100results about "Moon-pools" patented technology

An offshore floating production, storage, and off-loading vessel has a monolithic non ship-shaped hull of polygonal configuration surrounding a central double tapered conical moon pool and contains water ballast and oil storage compartments. The exterior side walls of the hull have flat surfaces and sharp corners to cut ice sheets, resist and break ice, and move ice pressure ridges away from the structure. An adjustable water ballast system induces heave, roll, pitch and surge motions of the vessel to dynamically position and maneuver the vessel to accomplish ice cutting, breaking and moving operations. The moon pool shape and other devices on the vessel provide added virtual mass capable of increasing the natural period of the roll and heave modes, reducing dynamic amplification and resonance due to waves and vessel motion, and facilitate maneuvering the vessel. The vessel may be moored by a disconnectable turret buoy received in a support frame at the bottom of the moon pool and to which flexible well risers and mooring lines are connected.

An offshore floating production, storage, and off-loading vessel has a hull of generally cylindrical or polygonal configuration surrounding a central double tapered conical moon pool and contains water ballast and oil and / or liquefied gas storage compartments. The exterior side walls of the polygonal hull have flat surfaces and sharp corners to cut ice sheets, resist and break ice, and move ice pressure ridges away from the structure. An adjustable water ballast system induces heave, roll, pitch and surge motions of the vessel to dynamically position and maneuver the vessel to accomplish ice cutting, breaking and moving operations. The moon pool shape and other devices on the vessel provide added virtual mass for increasing the natural period of the roll and heave modes, reducing dynamic amplification and resonance due to waves and vessel motion, and facilitate maneuvering the vessel. A disconnectable turret buoy at the bottom of the moon pool connects risers and mooring lines.

Column-stabilized floating offshore platform structures (10) having spaced apart buoyant main vertical columns (11) joined at lower ends by horizontal lower truss members (13) in a pin connection and joined at upper ends by a buoyant deck mount structure (14), and / or by horizontal truss members, to form a moment connection. A buoyant keel tank (15) having a central moon pool (15A) can be retracted and extended relative to the main columns between a retracted transport mode and an extended operating mode. Ballast of the columns and keel tank can be adjusted to raise or lower the center of gravity of the structure with respect to its center of buoyancy to stabilize the structure and compensate for variable or fixed loads, deck payloads, environmental conditions, and operational and installation stages. A three-sided deck mount allows on-site float-over deck installation.

The present invention is directed to novel methods and apparatus for the design, installation, use, recovery, and reuse of a Self Supporting Riser (SSR) for wells that are not under a platform. The SSR of the present invention uses standardized joints that can be recovered, potentially warehoused, and recombined in different configurations for different purposes or locations. Emphasis is on methods and apparatus that use relatively small vessels subject to high motions in the installation, use and recovery of the SSR. The SSR is adapted for high current and / or deep water applications for purposes of downhole well intervention and subsea equipment installation. In contrast to the apparatus and processes of the prior art, this invention addresses a comprehensive system design.

An offshore depot having a vertically symmetric hull, an upper inwardly-tapered wall and a lower outwardly-tapered wall that produce significant heave damping in response to heavy wave action. Ballast is added to the lower and outermost portions of the hull to lower the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy. The offshore depot includes a tunnel formed within or through the hull at the waterline that provides a sheltered area inside the hull for safe and easy launching / docking of boats and embarkation / debarkation of personnel. When the watertight tunnel doors are all shut, the tunnel may be drained to create a dry dock environment within the hull. The offshore depot includes berthing and dinning accommodations, medical facilities, workshops, machine shops, a heliport, and the like.

