Marine breakaway couplings
AssigneeFlexible Engineered Solutions Limited
InventorsIan Latimer, Michael Stanton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A breakaway coupling system for an offloading string comprises a first coupling part 101 and a second coupling part 102. The coupling parts are connectable together to form a conduit through which fluid can flow and separable from each other to seal the conduit. The system further comprises movement sensing means 160, 162, 166, 168 arranged to sense movement of the two coupling parts relative to each other and transmission means arranged to transmit a separation signal in response to sensing of the relative movement.
Claims17
A breakaway coupling system for an offloading string, the system comprising a first coupling part, a second coupling part and at least one monitoring sensor, the first and second coupling parts having a fully coupled condition in which they are connected together to form a conduit through which fluid can flow and movable from the fully coupled condition, through a partially coupled condition to a separated condition in which they seal the conduit, the system further comprising:
- a monitoring node and a separation mode, wherein:
- the monitoring node comprises a processor, a first power supply, and a transmitter and is arranged, while the coupling is in the fully coupled condition, to receive inputs from the at least one monitoring sensor and to transmit monitoring data derived from the inputs;
- and
- the separation mode comprises a second power supply, a movement sensor arranged to sense movement of the two coupling parts relative to each other and a transmitter arranged to transmit a separation signal in response to sensing of the relative movement, and
- the separation node is arranged to remain in an inactive mode while the coupling parts are in the fully coupled condition, and to be activated by separation of the coupling parts.
A condition monitoring system for a marine breakaway coupling of an offloading string, the monitoring system comprising a monitoring node arranged to be mounted on the coupling, the monitoring node being arranged to monitor the condition of the coupling and transmit condition indication signals at predetermined times, and a further node arranged to be located remote from the coupling and to receive the condition indication signals at the predetermined times, wherein the further node is further arranged to determine if the condition indication signals are not successfully transmitted at a predetermined number of the predetermined times, and in response, to generate a submergence warning signal.
A breakaway coupling system for an offloading string, the system comprising:
- a first coupling part and a second coupling part, the first and second coupling parts having a fully coupled condition in which they are connected together to form a conduit through which fluid can flow and movable from the fully coupled condition, though a partially coupled condition to a separated condition in which they seal the conduit, the system further comprising,
- a first node mounted on the first coupling part and comprising a first GPS unit;
- a second node mounted on the second coupling part and comprising a second GPS unit,
- a further node remote from the coupling, the further node comprising a further processor,
- a movement sensor arranged to sense movement of the two coupling parts relative to each other and
- at least one transmitter arranged to transmit separation signals to the further node in response to sensing of the relative movement, and to transmit positional signals to the further node, the positional signals indicating the position of each of the GPS units.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.