AU2005306106B2 - Device for the offshore loading and unloading of ships - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for the offshore loading and unloading of ships is provided. The device includes a steel bridge ( 1 ), which rests on the head pieces ( 3 ) of individual pile foundations ( 2 ). One or more ship loading or unloading devices ( 5 ) can be displaced along said bridge.

Description

WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 DEVICE FOR OFFSHORE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF SHIPS The invention relates to a device for offshore loading and/or unloading of ships. 5 At times when high productivity combined with fast transshipment of goods is called for, unloading and loading of ships attain special importance. To minimize cost, the shortest possible demurrage is desired that can 10 only be reached if goods are transshipped at high speed. To achieve or improve desired profitability, cargo ships having a high loading capacity have been developed that have a corresponding size. Sometimes, the depth of water 15 at harbor berths fails to be sufficient for the deep draft of such ships or there is no harbor available near the bulk goods storage yard, so that an offshore dispatch lends itself suitable as an alternative. Offshore loading of a ship, however, calls for a ship pier and an 20 appropriate carrying facility for conveyor devices which must be located at a distinct distance to the existing coast. In the past, near-coast ship piers were created that consisted of massive concrete platforms on which rail-bound or wheel-carried chassis can be moved. These 25 massive concrete platforms are usually supported on pile foundations. The offshore facilities outlined hereinabove have a drawback in that they are relatively expensive both in 30 terms of their set-up and fabrication, all the more so because concrete grouting work in most cases must be performed locally, that means offshore. And the large number of required pile foundations is expensive, too. 35 It would be advantageous if the present invention would provide a device for offshore ship loading and/or 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -2 unloading that overcomes and eliminates these drawbacks outlined hereinabove. The present invention provides in a first aspect a device 5 comprising a steel gantry supported on head pieces (preferably concrete heads) of a few single pile foundations and on which one or several ship loaders and/or ship unloaders are arranged that may be moved in longitudinal direction. Each pile foundation is comprised 10 of a group of several suitably arranged single piles that may be driven into the sea bed and the upper ends of which are connected to one another above the water line by means of a head piece consisting of concrete, for example. The steel gantry is preferably configured as a multispan 15 girder having a large span, and more particularly in a truss design. The steel gantry, even if configured as a full wall or box-type girder, may offer special cost benefits. The steel gantry may easily be carried to site either as a whole unit or disassembled into few elements 20 and connected there, if required, to a large span gantry. Referably, this gantry equally serves as ship pier and as carrying facility both for the ship loader and/or ship unloader traversible on it in longitudinal direction and for the pier belt conveyor extending over the entire 25 gantry length. While having equal load-bearing capacity, multispan girder steel gantries, e.g. as bend beams with a large spacing between top chord and bottom chord, i.e. as beams with a large height, are typically constructible with substantially less weight and much larger column 30 spacing than concrete or reinforced concrete gantries. Therefore, the number of pile foundations may be substantially reduced, thus achieving further cost savings. The steel gantry may be of such a configuration that its top chord versus the water level may be arranged 35 higher than with massive concrete building structures without any major expenditure, so that the portal of the ship loader and/or ship unloader with the corresponding 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -3 jib may be constructed with low height. This in turn offers the benefit of small wheel loads from wind forces. In principle, it is possible to arrange on such a gantry 5 both a ship loader and a ship unloader, but in the following, only a ship loader is described in detail. The ship loader may particularly be a coordinate device with a jib formed by an inherently stiff straight horizontal beam that may be displaced transversely to the longitudinal 10 axis of the ship to be loaded and transversely to its own device driveway; it is guided at least at its top side and bottom side between carrier idlers. The designation "coordinate device" originates from the circumstance that the jib tip (the tripper head) may be moved in one 15 direction by longitudinal traversing of the ship loader on the steel gantry and altered in the other coordinate which is vertical to the first one by extending or retracting the jib. In this manner, any point over any open ship loading hatches may be reached with the jib tip. 20 The jib preferably comprises a counterweight which may be moved longitudinally, i.e. which is slidable or slewable, and which is particularly supported on rolls or wheels, and which may be moved in a direction opposite to the 25 jib's direction of travel by drive pinions having different diameters and arranged on a common shaft and which engage in toothed racks or drive gears. The ratio of the drive pinion diameters typically determines the reciprocal displacement way of the counterweight relative 30 to the travel way of the jib, so that the counterweight is extended by a corresponding ratio in opposite direction when extending the jib. Apart from the described solution of a mechanical compulsory drive by a drive pinion and a toothed rack or the like, which is robust and failsafe in 35 rough sea operation, the counterweight may also be moved by additional electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic or other mechanical auxiliary means, but which due to their 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -4 required separate monitoring, control and drive elements may call for additional expenditure as compared with a mechanical compulsory coupling of movements. 