An offshore depot having a vertically symmetric hull, an upper inwardly-tapered wall and a lower outwardly-tapered wall that produce significant heave damping in response to heavy wave action. Ballast is added to the lower and outermost portions of the hull to lower the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy. The offshore depot includes a tunnel formed within or through the hull at the waterline that provides a sheltered area inside the hull for safe and easy launching / docking of boats and embarkation / debarkation of personnel. When the watertight tunnel doors are all shut, the tunnel may be drained to create a dry dock environment within the hull. The offshore depot includes berthing and dinning accommodations, medical facilities, workshops, machine shops, a heliport, and the like.

An anti-sloshing moon pool structure is disclosed. The anti-sloshing moon pool structure of the present invention includes moon pool plates (112, 114 and 116), which are provided on a bow-side wall (401), a stern-side wall (403) and opposite sidewalls (405) of a moon pool (100), and a moon pool bottom block (130), which is provided on a bow-side lower edge (407) of the moon pool (100). The moon pool plates and the moon pool bottom block have protruding lengths within which they do not interfere with a maximum working area. Upper steps (112a, 112b, 114a, 114b, 116a, 116a-l, 116b and 116b-l) of the moon pool plates are disposed such that, when a ship is in a working position, they are lower than the free surface of the seawater, and lower steps (112c, 112d, 116c and 116d) of the moon pool plates are disposed such that, when the ship runs, they are lower than the free surface of the seawater.

Column-stabilized floating offshore platform structures (10) having spaced apart buoyant main vertical columns (11) joined at lower ends by horizontal lower truss members (13) in a pin connection and joined at upper ends by a buoyant deck mount structure (14), and / or by horizontal truss members, to form a moment connection. A buoyant keel tank (15) having a central moon pool (15A) can be retracted and extended relative to the main columns between a retracted transport mode and an extended operating mode. Ballast of the columns and keel tank can be adjusted to raise or lower the center of gravity of the structure with respect to its center of buoyancy to stabilize the structure and compensate for variable or fixed loads, deck payloads, environmental conditions, and operational and installation stages. A three-sided deck mount allows on-site float-over deck installation.

An installation vessel has upper and lower decks (40, 50) that are vertically spaced about 3 meters apart, with most of the lower deck covered by the upper one, but with a rear portion (60) of the lower deck being uncovered. The upper deck is used primarily for storage, while the lower deck is the one used for installation of anchor chains, wires, ropes, etc. that pass from a winch (81) to a stern roller (84) at the rear of the lower deck, so dangerous conditions of chains, wires, ropes, etc. moving along a deck during installation are confined to the lower deck. A main crane (72) that lies on one side of the vessel, lies forward of the rear end of the upper deck at a location wherein the crane can reach all portions of the uncovered lower deck portion and most of the upper deck.

The present invention relates to a system for collecting, lifting, and recovering seabed mineral resources, specifically, a device wherein hydrogen gas is evolved on the seabed, resources are lifted by the buoyancy of the gas to the sea surface, and the hydrogen gas which has become an excess buoyancy source during the lifting and recovering is absorbed into an organic substance including toluene, thereby yielding hydrogenated compounds including cyclomethylhexane to recover the energy required for hydrogen gas production.

Methods for developing an offshore field comprising deploying a lead drilling and production vessel to a offshore field to drill and complete at least one well. Production from the at least one well is initiated and evaluated. A secondary production vessel is selected based upon the evaluated production and is deployed to the offshore field to replace the lead drilling and production vessel and support production of the at least one well.

Methods for developing an offshore field comprising deploying a lead drilling and production vessel to a offshore field to drill and complete at least one well. Production from the at least one well is initiated and evaluated. A secondary production vessel is selected based upon the evaluated production and is deployed to the offshore field to replace the lead drilling and production vessel and support production of the at least one well.

