Shared-Anchor Mooring for Deepwater Floating Wind Platforms
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for assembling and mooring floating wind turbine platforms are inefficient, particularly in deep water depths where fixed foundations are not economically feasible, and there is a need for improved assembly and mooring techniques to optimize wind energy capture in offshore locations.
Innovation Solution
A floating wind turbine farm is assembled using a semi-submersible foundation with pre-stressed reinforced concrete or FRP components, anchored to the seabed with mooring lines, allowing for efficient deployment and stabilization in deep water, reducing material costs and weight through the use of lighter top members and composite materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
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 25 meters) and becomes impractical in deep water
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the anchoring function into separate components: floating platforms that provide structural support and mooring lines with anchors that provide seabed attachment. This segmentation allows the wind turbine to be deployed in deep water where fixed foundations are not feasible, extending the adaptable water depth range while maintaining economic feasibility through modular deployment
Solution Approach 2:
Floating platforms serve as an intermediary between the wind turbine and the seabed anchors. These platforms transfer the anchoring function from direct seabed attachment to a mediated connection through the floating structure, enabling deployment in deep water while maintaining secure positioning through mooring lines
2Strength
If traditional steel floating platforms are used, then structural strength is achieved, but material costs and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The floating platform utilizes composite materials including pre-stressed reinforced concrete and FRP (fiber-reinforced polymer) components. These composite materials provide the necessary structural strength while significantly reducing the weight compared to traditional steel platforms, addressing both the strength requirement and the weight reduction goal
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the material parameters by transitioning from solid steel to composite materials with optimized strength-to-weight ratios. Pre-stressed concrete and FRP components provide equivalent or superior structural strength with reduced density, thereby reducing overall platform weight while maintaining structural integrity
3Reliability
If multiple anchors are deployed for each platform, then mooring stability is improved, but assembly complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each anchor is designed as a universal component that can receive multiple mooring lines from different floating platforms. This multi-functional anchor design allows a single anchor to serve multiple platforms simultaneously, improving mooring stability through distributed anchoring while reducing the total number of anchors and assembly operations required
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges multiple mooring line connections into a single anchor point, where multiple platforms share common anchors. This combining approach distributes the mooring load across multiple anchors while reducing the total anchor count and simplifying the overall assembly process, thereby improving stability without proportionally increasing assembly time
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A floating wind turbine farm 230 includes a plurality of anchors 20/202/204/206/208 fixed in or on a bed of a body of water. A plurality of floating wind turbine platforms 10 is deployed in the body of water, each of the floating wind turbine platforms 10 having one or more mooring lines 200/212 that extend between, and are attached to, the floating wind turbine platform 10 and one of the anchors 20/202/204/206/208. Each anchor 20/202/204/206/208 is configured to receive two or more mooring lines 200/212, wherein each of the mooring lines 200/212 are from a different one of the plurality of floating wind turbine platforms 10.