5 The jib of the ship loader may comprise a charging chute at its front-side free end, which may be retracted in vertical direction and which is preferably comprised of a head chute, a telescoping outlet pipe, and a guiding scaffold which furthermore is preferably accommodated 10 within a pylon. If required, trim facilities for the bottom end of the outlet pipe may be additionally provided for. The pylon may be equipped with hoisting devices by means of which the charging chute and the guidance scaffold may be retracted toward the top so as to be able 15 to guide the charging chute into a position in which it is horizontally slidable above the ship hatch edge, for example in order to move the charging chute out from a ship loading hold and into the next ship loading hold. To this effect, the guidance scaffold within the pylon may be 20 raised and lowered, with the charging chute elements being slidable into one another when raising the guidance scaffold in parts and like a telescope. Instead of a telescoping outlet pipe comprised of cylindrical elements, elements shaped like hoppers may also be arranged which 25 are mounted in a straight line or like a telescope one above another in form of a cascade. Furthermore, the head chute is preferably comprised of a hopper-shaped inflow area, a cover, inner guiding and 30 deflector devices as well as an opening for lateral charging of the conveyed goods transported on the jib preferably via a belt conveyor. This belt conveyor may have a tripper car at the head end, with it being possible to slew-out and pull-off said tripper car from the area of 35 the head chute. The a.m. guiding and deflector devices are exchangeable wear parts having a straight or bent contour. 2333387_1 (GHMatlers) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -5 A ship loader may comprise a superstructure with a jib horizontally slewable around a vertical axis may also be utilized to serve as ship loader. The jib tip describes a pitch circle arc, wherein each point above each ship 5 loading hatch may be reached in connection with the traversability of the ship loader in longitudinal direction, assuming a corresponding jib length. The jib is preferably configured as a swan neck jib that 10 may be slewed around a horizontal axis which lies in the area of the ship skin facing the ship loader. This configuration permits a steep inclination of the front side jib section, so that the chute arranged there may dive deep into the ship hold, thus allowing for minimizing 15 the height of fall of the goods to be loaded. Unwanted damage to grains in case of bulk goods that might occur otherwise due to the large height of fall, or serious development of dust when loading pulverous bulk goods can thus be largely avoided. To prevent too serious a flexion 20 of the belt conveyor in the transitional area between two hinge-connected jib sections, it is advantageous to support the belt conveyor in the area of the horizontal slewing axis by means of a belt conveyor arc comprised of several single elements which may be traversed against 25 each other, and which are slewable and slidable. For example, in contrast with the spring arcs known from DE 100 02 018 C2, which are difficult to manufacture, and which are bulky as well as expensive, a belt support track which is advantageous in terms of design and cost may be 30 created by means of traversible elements, wherein inadmissibly sharp bend radii are avoided. The charging chute at its outflow end, arranged at the end side of the swan neck jib may be provided with a trim 35 device for lateral deflection of the charging goods, whereby it is possible to generate a by and large even charging goods surface in the ship load and, thereby, an 2333387.1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -6 optimal filling degree of the bulk goods. In particular, it is possible to ensure optimal trimming of the ship and/or minimizing the risk of displacement in loaded goods in rough sea. 5 The chute may preferably be vertically guided and/or maintained via a parallelogram handlebar. Utilized for supply of conveying material to the ship 10 loader are preferably a land-bound belt conveyor, a pier belt conveyor and/or a travelling tripper from where the bulk material is transferred to the ship loader and/or to the belt conveyor located there. The travelling tripper may be integrated into the ship loader. 