The present invention relates to a moon pool and to a drillship comprising same. The moon pool is formed in the drillship, and comprises a first space penetrating through an upper deck from the bottom surface of the drillship to enable drilling, and a second space which is formed at the side portion of the first space in the lengthwise direction of the drillship, and which has a bottom surface opened toward the lower side of the drillship. As the second space of the moon pool is formed at the side portion of the first space of the moon pool in the lengthwise direction of the drillship, the moon pool has an elongate effective length, to thereby vary the vertical movement of the seawater in the moon pool and reduce resistance of the drillship during sailing. Further, a separation wall is arranged such that a top surface thereof is located at a predetermined height between the first space and the second space, to reduce the amplitude of sloshing movement of the seawater in the moon pool, and reduce resistance caused by the sloshing movement. Further, the opening opened toward the lower side of the first space keeps the transverse width thereof at a constant level in the direction of the stern of the drillship, and then is gradually tapered, thereby relatively reducing the amount of seawater flowing into the first space and reducing resistance of the drillship.

Disclosed is a drillship having a vortex suppression block with a recessed flow stabilizing part in a moon pool. The flow stabilizing section is formed so that a bottom of the vortex suppression block that protrudes from a bottom of a hull toward a stern in the moon pool is recessed in an upward direction of the hull to stabilize a flow in the moon pool and reduce a variation in resistance of the drillship. The flow stabilizing section (30) is formed by partly recessing the bottom of the vortex suppression block toward an upper portion of the hull. The drillship having this configuration provides resistance performance improvement and flow stabilization of the drillship.

Vessel (1) with mooring system, comprising a turret (3) anchored to the seabed and a turret casing (5) being part of the vessel, wherein the turret (3) and turret casing (5) are interconnected by a connecting element (6) comprising a bearing arrangement (7) and wherein the connecting element (6) has a first end connected to the turret casing and an opposite second end connected to the turret. Theconnecting element (6) is positioned in such a manner that it experiences tensile forces. When the turret (3) downwardly loads the turret casing (5) the first end of the connecting element (6) is positioned at a higher level then the second end thereof. When the turret (3) upwardly loads the turret casing (5) the first end of the connecting element (6) is positioned at a lower level then the second end thereof.

A sandglass type ocean engineering floating structure is provided with an upper structural body shaped as a circular truncated cone or frustum and a lower structural body shaped as a regular circular truncated cone or regular frustum; under a combined state, the smaller bottom surface of the upper structural body is fixedly connected with the smaller bottom surface of the lower structural body to form a junction surface; the axis of the upper structural body and the axis of the lower structural body are positioned on the same straight line; the larger bottom of the upper structural body acts as an upper deck of the floating structure and the larger bottom of the lower structural body acts as a lower plate underwater of the floating structure; the junction surface is a full-load waterplane of the floating structure.

The present invention is directed to a system including a self supporting riser (SSR) which is connected to a well to provide fluid communication to fossil hydrocarbon reservoirs deep below the seafloor. The SSR is constructed of a plurality of joints comprising regular joints and specialty joints that define the SSR and are selected to optimize the SSR for a well in a specific location. A unique aspect of the invention is further directed to a small vessel subject to high vessel motions that permits a coil tubing / wire line system to be mounted on a stabilizer system mounted on the vessel. The riser extension that connects the vessel to the self supporting riser preferably has a telescopic joint / section that is designed for the heave of the vessel.

The invention relates to a barge type floating fan system and a floating fan platform. The floating fan platform comprises a floating body, the floating body is in a triangular prism shape, a moon pool penetrating through a top plate and a bottom plate of the floating body is arranged on the floating body, the side wall of the moon pool is provided with a step-shaped structure protruding towards the center line of the floating body, and the side wall of the moon pool is provided with a plurality of hole-shaped damping grids. The floating fan platform has the structural characteristic of stronger anti-wave torsion moment, the vertical movement performance and the horizontal movement performance of the floating body are optimized, and the stability and the anti-wave performance of the floating body on water are improved.

