DE102007002314A1 - Device for lifting, transporting and lowering offshore-wind towers and their underpins or underpins of offshore-platform, has floating body and biological contactor, where biological contactor is temporarily connected with floating body - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a floating body (1) and a biological contactor (2). The biological contactor is temporarily connected with the floating body. A structure is provided to enlarge biological contactor lifting. A floating unit is transported to the installation point in open sea, and then the structure is lowered together with the biological contactor by mounting downdraft on the ocean bed. The pulling elements transfer stabilization and guidance from the floating body with relatively smaller force. An independent claim is also included for a method for lifting, transporting and lowering offshore-wind towers and their underpins or underpins of offshore-platform.

Description

Technical area

The Invention relates to a method with associated device for lifting, Transporting and lowering of dry produced and afterwards settled or flooded in water at a certain depth Offshore wind towers or their substructures or substructures of offshore platforms according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

Offshore facilities are buildings that are built in the open sea, there to their To fulfill tasks. They are built dry, let into the water and afterwards transported the installation site and lowered there. The transition into the water, for example, with the help of floating docks rigid or changeable Chambers, inclined slideways or horizontal slideways followed by Lowering done by crane or press facilities. The transition in the open water only needs to be with those parts of the structure be accomplished, which are there under the waterline. The remaining parts, so at least the lower shaft, so later in the dry over the Absetzstelle be built on the shore. Flooding from in A building made of excavation are to pass into the open sea wide floodgates and large Pumping water required to clear the pit for the next structure. For the Sea transport is predominantly barges or floating cranes with high Payloads used. The substructures of the structures or parts thereof can Also, be educated by their own buoyancy being able to swim. With the help of cranes these are lowered at the planned location on the seabed and aligned there. It must they often from the horizontal transport position before in the final perpendicular Position to be turned. The tubular steel substructures of so-called Monopile towers but are driven into the seabed. It is also planned Special ships to build the building or just its substructure in his final Position so transport and with a special facility settle on board at the intended location. Under a substructure is the part of the whole structure to be understood by the seabed maximum up to the highest Water level is enough. For the production of platforms are expediently three substructures that form an equilateral triangle in plan lowered and then over it connected with each other. So it can, for example, an oil production plant installed or a tall single tower to be built.

It is also aimed at a complete wind turbine, so with the whole tower and the rotor to build on the shore and so on To transport the installation site and lower it there. It must, however always the necessary floating stability guaranteed be. This sets a certain depth of the center of gravity of the whole building ahead. This in turn is due to the minimum driving water depth limited. Such an approach would have the big one Advantage, the installation of the tower with the rotor nacelle from land stationary carry out to be able to and not only on the high seas with the help of barges for the remaining components and the use of a giant floating crane. In addition, would be a telescoping of the steel Tower at a fraction of its length not only during transport but already at its installation of great benefit. In this method only after lowering the structure of the tower on his whole Height extended.

Object of the invention

It is the object of the invention, not only because of the high loads very expensive ship cranes superfluous too do. When using special ships, the loads attached to them should drastically reduced so that their dimensions kept small and the devices installed there for lowering the structure be correspondingly easier. It should in particular buildings with spreader legs be used on individual foundations or with a contiguous flat foundations can.

Presentation of the invention

The The aforementioned object is achieved by the characterizing Characteristics of claim 1 solved.

Therefore is under a ship, which is referred to below as a floating body becomes, a submersible attached and with him for the time being firmly connected. This device or combination of swimming pool and immersion bodies covers about the amount of Waterline in the water below lowered accordingly low or flooded building and is preferably on its foundation discontinued. This is then firmly connected to the device. To the Swim and settle the combination, the tides are very useful.

Then the buoyancy of the diving body is increased and thereby raised the whole and made to swim. This floating unit is now conveniently towed to the installation site. There, the structure together with the immersion body, after it is detached from the float, mainly by the down of its Auf suspended (ie by means of winches) lowered to the seabed or there base or pile heads. The tension members take over the guidance and stabilization from the above floating body with relatively little force.

The Lowering can be achieved by reducing buoyancy or adding ballast water in the diving body to be controlled. So can the increasing buoyancy of the building while the lowering be compensated. To stabilize the total buoyancy always to the one taken over by the winches and set minimum be smaller as the weight of the structure and immersion body. After lowering it will the buoyancy of the submersible so far mitigated that it can be detached from the foundation, where the building is completely set on the ground. Then his buoyancy increased again so far, that he with little strength, as possible horizontally connected, to the float can be pulled up and attached to it again.