15 The head pieces of the pile foundations may be comprised of concrete or steel, depending on the set-up of the pile foundations and the occurring forces that are necessarily to be considered, preferably including but not limited to 20 load-bearing forces. In a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a device for offshore loading and unloading of ships for bulk material, the device comprising: 25 a steel gantry configured as a multispan girder with a large span, said gantry being supported on the head pieces of single pile foundations, the steel gantry being configured as a ship pier and as a carrying facility for one or more ship loaders and/or 30 ship unloaders and for a pier belt conveyer extending in longitudinal direction over at least one portion of the gantry length; one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders arranged on said steel gantry and being traversible 35 in longitudinal direction; at least one jib mounted at said one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders, said at least one jib 2333387 1 (GHMattersi WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -7 comprising a belt conveyor extending in longitudinal direction of said jib, said at least one jib being traversible transversely relative to the device roadway and a ship's longitudinal axis on said one or 5 more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders or arranged slewable around a horizontal and/or a vertical axis. On the whole, a particularly low-cost solution to a ship loading or ship unloading facility can be realized by 10 implementing the inventive device. In contrast with state of-the-art technology of such devices, this can be achieved by: " a light-weight construction and inexpensive erection of the gantry locally on site 15 e a simple set-up of the ship loader and a small overhang of the jib as compared with radial loaders with advance carriages usually employed in offshore operations e omission of foundations and causeways for separate 20 ship berths and radial roadways, separate gantry swing bearings, conveying material distribution station between twin loaders, roadways and walkways between pier, radial roadway, distribution station, etc. that are required for usual radial loaders. 25 Other advantages and embodiments of the present invention are outlined in the following by way of various drawings, in which 30 FIG. 1 to 3 show different views of a principle sketch of an embodiment of the inventive device; FIG. 4 is a principle sketch of a belt track girder in the kinking area of a jib; 35 FIG.5 is a principle view of a parallelogram handlebar guidance for a charging chute; 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -8 FIG. 6 is a principle sketch of a horizontally guidable jib with a vertically retractable charging chute; 5 FIG. 6a to 6c are detail views of the head area of the charging chute; FIG. 7 is a view according to FIG. 6 with retracted 10 charging chute; FIG. 8 and 9 each show different views of a drive pinion/toothed rack drive for a horizontally movable jib; 15 FIG.10a and 10b are principle sketches of different chute component parts; FIG. 11 is a principle sketch of a pylon at the jib 20 head to accommodate the charging chute including guidance scaffold; FIG. 12a is a principle sketch of the telescoping charging chute with a guidance scaffold; 25 FIG: 12b is a side view of the lower part of FIG. 12 a. It is basically known that the cost of a large-size 30 offshore ship loading and ship unloading facility are not just caused by the ship loading or ship unloading device itself, but frequently and to a much greater extent by the building structures to be erected locally. In particular, this includes but is not limited to the extended ship 35 berth including tossing facilities and fenders, foundation, causeway, and roadway for the transshipment device, and - with radial loaders known from state of the 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -9 art in technology - the foundation as well as causeway of the swing bearing of this transshipment device as well as - for swivel loaders possibly constructed in twin design the design and causeway of the bulk material distribution 5 stations standing separately between them for distribution from the incoming main feeder to the two loaders, and the foundation and causeway of the parking and service platform as well as of the connecting roadways and walkways (maintenance and transport routes) between the 10 distribution station, parking and service platform and ship berths. According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention there is provided an offshore ship loading facility that can be built at low technical expenditure and less costly, 15 As shown on FIG. 1 to 3, the offshore ship loading unit is comprised of a steel gantry 1 arranged on concrete heads 3 of single pile foundations 2. Arranged on this steel gantry 1 is a ship loader 5 along side the rail track 4 in 20 longitudinally traversible arrangement. Ship loader 5 is built with a low-head portal 6 and/or 23 (see FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 9), which is feasible because the top chord of steel gantry 1 can be arranged at a relatively high level as compared with water level 31. Owing to this "low-level 25 design", low additional wheel loads result from wind forces. For completeness' sake, this drawing also shows the land-bound belt conveyor 32, pier belt conveyor 33 and a travelling tripper 34 by means of which the bulk material is transferred to ship loader 5. 