The present invention is directed to novel methods and apparatus for the design, installation, use, recovery, and reuse of a Self Supporting Riser (SSR) for wells that are not under a platform. The SSR of the present invention uses standardized joints that can be recovered, potentially warehoused, and recombined in different configurations for different purposes or locations. Emphasis is on methods and apparatus that use relatively small vessels subject to high motions in the use and recovery of the SSR, especially the methods, apparatus and vessel for downhole intervention and work over through a SSR.

A well intervention semisubmersible vessel and method including a drilling rig further including a non-elevated derrick floor and a handling tower having a single point land out without riser tensioners. The vessel may also include a flush drill floor, a flush moonpool door, a lift frame and personnel access walkway wherein the lift frame is capable of being skidded into position by a skidding system capable of providing personnel access and wherein the skidding system comprises a plurality of skidding rails, at least one remotely operated vehicle, an intervention rising system and storage area, a crane, a moonpool and handling area, a moonpool trolley, at least one fluid pump, and / or at least one tank.

The invention provides a system for operating a drilling rig on a drilling vessel, the system comprising a drilling tower (2) having at least two segments (4, 5), a first segment (4) is fixedly connected to the drilling vessel (1), a second segment (5) is connected to the first segment (4), said second segment (5) is adapted to move longitudinally relative the first segment (4) by raising and lowering means. A tool (8) is suspended from at least one wire (16), said at least one wire (16) is extending over at least one sheave (7a, 7b) on top of the second segment (5), said at least one wire (16) is coupled to with a passive compensator arrangement (20) and a winch (14), said passive compensator (20) is connected to the winch (14).

The invention discloses a novel moonpool cover for a drilling ship. The moonpool cover comprises a rectangular moon pool cover body, wherein at least two pairs of connecting pieces b are oppositely arranged on the two sides, close to the head and tail of a ship body, of the moon pool cover main body, the connecting pieces b are installed on the moonpool wall, at least three pairs of rolling wheelsare oppositely arranged on the two sides, close to a larboard and a starboard of the ship body, of the moon pool cover main body, two moonpool inner rails are clamped in the bottoms of the rolling wheels, at least two pairs of lifting oil cylinders are oppositely mounted at the bottoms of the two month pool inner rails, the lifting oil cylinders are installed on the moon pool wall, and a slip supporting disc is arranged in the middle of the moon pool cover body. The novel moonpool cover solves the problems that a moon pool cover is large in volume, short in service life, small in bearing drill column load and limited by the capacity and space of a ship crane in the prior art.

Methods and arrangements of releasably mooring a ship in a definite position at a distance from land with an ability to return later to the same place. The mooring is accomplished by means of a substantially ring-shaped mooring unit, which can be raised and lowered and which has a gap along its periphery, which can be connected to and disconnected from the ship by a connectable part located below the surface of the water. The mooring unit enables a ship carrying a downwardly protruding load to pass by after disconnection and lowering of the mooring unit, and to be rotated round an essentially vertical imaginary axis.

The invention comprises a hydraulic pump, wherein wave energy is used to pump a fluid. The apparatus utilizes the oscillation of the free surface of a water column within a moon pool on a floating vessel to lift a floating pump unit. After reaching a peak elevation induced by a passing wave, the gravitational forces on the floater pressurizes and moves a fluid using structurally linked pistons within fixed cylinders on the vessel during the downward return motion of the floater. The pressurized fluid can then be used in a variety of applications including the generation of electricity via hydroelectric turbines.

The present invention is directed to a system including a self supporting riser (SSR) which is connected to a well to provide fluid communication to fossil hydrocarbon reservoirs deep below the seafloor. The SSR is constructed of a plurality of joints comprising regular joints and specialty joints that define the SSR and are selected to optimize the SSR for a well in a specific location. A unique aspect of the invention is further directed to a small vessel subject to high vessel motions that permits a coil tubing / wire line system to be mounted on a stabilizer system mounted on the vessel. The riser extension that connects the vessel to the self supporting riser preferably has a telescopic joint / section that is designed for the heave of the vessel.

