Movable Loading Platform for Wave-Synchronized Barge Unloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for installing offshore structures like wind turbines are time-consuming and costly due to the need for transporting barges to be jacked up in deep water areas, which elongates installation time and increases costs, and there is a risk of damaging freight during unloading due to wave-induced heaving.
Innovation Solution
A transportation barge equipped with a movable loading platform driven by an actuator group, which can be manually controlled to synchronize with wave movements, and an actuator control unit to reduce pitching and rolling motions, along with motion-reducing boards and a crane ship with a deck crane and sensors to coordinate the unloading process, ensuring safe and efficient unloading without jacking up the barge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the transportation barge is jacked up to the sea bottom to raise the hull above the sea surface for unloading, then the barge is fixed in a stationary condition preventing heaving, but the installation time is elongated and the use cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The loading platform is made dynamically adjustable in height to follow the heaving motion of the barge hull, eliminating the need for jack-up operations. The platform's height can be changed according to the vertical position of the hull, allowing unloading to proceed while the barge remains floating and mobile.
Solution Approach 2:
The system separates the function of cargo handling from the hull's positional stability. The loading platform acts as an independent segment that can move vertically relative to the hull, decoupling the unloading operation from the need for hull stabilization through jack-up legs.
2Reliability
If the transportation barge is jacked up to the sea bottom, then the expensive jack-up unit can be used for stabilization, but the jack-up unit use cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The loading platform's height is dynamically adjusted to match the hull's vertical position, eliminating the need for expensive jack-up unit operations. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain operational capability without investing in costly stabilization equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The function of stabilization during unloading is extracted from the jack-up unit and transferred to the movable loading platform. The platform's ability to move vertically with the hull absorbs the stabilization function, making the jack-up unit unnecessary and reducing its use cost to zero.
3Reliability
If the transportation barge is jacked up to fix the barge, then the barge is stationary, but the operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex jack-up operations to stabilize the barge, the system employs a dynamically adjustable loading platform that moves with the hull. This simplifies the overall operation by eliminating the complex sequence of jack-up deployment, positioning, and retraction, replacing it with a single degree-of-freedom movement of the platform.
4Device complexity
If the loading platform is fixed on the barge, then the structure is simple, but collision of transportation freight and loading platform occurs due to heaving
Solution Approach 1:
The loading platform is designed with vertical mobility relative to the hull, transforming it from a fixed structure to a dynamically adjustable one. This allows the platform to follow the hull's heaving motion, maintaining a safe distance from the cargo and preventing collisions while preserving the overall simplicity of the system.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A transportation barge is provided with a load table and an actuator group which drives the load table to move up and down. It is possible to move down the load table when hoisting the transportation freight from the load table. Therefore, the influence of heaving of the transportation barge due to waves can be eased without jacking up the transportation barge to the sea bottom. Therefore, a collision of the transportation freight and the load table can be prevented when hoisting the transportation freight, and the time of jacking-up and the use cost of the transportation barge provided with the expensive jack-up unit can be reduced.