The The method described can also be used for lifting, transporting and the subsidence of components of the substructure, the subsequent Place are connected to each other, z. B. of individual Foundations, to be used. The diving body has narrow, after below open or at least accessible to the water chambers, which after above about semicircular are covered and contain, for example, inflatable air cushion. So her buoyancy mainly by tensile forces in the side walls, of there in the whole diving body and over the Fortifications are directed into the building.

The Gusset between the arched False ceiling and the horizontal ceiling of the submersible preferably designed to give the maximum water pressure record and so their volume provides a constant boost. The same effect, with less material expenditure, would have one The depth adjusted internal air pressure. The content can also more or less filled by water, so the weight of the submersible too influence

to execution of the process, the buoyancy of the submersible must be controllable. To the pressure in the airbag is changed. If she is having an air pressure filled then, corresponding to the water pressure at its bottom the full lift is generated. By reducing this pressure The volume of the pillow and thus the buoyancy force is reduced.

Under the diving body can Also spacers are fixed, which expediently are designed as tension and compression struts. Because of the consequent greater depth of the structure becomes the floating stability of the whole transport unit enlarged and often more space for the diving body created. If the struts are formed into beams, then help they, the buoyancy forces of the submersible to the individual foundations of a multi-part foundation. This can also be done the number of fastening points on the substructure can be reduced.

Beyond that Immersion, but outside of the float, upper trains arranged so can these also transfer its buoyancy forces to individual foundations.

Because the structure protrudes from the water after lowering, the floating unit must after pulling up the immersion body be opened as far as that they can be pulled away from the building. So it has to be at least a part, which alone must be able to swim, be separated from it can. For the repatriation will the gap expediently closed again. The air cushion of the immersion body can be fully emptied. To include the substructure for the next Structure must open the unit be and be closed again.

Of the float must be self-contained for lifting, transporting and lowering the structure and in the floor plan evenly above his Be distributed foundation. He must be sufficiently stable against the waves be constructed and enough size board height for the necessary floating stability own the entire transport unit. During the transport will be his Stiffness through the body and especially by the associated structure considerably elevated. Furthermore he needs the rooms for the Technology (eg winches and compressors) and the stay of the Pick up crew.

Around not too big buoyancy forces in the immersion body For the transport of the building to produce, it is often necessary, the Hollow foundations form. With the depth but increases the burden through its outer walls the water pressure. Therefore, it is proposed that the cavities when lowering always under an air pressure that is close to the water pressure corresponds to the depth of their centers. Through these measures Both the cost of the diving body as well as for reduced the foundations. After placing the compressed air after escape above. At the same time be down in the walls of the Foundation valves open, so water and sand is sucked into the cavities, resulting in deliberately increased the weight of the foundation considerably.

The attachment and detachment of the immersion body Underwater at the foundation of the substructure, as well as the opening of the inlet valves need not be done with the help of divers, but can also be done by remote controlled mechanisms. The compressed air for the immersion body is guided through flexible hoses. The pipes for the compressed air of the foundation chambers are permanently installed in the substructure. In special cases, ballast water can later be pushed out again in individual foundation chambers in order to influence the soil pressures under the foundations.

Becomes the method described also for substructures with a large flat foundation, For example, with a kreisringformigen footprint and continuous ceiling, applied, then the likewise ring-shaped immersion body without Spacers attached directly to this foundation. Will the horizontal joints between the matching float and the diving body as well as between immersion bodies and Fundamenoberkante formed waterproof, then the circular interior between the foundation and the freeboard height of the float anhydrous being held. This increases the possible Buoyancy and also the floating stability of the whole transport unit considerably.

The Advantages of the invention are that they do the task fulfill and also the application in buildings with spreader legs on individual foundations or with a related one Allow flat foundations. The invention also allows under certain conditions Transport and lowering a complete wind turbine. she makes the use of heavy and expensive floating cranes superfluous. The transfer the high structural loads on a correspondingly large special ship does not apply because these loads are carried by a special diving body. Lifting of the building in the swimming position is done only by enlargement of the Air pressure in the air cushion of the immersion body and thus its buoyancy. When lowering, the aim is to work only with winches. It but it is easily possible this process by reducing the buoyancy or adding Ballast water in the immersion body to support and to control. For that are instead of pressing with tension or tendons for the full Structural load, only winches for a selected, relatively small guide load required.

The the following description of two preferred embodiments of Invention is used in conjunction with the attached drawing of the other Explanation.

1 shows a vertical section AA through an example, three-legged substructure as it sinks in the sea. Here is the float above 1 with his crew and technical rooms 1a , the passageways 1b and the parallel, also with a high freeboard provided platforms 1c to recognize. Underneath you can see the vertical ropes 3 for the suspension of the diving body 2 as well as its spacers 2a , These are on the underlying foundation 4 the substructure with the hollow shaft 6 and his three legs 5 attached.

