Modular Harbor Plant Wave Dampening Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing harbor plants for LNG and oil storage and loading at sea face challenges in wave dynamics, leading to increased vessel movements and safety hazards, particularly when moored on the windward side of continuous structures, which are costly to construct and maintain.
Innovation Solution
A modular harbor plant design featuring units placed apart on the seabed with a trapezoidal footprint, allowing waves to pass through while dampening others, optimized for wave frequencies, and enabling mooring on the leeward side to reduce vessel movement and enhance safety, with adjustable unit spacing and shape to accommodate varying wave conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a continuous steel or concrete wall is built to form protection for incoming waves, then wave protection for LNG ships is improved, but construction cost and structural complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous wall is divided into separate modular units placed at intervals. Each unit independently dampens waves, and the gaps between units allow wave energy to pass through, reducing the overall structural requirements and construction complexity while maintaining effective wave protection for the harbor area.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If units are placed closer together to increase wave dampening, then wave protection is improved, but wave energy cancellation effectiveness decreases due to reduced passage for wave energy dissipation
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the harbor structure serve different functions: the front surfaces of the units provide wave dampening, while the gaps between units facilitate wave energy passage. This spatial differentiation optimizes both wave protection and energy dissipation without requiring uniform spacing throughout the structure.
3Productivity
If mooring is positioned on the windward side for operational access, then loading/unloading efficiency is improved, but vessel movement increases due to wave dynamics
Solution Approach 1:
The modular units act as an intermediary structure between the open sea and the mooring area. They filter and dampen wave energy before it reaches the vessel, creating a protected environment that allows safe mooring on the leeward side while maintaining operational efficiency through the articulated loading arms that can accommodate the protected vessel position.
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
The solution effectively reduces vessel movement and enhances safety by allowing waves to pass through while dampening others, optimizing wave energy cancellation and minimizing construction costs through modular, easily deployable units that meet international mooring standards.
Implementation Method 1
the units forming intermediate, free passage(s) between adjacent units in a direction of incoming waves, allowing parts of the incoming waves to pass unhindered through the passage(s), while the vertical front surface of the units to dampen other parts of the incoming waves
Data Source
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AI summary
This publication discloses a harbour plant (10) for storage, loading and unloading of hydrocarbon products at sea, comprising a number of units (9) being mutually placed on the seabed so that a harbour plant is formed. The units (9) are placed independently at a given distance apart in sideways direction and having a front surface along which a vessel is intended to be moored, forming passage(s) for parts of the waves, and being configured to dampen a part of the incoming waves while allowing other parts of the waves and current to pass through the harbour plant. The sideways distances between two neighbouring units (9) is governed by the frequency of the waves to be dampened and the frequencies of the waves allowed to pass in between the units (9). The front surface of one of the units (9) is offset with a distance relative to the front surfaces of two neighbouring in a traverse direction away from said incoming waves, and/or that the units are configured in such way that the width of the passage between two neighbouring units increases or decreases in direction of the wave motion.