Floating unit with under keel tank
AssigneeChevron U.S.A. Inc.
InventorsWei Ma, Fei Yang, Jack Darryl Payne, Peter Leitch, Renjian Roger Lu, Tao Wang, Jon Husby, Erling Storaune
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tank is secured under the keel of a floating structure for offshore energy development. The tank is filled with ballast material that supplements or replaces the ballast already present on the floating structure, thereby gaining larger topsides payload capacity for the floating structure or increasing stability and motion performance of the floating structure.
Claims20
A semi-submersible floating structure for offshore energy development, the semi-submersible floating structure comprising:
- a pontoon;
- a column or a plurality of columns extending from the pontoon to a deck;
- an under keel tank or a plurality of under keel tanks secured under the pontoon, and filled with air, water, or solid material, or any combination thereof, as ballast;
- one or more vertical structures vertically supporting the under keel tank relative to the pontoon and connected to one or more support structures on the pontoon;
- one or more lateral restraints resisting lateral movement of the under keel tank relative to the pontoon;
- and
- a system of truss structures connecting the under keel tank to a support structure on the top of the pontoon, through a locking mechanism, forming an integrated system,
- wherein the system of truss structures corresponds to the one or more vertical structures, and the support structure corresponds to the one or more support structures.
A method of increasing payload capacity and/or stability of a floating structure for offshore energy development comprising:
- securing an under keel tank under a keel of the floating structure;
- wherein the under keel tank is filled with air, water, or solid material, or any combination thereof, as ballast;
- wherein the ballast of the under keel tank supplements or replaces a ballast of the floating structure, thereby lowering the vertical center of gravity of the floating structure and increasing the payload capacity and/or stability of the floating structure;
- and
- wherein a system of truss structures is pre-installed or post-installed, fixed or pivoting, to connect the under keel tank to a support structure on the top of a pontoon of the floating structure, through receptacles and pins, forming an integrated system.
An under keel tank configured to be installed under the keel of a floating structure for offshore energy development, comprising:
- one or more compartments capable of being ballasted so as to allow the under keel tank to have sufficient ballast to expand a payload capacity of the floating structure, or to provide additional stability for the floating structure;
- and
- one or more structures attached to the one or more compartments configured to allow the tank to be secured under the keel of the floating structure,
- wherein the one or more structures comprise a system of truss structures configured to connect the one or more compartments to a support structure on top of a pontoon of the floating structure, through a locking mechanism, forming an integrated system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.