frame 131b, a vertical extension frame 132b, and a side support frame 133b. The side support frame 131b is disposed on the side of the square steel frame structure of the top connecting section 13b facing the vertical tower 1a. The vertical extension frame 132b extends vertically along direction D1 from the top of the square steel frame structure of the top connecting section 13b adjacent to the side of the vertical tower 1c. The side support frame 133b is disposed on the side of the vertical extension frame 132b facing the vertical tower 1c. Furthermore, since the structure of the vertical tower 1c is similar to that of the vertical tower 1b in that it is symmetrical, the only difference is that the vertical tower 1c in this embodiment does not have a structure similar to the side support frame 131b, but this is not the case in other embodiments.

[0026] Inclined support trusses 2a and 2b are respectively installed between vertical towers 1a and 1b, and extend obliquely from vertical towers 1a and 1b to the space between them. Specifically, inclined support truss 2a is fixedly connected to the top of the side support frame 131a and extends along an inclined direction D2, which is different from the vertical direction D1, while inclined support truss 2b is fixedly connected to the top of the side support frame 131b and extends along an inclined direction D3, which is different from the vertical direction D1. Inclined support trusses 2a and 2b each have a horizontal elevation angle R1, which is between 70° and 73°.

[0027] Similarly, inclined support trusses 2c and 2d are respectively disposed between vertical towers 1b and 1c, and extend obliquely from vertical towers 1b and 1c to the space between them. It should be noted that inclined support truss 2c is fixedly connected to the top of the side support frame 133b, and inclined support truss 2c also has a horizontal elevation angle R2, which is also between 70° and 73°. It should be noted that horizontal elevation angles R1 and R2 can be the same or different; in this embodiment, horizontal elevation angles R1 and R2 are the same angle. Furthermore, inclined support truss 2d is a similar structure that is symmetrical to inclined support truss 2c, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

[0028] Loading platform 3a is fixed to inclined support trusses 2a and 2b, while loading platform 3b is fixed to inclined support trusses 2c and 2d. Specifically, in this embodiment, loading platforms 3a and 3b are respectively composed of three vertical trusses (not shown in the figure) placed on inclined support trusses 2a and 2b, and then the three vertical trusses are connected in series by a plurality of connecting trusses (not shown in the figure) to form loading platforms 3a and 3b. In practice, each vertical truss and connecting truss is also composed of beams and columns, and concentric diagonal bracing is provided between the square steel frame structures formed by each beam and column. However, the square steel frame structures at both ends of the vertical trusses, that is, the square steel frame structures located on inclined support trusses 2a and 2b, have columns that extend in a direction that is not perpendicular, but extend along the extension direction of inclined support trusses 2a and 2b, that is, along the inclined directions D2 and D3 respectively.

[0029] Eight winch cranes 4a are respectively installed on load platforms 3a and 3b, and each winch crane 4a has a hook 41a (only one is shown in the figure). In this embodiment, load platform 3a is equipped with four winch cranes 4a, and load platform 3b is also equipped with four winch cranes 4a (not shown in the figure). In addition, although each load platform 3a and 3b is equipped with four winch cranes 4a in this embodiment, it is not limited to this, and in practice the number can be adjusted according to the lifting capacity of the winch cranes 4a themselves.

[0030] Please refer to Figures 4 through 7. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the upper half of the tower of the submarine foundation tower being suspended using the tower hoisting device provided in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the lower half of the tower being moved below the upper half of the tower after the upper half of the tower is lifted using the tower hoisting device provided in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a plan view showing the lower half of the tower being moved below the upper half of the tower after the upper half of the tower is lifted using the tower hoisting device provided in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a plan view showing the upper half of the tower being assembled to the lower half of the tower to form the submarine foundation tower using the tower hoisting device of the present invention.

[0031] As shown in Figures 1 to 7, the present invention also provides a method for assembling a submarine foundation tower, and the assembly method includes the following steps S110 to S140.

