Back to results
US 9,308,972 B2Granted
Marine mounting provided with a device for storing and guiding hoses
AssigneeSaipem S.P.A.
InventorsRaymond Hallot, Cédric Bruguier, Benjamin Mauries
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeSaipem S.P.A.
InventorsRaymond Hallot, Cédric Bruguier, Benjamin Mauries
Estimating the term…
A support installed at sea and fitted with a storage and guide device for storing and guiding flexible pipes, the support has a first carrier structure supporting a plurality of turntables arranged one above another, flexible pipes being wound in concentric juxtaposed spiral turns of increasing diameter resting on said turntables, a rotary joint enabling coupling to be established between (1) a first end closest to the center of the turntable of a flexible pipe on said turntable, and (2) an end of a transfer pipe that remains stationary while said turntable is being driven in rotation; a plurality of guides suitable for guiding portions of the flexible pipe outside the turntables.
A support installed at sea, in grounded or floating manner, said support being fitted on its surface with a storage and guide device for storing and guiding flexible pipes and suitable for storing and guiding a plurality of said flexible pipes, wherein the storage and guide device comprises:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Arrangement of ship-based loading or unloading equipment for transfer at sea between ships or between ships and off-shore structures: using pipe-lines
Vessels or similar floating structures specially adapted for specific purposes and not
Attached to, or forming part of, mobile tools, machines or vehicles: attached to, or forming part of a vehicle, e.g. truck, trailer, vessel
Constructional details: guiding arrangements to control paying-out and re-storing of the material
About 6 years 1 month of term left · ends 25 Nov 2032 (estimated)
This is a U.S. national stage of application No. PCT/EP2011/070967, filed on Nov. 24, 2011. Priority is claimed on the following application: French Application No. 1059909 filed on Nov. 30, 2010, the content of which is incorporated here by reference.
The present invention relates to a support installed in open sea in grounded or floating manner, i.e. respectively resting on or anchored to the bottom of the sea, said support being fitted on its surface with a device for storing and guiding flexible pipes, which device is suitable for storing and guiding a plurality, preferably at least three, of said flexible pipes usable for transferring petroleum fluids at sea.
The storage and guide device for flexible pipes arranged on board a support of the invention serves to handle said flexible pipes in order to store them in the wound state between two transfers of fluid within said flexible pipes between the floating support and an offloading ship, and for unwinding said pipes in order to perform a said fluid transfer between a said floating support and a said ship, preferably of the methane tanker type.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention appear better in the light of the following detailed description made by way of non-limiting illustration and with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1A is a side view of a floating support 1, 1-1 of the FPSO type for producing and storing LNG shown while offloading to a ship, referred to herein as an offloading ship 2 of the methane tanker type, in a so-called “tandem” configuration, the FPSO being fitted with a flexible pipe storage and guide device 4 of the invention;
FIG. 1B is a side view of a support 1, 1-2 of the FSRU type grounded on the sea bottom 21 and including a regasification and electricity production unit 1d together with a transformer station for delivering electricity to land, shown while offloading from a methane tanker type ship referred to as a supply ship in a “tandem” configuration, said floating support being fitted with a flexible pipe storage and guide device 4 of the invention;
FIG. 1A is a side view of a floating support 1 of the invention of FPSO type 1-1 anchored 1a on a gas production field in open sea.
Said FPSO possesses equipment 1b for processing and liquefying gas together with first tanks 11 for storing LNG incorporated within its hull.
A methane tanker type offloading ship 2 is positioned in tandem substantially on the axis of said FPSO and is connected thereto by a set of three flexible pipes 3A, 3B, and 3C that are handled by means of a storage and guide device 4 of the invention for storing and guiding flexible pipes 3, which device is described in greater detail below.