30 The jib designated with reference number 35 in FIG. 2 can be of a different design and configuration, however with it always being ensured that jib 35 at a distinct security distance to the hatch edge can reach any point above 35 and/or within loading hatch 36 of ship 37. Furthermore, it can be seen in FIG. 3 that a traversible service and 2333387_1 (GHMatter) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -10 transport platform 8 is arranged between gantry main girders 7 above or below gantry top chord. The ship loader shown in FIG. 3 is comprised of a 5 superstructure 5a including a jib horizontally slewable around a vertical axis 5b, said jib being configured as a swan neck jib 9 which can seesaw around horizontal axis 9a. To keep the radii of curvature experienced by belt 9b in the area above axis 9a as large as possible, a belt 10 track arch 10 according to FIG: 4 has been created which is comprised of a rear-side firmly arranged segment 11 and a front-side hinge-mounted segment 12 as well as a middle segment 13. All segments 11, 12 and 13 are stiff in themselves, with the left-side end of segment 12 shown in 15 FIG. 4 being fastened to jib 9 in an arrangement slewable around a horizontal axis 12a, while the other end in the area of segment 11 facing the jib is arranged both slewable around a horizontal axis 12b and slidable roughly tangentially to the local supporting contour of segment 20 11. Segment 13 with its one end is fastened to segment 12 in an arrangement slewable around a horizontal axis 13a, and with its other end in the area of segment 11 facing jib 9 it is also arranged slewable around a horizontal axis 13b and slidable in an arrangement that roughly 25 follows the contour of segment 11. As compared with one partite springy elements like those disclosed for example in DE 100 02 018 Al, the supporting arrangement chosen according to FIG. 4 has the advantage that it is easier to manufacture and much cheaper, considering the length 30 required for a sufficiently large bending radius. In an enhanced view, FIG. 1 shows the guidance by means of a parallelogram handlebar 15 which keeps charging chute 14 vertical, independently of the vertical slewing angle 35 (seesawing angle) of jib 9. The horizontal axis 9a around which the jib can seesaw lies between the vertical plane formed by ship skin 37a and the vertical plane of that 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 part of steel gantry 1 which faces the ship. For a non loaded or low-loaded ship, in particular, this arrangement of the seesaw axis allows for a steep inclination of jib 9, thus making it possible for chute 14 to dive deep into 5 the ship hold. The variant outlined in FIG: 6 to 8 shows a ship loader 5 which is comprised of a jib 16 with a belt conveyor 16a, said jib being horizontally and transversely traversible 10 to the device roadway and the ship's longitudinal axis. The set-off of the point of gravity of jib 16 that can be displaced horizontally along its longitudinal axis is created by means of counterweight 17 which is mounted at jib 16 in slidable arrangement (of even slewable, if 15 required). The embodiment outlined in FIG. 8 and 9 shows two drive pinions 19, 20 which are arranged on a common shaft 21 and which engage into toothed racks 24 and 25. Toothed rack 24 20 is fastened to jib 16, and toothed rack 25 is fastened to counterweight 17. Counterweight 17 is supported on rollers 18. The common shaft 21 is preferably arranged on a bogie 22 linked to portal 23 (to avoid contraction). The displacement path counterweight 17 relative to the 25 travelling way of jib 16 is determined by the ratio of the diameters of the two drive pinions 19, 20. Counterweight 17 is displaced in a direction opposite to jib 16. At its end facing the ship, jib 16 is comprised of a 30 charging chute that is "retractable" toward the top, said chute being comprised of a head chute 26, a telescoping outlet pipe 27 (provided with a trim facility 27a) as well as a guidance scaffold 28 for retraction of the charging chute. Guidance scaffold 28 is guided within a pylon 29. 35 To get from the charging chute position shown in FIG. 6 into the position shown in FIG. 7, it is required to clear the hoisting path at the head side of jib 16 where the 2333387_1 (GHMattes) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -12 tripper pulley 30 of belt conveyor 16a is located which in accordance with FIG. 6a/6b or 6c is displaced toward the rear by means of a sliding frame 40 (FIG: 6a) or which is laterally or upwardly slewed by means of sliding frame 41, 5 or which is alternatively located in fixed arrangement, wherein the rear-side chute bottom section 42 is separated from the front-side section 43 and configured in fixed or foldable arrangement as shown, considering the interference edges of the chute to be retracted. 10 Instead of a telescoping outlet pipe 27, hoppers 38 (hopper-in-hopper principle) which are slidable into each other and which are suspended to chains or bands, or chute hoppers 39 arranged in form of a cascade can also be 15 utilized. FIG. 11 shows that both jib 16 and pylon 29 which jointly with a hoisting device 29a serves for retracting the charging chute can be built, for example, in a full wall 20 design with cross bracings made of a truss work. (Even a mere truss design is feasible and sometimes purposive as the case may be). FIG. 12a is a front-side view (from the left) onto pylon 25 29 and the charging chute according to FIG. 6. It schematically shows the trim facility 27a, its fastening to the bottom part (section) of the telescopic outlet pipe 27, which in turn is fastened to the guidance scaffold 28, and it also shows the head chute 26 as well as a guidance 30 bearing 28a of the guidance scaffold 28 in pylon 29. Also shown here are the hoisting device 29a with hoisting ropes 29b which are connected to guidance scaffold 28. FIG. 12b is a lateral view on the lower part of FIG. 12a. 35 In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 - 13 requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features 5 but not to preclude the presence or addition of further feature in various embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the prior art publications referred to herein, do no constitute an admission that the 10 publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or in any other language. 2333387_1 (GHMatters)

