Detachable Twin-Hull Float for Rapid Offshore Energy Carrier Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in offshore wind power generation systems is the difficulty in transferring storage media, such as batteries or hydrogen tanks, from floating power generation floats to collection bases efficiently and quickly, which hinders continuous power generation due to prolonged residence times at the collection base.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing a twin-hull structure for the power generation float, where one hull is detached and replaced with another at a collection base equipped with a long bank and water channel, allowing for rapid transfer of storage media without continuous mooring, enabling the float to quickly return to power generation sites.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the power generation float is moored continuously at the collection base for storage medium transfer, then the transfer operation can be completed, but the power generation time is reduced and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The power generation float is divided into a deck part and multiple detachable hulls. The hulls can be independently detached and replaced at the collection base, allowing the deck part with power generation equipment to remain while only the hulls are exchanged. This segmentation enables rapid storage medium transfer without requiring continuous mooring of the entire float.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection between the deck part and hulls is made detachable rather than fixed. The hulls can be quickly connected and disconnected at the collection base using coupling mechanisms, enabling dynamic reconfiguration of the float structure. This allows the float to transition between operational and transfer states efficiently.
2Loss of time
If the storage medium transfer process is simplified, then the residence time at collection base is reduced, but the transfer speed and operational efficiency worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Empty hulls are prepared in advance at the collection base, and the deck part is designed with pre-configured coupling mechanisms. When a power generation float arrives, the hull replacement can begin immediately without waiting for storage medium extraction, as the transfer process is decoupled from the hull replacement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection base serves as an intermediary facility equipped with cranes and coupling mechanisms that facilitate rapid hull replacement. The base provides the infrastructure needed to quickly exchange hulls between different floats without requiring complex transfer operations at sea.
3Productivity
If the power generation float structure is made complex to enable rapid hull replacement, then the transfer efficiency improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The float is segmented into standardized modular components (deck part and hulls) with simple coupling interfaces. This modular design simplifies the replacement process while maintaining structural integrity, balancing complexity with transfer efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The deck part is designed to be compatible with multiple different hull types, and the coupling mechanisms are standardized across all components. This universality allows the same deck part to work with various hull configurations, reducing overall system complexity while enabling flexible and efficient transfers.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for transferring a storage medium of power generation energy loaded by a power generation float to a collection base, a power generation float is connected to both sides of a deck part, a power generation float is moved to a collection base, a deck part straddles a long bank projecting on a water surface along a water channel through which a hull can pass along a quay wall of a collection base, a power generation float is anchored in a state where one of the hulls enters a water channel, a hull on at least one side of the deck part is separated from the deck part, and a storage medium capable of storing energy is connected on a side where the hull of the deck part is separated, and the float leaves with the hulls connected to both sides of the deck part.