Floating Wind Turbine Platform Assembly for Deep-Water Mooring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assembling and mooring floating wind turbine platforms are inefficient and costly, particularly in deep water where fixed foundations are not economically feasible, and there is a need for improved assembly and anchoring techniques to optimize wind energy capture.
Innovation Solution
The method involves assembling a semi-submersible floating wind turbine platform using pre-stressed reinforced concrete and fiber-reinforced polymer materials, with a foundation design that includes a keystone and radially extending bottom beams, center and outer columns, and top members, which are post-tensioned to provide buoyancy and support, and anchored to the seabed using mooring lines and anchors, allowing for efficient assembly in shallow or deep graving docks and subsequent deployment in deep water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fixed foundations are used to attach wind turbines to the seabed, then wind turbines can be securely anchored, but this is only economically feasible at shallow depths up to about 25 meters and requires expensive foundations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a floating platform as an intermediary between the wind turbine and the seabed. Instead of directly anchoring the turbine to the seabed with expensive fixed foundations, the platform serves as a mediator that floats on the water surface and can be moored to anchors, enabling wind turbine deployment in deep water beyond the 25-meter depth limitation of fixed foundations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If steel-based floating platforms are used, then floating wind turbines can be deployed in deep water, but material costs and platform weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials, specifically fiber-reinforced polymers (such as carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced plastics), to construct the floating platform. These composite materials provide the necessary structural strength and buoyancy for deep water deployment while being significantly lighter than traditional steel-based platforms, thereby reducing platform weight and material costs.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional assembly methods are used for floating platforms, then platforms can be constructed, but assembly time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The floating platform is divided into multiple modular segments or sections that can be manufactured separately and then assembled together. This segmentation allows for parallel manufacturing of different modules, simplifies the assembly process by reducing the need for complex on-site construction, and enables faster deployment of the complete platform structure.
4Weight of stationary object
If pre-stressed reinforced concrete and fiber-reinforced polymer materials are used, then material costs are reduced and platform weight is decreased, but assembly and mooring efficiency must be optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pre-stressed reinforced concrete elements and pre-assembled fiber-reinforced polymer components that are prepared in advance during manufacturing. This preliminary action includes pre-tensioning concrete elements and pre-attaching connection hardware, which simplifies the on-site assembly process and improves overall assembly and mooring efficiency by reducing the need for complex field operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces material costs and weight, enabling the construction of lighter and more cost-effective wind turbine platforms that can be efficiently assembled and moored in deep water, maximizing wind energy capture while minimizing environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
a foundation 12 that supports a tower 14. The foundation is semi-submersible, and is structured and configured to float, semi-submerged, in a body of water
Implementation Method 2
Mooring lines 18 may be attached to the floating wind turbine platform 10 and further attached to anchors, such as the anchors 20 in the seabed S
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A method of assembling a floating wind turbine platform includes forming a base assembly of the floating wind turbine platform in a cofferdam or a graving dock built in water having a first depth, then flooding the cofferdam or graving dock and floating the assembled base assembly to an assembly area in water having a second depth. A center column and a plurality of outer columns are then either assembled or formed on the base assembly. A tower is either assembled or formed on the center column. The wind turbine is then assembled on the tower, thereby defining the floating wind turbine platform.