The invention discloses a shallow draught floating type wind generating set foundation platform which is of a triangular barge type and comprises a hull and a mechanical cabin arranged in the hull. The hull is divided into a hull upper part and a hull lower part; the mechanical cabin at the upper part of the hull comprises chain lockers, an electromechanical equipment cabin, an electrical equipment cabin and an empty cabin; the three chain locker bodies are arranged at the three vertex angles of the hull respectively. The mechanical cabin on one side of one chain locker is sequentially provided with an electromechanical equipment cabin, an electrical equipment cabin and an electromechanical equipment cabin; a mechanical cabin on the other side of the chain locker is an electromechanical equipment cabin; the rest cabins are empty cabins; a mechanical cabin in the middle of the upper portion of the hull is a wind power control equipment cabin, and a wind turbine generator installation base is fixed to the upper portion of the wind power control equipment cabin. The foundation platform adopts a triangular barge type as the foundation platform, has the characteristics of simple structure, shallow draft, stable floating, safety in use and the like, and is particularly suitable for being used in an offshore shallow water environment.

Disclosed is a lattice-shaped structure that occupies a portion of a moon pool in the bottom of a ship. While the ship moves, the lattice-shaped structure breaks waves to prevent separated water flow from being introduced into the moon pool, thereby reducing resistance applied against the ship. Since the lattice-shaped structure is a lightweight structure, the ship including the lattice-shaped structure can be efficiently towed with various towing apparatuses. Since the lattice-shaped structure can be rotated and retracted toward an inner wall of the ship, various exploration and drilling procedures can be efficiently performed through the moon pool. For this purpose, the lattice-shaped structure (16) includes a plurality of plates (20), a plurality of slopes (22), a plurality of longitudinal reinforcements (24), and a hinge (H). The plates (20) are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the ship, and are arranged on a plurality of lines in the width direction of the ship. The slopes (22) are arranged on a plurality of lines in the width direction of the ship. An end of the slope (22) is coupled to the front end of the plate (20), and the other end thereof is inclined upward toward the front end of the ship and is spaced apart from the adjacent plate (20). The longitudinal reinforcements (24) are arranged on a plurality of lines in the longitudinal direction of the ship. Each of the longitudinal reinforcements (24) is coupled to the plate (20) and to the slope (22). The hinge (H) is used to rotate the lattice-shaped structure (16) between a sailing position and a working position in the moon pool (12).

The present invention relates to a drillship having a block for preventing a vortex with a concave type flow stabilizer part in a moonpool. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a drillship having a flow stabilizer part formed with a bottom surface of a block for preventing a vortex protruding from the bottom of the ship towards the stern in a moonpool to be concave toward the upper portion of the body of the ship in order to stabilize the flow in the moonpool and reduce a resistance fluctuation of the drillship. The drillship having the block for preventing the vortex in the moonpool, of the present invention, is characterized in that one position of the bottom at the lower portion of the block for preventing a vortex is processed to be concave toward the upper portion of the body of the ship so as to form a flow stabilizer part (30) such that the drillship is provided with a block for preventing a vortex formed with the concave type flow stabilizer part in the moonpool. The drillship of the present invention having the above feature can improve resistance performance of the ship and exhibit flow stabilizing effects.

An installation vessel has upper and lower decks (40, 50) that are vertically spaced about 3 meters apart, with most of the lower deck covered by the upper one, but with a rear portion (60) of the lower deck being uncovered. The upper deck is used primarily for storage, while the lower deck is the one used for installation of anchor chains, wires, ropes, etc. that pass from a winch (81) to a stern roller (84) at the rear of the lower deck, so dangerous conditions of chains, wires, ropes, etc. moving along a deck during installation are confined to the lower deck. A main crane (72) that lies on one side of the vessel, lies forward of the rear end of the upper deck at a location wherein the crane can reach all portions of the uncovered lower deck portion and most of the upper deck.