[0032] First, step S110 involves using a hoist crane 4a to lift an upper half of the tower 202; then, step S120 involves moving a lower half of the tower 201 below the upper half of the tower 202; next, step S130 involves using the hoist crane 4a to lower the upper half of the tower 202 to an adjacent lower half of the tower 201; finally, step S140 involves assembling the upper half of the tower 202 onto the lower half of the tower 201 to form a subsea foundation tower 200. The subsea foundation tower 200 is part of an offshore wind turbine (not shown), therefore, the assembly method of the subsea foundation tower of this invention is used to assemble the subsea foundation tower 200 of an offshore wind turbine.

[0033] Specifically, since the load-bearing platform 3a is equipped with four winch cranes 4a, in practice, step S110 involves using a load-bearing tool (large flatbed truck) to move the upper half of the tower 202 below the load-bearing platform 3a, and then lowering the hook 41a of the winch crane 4a to suspend the upper half of the tower 202, thereby lifting the upper half of the tower 202 into the air. Similarly, in step S120, the lower half of the tower 201 is moved below the upper half of the tower 202 using a load-bearing tool, and then in step S130, the hook 41a along with the upper half of the tower 202 is lowered by the winch crane 4a, so that the bottom of the upper half of the tower 202 is close to the top of the lower half of the tower 201. Then, workers perform various assembly operations such as bolting and welding to assemble the submarine foundation tower 200.

[0034] In summary, prior art methods using large lifting equipment such as crawler cranes or ring-rail jib cranes to assemble underwater foundations often result in excessive extension of the boom, affecting the stability of the suspension and increasing the risk of the entire assembly operation. Therefore, this invention utilizes the combination of a vertical tower, inclined support truss, load-bearing platform, and winch crane to vertically suspend the upper half of the seabed foundation tower (i.e., the underwater foundation) at a high altitude, allowing the lower half of the tower to be moved below the upper half before assembly. Thus, this invention effectively improves the stability of the seabed foundation tower assembly and significantly reduces the risks associated with the assembly operation.

[0035] The detailed description of the preferred embodiments above is intended to more clearly illustrate the features and spirit of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the preferred embodiments disclosed above. Rather, the aim is to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements within the scope of the patent claims made by the present invention.

[0036] 100: Tower hoisting equipment 1a, 1b, 1c: Vertical towers 11a, 11b: Bottom fixed section 12a, 12b: Extensions 13a, 13b: Top connecting segment 131a, 131b: Side support frame 132b: Vertical extension frame 133b: Side support frame 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d: Inclined support trusses 3a, 3b: Load-bearing platform 4a: Hoisting Crane 200: Submarine Foundation Tower 201: Lower half of the tower 202: Upper part of the tower D1: Vertical direction D2: Inclination direction D3: Inclination direction R1: Horizontal elevation angle R2: Horizontal elevation angle

Claims

1. A tower hoisting device for assembling a submarine foundation tower for an offshore wind turbine, comprising: a plurality of vertical towers spaced apart from each other and extending in a vertical direction, each of the vertical towers comprising: a bottom fixed section; an extension section extending from the bottom fixed section in the vertical direction; and a top connecting section connected to the other end of the extension section relative to the bottom fixed section and having at least one side support frame; a plurality of inclined support trusses disposed between the vertical towers and extending obliquely from the vertical towers to adjacent sections of the vertical towers, the inclined support trusses being connected to the top connecting section of the vertical towers and fixed to the at least one side support frame of the vertical towers; at least one load-bearing platform fixed to the inclined support trusses; and a plurality of winches disposed on the at least one load-bearing platform.

2. The tower hoisting equipment as described in claim 1, wherein, These inclined support trusses each have a horizontal elevation angle between 70° and 73°.

3. A method for assembling a subsea foundation tower, comprising assembling the subsea foundation tower using the tower hoisting equipment as described in claim 1, the method comprising the following steps: (A) hoisting an upper half of the tower using the hoisting cranes; (B) moving a lower half of the tower below the upper half of the tower; (C) lowering the upper half of the tower to a position adjacent to the lower half of the tower using the hoisting cranes; and (D) assembling the upper half of the tower to the lower half of the tower to form the subsea foundation tower.

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