Claims (17)

1. A device for offshore loading and unloading of ships for bulk material, the device comprising: 5 a steel gantry configured as a multispan girder with a large span, said gantry being supported on the head pieces of single pile foundations, the steel gantry being configured as a ship pier and as a carrying facility for one or more ship loaders and/or 10 ship unloaders and for a pier belt conveyer extending in longitudinal direction over at least one portion of the gantry length; one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders arranged on said steel gantry and being traversible 15 in longitudinal direction; at least one jib mounted at said one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders, said at least one jib comprising a belt conveyor extending in longitudinal direction of said jib, said at least one jib being 20 traversible transversely relative to the device roadway and a ship's longitudinal axis on said one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders or arranged slewable around a horizontal and/or a vertical axis. 25

2. A device as defined in claim 1, characterised in that said steel gantry is configured in a truss design.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said one or more ship loader and/or ship 30 unloader is a coordinate device comprising said at least one jib formed by an inherently stiff straight beam that can be displaced transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ship, wherein the jib tip is moveable to longitudinal and transversal axis of the 35 ship above each ship loading hatch which can be moved transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ship to be loaded and to its device roadway. 2333387_1 (GHMatters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 - 15

4. A device as defined in claim 3, characterised in that said at least one jib is comprised of a longitudinally traversible counterweight.

5 5. A device as defined in claim 4, characterised in that said counterweight is supported on rollers and traversible together with the at least one jib in opposite directions by means of drive pinions having different diameters, being arranged on a common shaft 10 and each engaging into a toothed rack.

6. A device as defined in any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterised in that said at least one jib of said one or more ship loaders and/or ship 15 unloaders at one free end is comprised of a charging chute retractable in vertical direction, said charging chute being comprised of a head chute, a telescoping outlet pipe and a guidance scaffold which furthermore is accommodated within a pylon. 20

7. A device as defined in claim 6, characterised in that said head chute is comprised of a hopper-shaped inflow area, a cover, inner guiding and deflector facilities, and an opening for lateral feed of the 25 material to be conveyed which is transported via a belt conveyor.

8. A device as defined in claim 7, characterised in that at the head end of said belt conveyor a tripper 30 pulley is arranged that can be slewed out from the area of the head chute and pulled-off.

9. A device as defined in claim 6, characterised in that the telescoping outlet pipe is comprised of elements 2333387_1 (GHMaters) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -16 that are of a cylindrical or hopper-shaped configuration and that are arranged in a straight line or in form of a cascade and telescoping to each other. 5

10. A device as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders is comprised of said superstructure including said at least one jib horizontally slewable 10 around a vertical axis.

11. A device as defined in claim 10, characterised in that said at least one jib is configured as a swan neck jib, with the front-end (ship-side) part of the 15 at least one jib being slewable around a horizontal axis lying in the area of the ship skin of the ship to be loaded and/or unloaded and facing the one or more ship loaders and/or ship unloaders. 20

12. A device as defined in claim 10 or 11, characterised in that said at least one jib carries a belt conveyor which is supported and guided in the area of the horizontal slewing axis by a belt track arc bridging this area and comprised of several single slewable 25 and slidable elements that can be traversed against each other.

13. A device as defined in any one of the preceding claims 10 to 12, characterised in that said at least 30 one jib carries a charging chute, and that said charging chute is provided with a trim facility for lateral deflection of the loading goods. 2333367_1 (GHMatlers) WO 2006/053595 PCT/EP2005/009308 -17

14. A device as defined in claim 13, characterised in that said charging chute is vertically guided via a parallelogram handlebar. 5

15. A device as defined in any of the preceding claims 1 to 14, characterised in that a land-bound belt conveyor, a pier conveyor belt and a travelling tripper serve for feeding the material to be conveyed onto the ship loader. 10

16. A device as defined in any of the preceding claims 1 to 15, characterised in that the head pieces are heads made of concrete or made of steel. 15

17. A device substantially as herein described with reference to one or more of the accompanying drawings. 2333387_1 (GHMatters)