2 shows the floor plan of the float 1 with his parts 1a . 1b and the suspension points for 3 as well as the three legs 5 of the substructure underneath.

3 shows the vertical section through a substructure with an annular hollow flat foundation 7 and eight star-shaped triangular support disks 8th over a circular connection plate 7a , To distribute the support forces over the circumference of the foundation ring is about a circular top pull 9 proposed. Externally next to it is also the ring-shaped immersion body 2 directly, ie, fixed without spacers.

4 shows the floor plan of the to the foundation 4 suitable immersion body 2 , He shows the division of his radially aligned chambers 10 that is, the location of their sidewalls. In addition, the approaches of the three cutting legs cutting into the immersion body 5 and dashed the underlying three individual foundations 4 to recognize.

5 shows the section BB behind a long edge of the immersion body. He shows the approximately semicircular covered chambers 10 , They are fully buoyed by customized air cushions 11 fully filled. Above the arched false ceiling and the horizontal ceiling of the diving body there are gore-shaped spaces 12 , which support the buoyancy of the body as a constant size. Below him are the strut-shaped spacers 2a visible, leading to a truss-like beam 13 are summarized, the buoyancy forces of the submersible only on 2 or 4 attachment points 14 into the foundation.

6 shows the section CC behind a short edge of the submersible, also through the chambers with the vaulted false ceiling. Because of the underlying foundation, the spacers 2a be attached directly there. To reduce the number of connections 14 however, diagonals are arranged.

7 shows the selected floor plan of the tripartite foundation. With this cloverleaf-shaped arrangement, the many external forces on Statically determined building transferred into the ground Each foundation is through to the spreader legs 5 transverse partitions 16 divided into several hollow chambers. These walls transfer the forces from the soil pressure to the associated spreading feet 5 or the other way around. The inner edges of the three individual foundations are by Wandriegel 15 connected with each other. These take the horizontal tensile forces from the spreads of the three feet 5 and from the spreads of two adjacent foundations on the mostly oblique axes of the external torques on the building.

Claims (15)

Device and method and for lifting, transporting and lowering of dry-prepared and then deposited in the water at a certain depth or flooded offshore wind towers or their substructures or substructures of offshore platforms, characterized in that a device consisting of a float and a submersible hanging underneath and temporarily fixed to it, the structure comprises, is placed on it and attached to it, that then increases the buoyancy of the immersion and thereby the whole is raised and so comes to swimming that on this floating unit to the installation point in is transported open sea, and that then there the structure is lowered together with the dissolved from the float submersible mainly by abolishing its suspension to the seabed, the tension members from the overhead float with relatively little force leadership and stabilization over to take. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that that lowering by reducing the buoyancy or adding of ballast water in the submerged body is controlled. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that that after lowering the buoyancy of the immersion body is reduced so far, that he detached from the structure can be and the latter settles fully on the ground. Method according to claims 1 and 3, characterized that thereafter the buoyancy of the immersion body is increased again so far, that he can be pulled up to the float with little force. Method, characterized in that also substructures made to the maximum water level reaching substructure and according to claim 1 successively raised, transported, lowered and then be connected in place. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that that the submersible down narrow, open or at least accessible to the water pressure Has chambers, which covered approximately semicircular upwards are and contain, for example, inflatable air cushion Device according to claim 6, characterized in that that the gussets between the horizontal ceiling and the vaulted false ceiling of the immersion body be designed so that they absorb the maximum water pressure and so their volume provides a constant boost. Method according to claims 1 and 6, characterized that the air cushions are about filled with the air pressure, the water pressure on the underside of the submersible corresponds, which produces full buoyancy, and that through change this pressure the volumes of pillows under the water pressure change and so the buoyancy force is controlled. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that that under the submersible Spacer, for example in the form of tension and compression struts rigid be attached. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that that the spacers formed into joists which help lift forces into individual foundations to transfer the substructure Device according to claim 1, characterized in that that over the diving body, but outside of the float, upper trains be arranged, which its buoyancy forces in individual foundations of the building. Device as diving and floating body after Claim 1, characterized in that it is the building in about Height of Water level completely surrounds and temporarily must be separable into at least two parts. Device as a floating body according to claim 1, characterized characterized in that they are for lifting, transporting and lowering the structure is self-contained and evenly over the foundation of the substructure distributed, enough is formed stiff against the waves, has enough large board height for the floating stability and can pick up the crew as well as the required technology. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that when using hollow foundation bodies whose cavities are always kept under a barometric pressure when lowering the structure that corresponds to the water pressure at about the depth of its center. Device as diving and floating body after Claim 1, characterized in that in the connection with a continuous flat foundations of the structure without spacers the joints are so dense that between the foundation and the upper edge of the float Interior remains anhydrous. This increases the buoyancy and the floating stability.