JP6915550B2 - Underwater equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an underwater device.

A configuration for controlling the buoyancy of an underwater device by utilizing water injection and drainage to a ballast tank provided in the underwater device has been studied (for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2014/163141

However, when the ballast tank is drained, the gas in the ballast tank is gradually discharged to the outside, which may make it difficult to inject and drain the ballast tank.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an underwater device for preventing gas from being discharged to the outside when draining from a ballast tank.

In order to achieve the above object, the underwater device according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided on the ballast tank, a drainage portion having a pipe for draining water in the ballast tank, and the pipe, and flows through the pipe. It has a steam-water separation unit that separates gas from water and a gas return unit that returns the gas separated by the steam-water separation unit to the ballast tank.

According to the above-mentioned underwater equipment, the gas is separated from the water by the air-water separation section provided on the pipe of the drainage section from the ballast tank, and the gas is returned to the ballast tank by the gas return section. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the gas contained in the water discharged by the drainage unit from being discharged to the outside.

Here, the ballast has a pressure measuring unit that measures the air pressure in the ballast tank, and the gas return unit is the ballast when the air pressure in the ballast tank measured by the pressure measuring unit is less than the reference pressure. The gas can be returned to the tank.

As described above, when the air pressure in the ballast tank measured by the pressure measuring unit is less than the reference pressure, the gas is returned to the ballast tank when the air pressure in the ballast tank is reduced. Since the gas can be returned to the ballast tank, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the air pressure in the ballast tank.

Further, it has a water level measuring unit for measuring the water level in the ballast tank, and the gas returning unit is connected to the ballast tank when the water level in the ballast tank measured by the water level measuring unit is the reference water level. The gas can be returned.

As described above, when the water level in the ballast tank measured by the water level measuring unit is the reference water level, the gas is returned to the ballast tank, so that the water level in the ballast tank is appropriate. Since the gas can be returned when the air pressure is low, the water level and air pressure in the ballast tank can be maintained appropriately.

Further, the reference pressure is equal to or lower than atmospheric pressure, and the gas return unit includes a gas pipe connecting the air-water separation unit and the ballast tank, and an on-off valve provided on the gas pipe. Then, by opening and closing the on-off valve, the gas can be returned to the ballast tank.

As described above, when the reference pressure is atmospheric pressure or less, the gas can be returned to the ballast tank by opening and closing the on-off valve provided on the gas pipe of the gas return unit. Therefore, the gas return unit can be realized with a simpler configuration.

According to the present invention, there is provided an underwater device that prevents gas from being discharged to the outside when draining from a ballast tank.

It is a schematic block diagram of the underwater equipment. It is a schematic block diagram of a brackish water separation part. It is a flow chart explaining drainage and gas return by an underwater device. It is a figure explaining the operation at the time of drainage by an underwater device. It is a figure explaining the operation at the time of gas return by an underwater device.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an underwater device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the underwater device 1 is a device that floats in water such as in the sea. The underwater device 1 is a device that floats in water and performs some operation, and is realized as, for example, a device that collects information in water. Further, the underwater device 1 has a function of adjusting the buoyancy of its own machine, and by adjusting the buoyancy, it floats / sinks.

As shown in FIG. 1, the underwater device 1 collects a housing 2, a ballast tank 10, a drainage unit 20 that drains water from the ballast tank 10, and a gas mixed with water when the water is drained by the drainage unit 20. It has a gas return unit 40 for returning the gas to the ballast tank 10 and a control unit 50 for controlling the injection / drainage by the drainage unit 20 and the return of the gas by the gas return unit 40. The ballast tank 10, the drainage unit 20, the air-water separation unit 30, the gas return unit 40, and the control unit 50 are provided in the housing 2. The underwater device 1 is separately provided with a water injection unit for injecting water into the ballast tank 10, but the description is omitted in FIG.

The ballast tank 10 is a tank provided for adjusting the buoyancy of the underwater device 1 and having a function of storing water inside. When the amount of water in the ballast tank 10 changes, the weight of the underwater device 1 changes. Therefore, the buoyancy received by the underwater device 1 also changes. Therefore, the underwater device 1 can ascend / settle as the amount of water in the ballast tank 10 changes. In this way, water W and gas A are present in the ballast tank 10. When the underwater device 1 is used in the sea, water or seawater is used as the water W. Examples of the gas A include air, but the type of gas is not particularly limited.

The underwater device 1 has a pressure sensor PG (pressure measuring unit) that measures the pressure of the gas in the ballast tank 10 and a liquid level that measures the height of the water W in the ballast tank 10. It has a sensor LG1 (water level measurement unit). The pressure sensor PG is provided in, for example, a region above the ballast tank 10 where the gas A stays, and has a function of measuring the atmospheric pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10. Further, the liquid level sensor LG1 is provided on the side surface of the ballast tank 10, for example, and measures the height position of the liquid level of the water W in the ballast tank 10 to measure the amount of water and the amount of gas in the ballast tank 10. It has a function to measure. Information related to the pressure or temperature measured by the pressure sensor PG and the liquid level sensor LG1 is sent to the control unit 50. The information sent to the control unit 50 is used as information when the control unit 50 controls the injection / drainage of water W in the ballast tank 10 and the return of gas. In this embodiment, the "water volume" means the volume of water. The "gas amount" refers to the volume of gas. The "volume" in this case is the volume of water or gas existing in the ballast tank 10.

The drainage unit 20 has a pipe 21 and a pump P, and drains water in the ballast tank 10 under the control of the control unit 50. Further, an on-off valve V1 is provided on the pipe 21. Further, a steam-water separation section, which will be described later, is provided on the pipe 21. The pump P, the steam separating portion, and the on-off valve V1 are provided on the pipe 21 in this order from the ballast tank 10 side. In addition, in this embodiment, "provided on the pipe" means that the target component (for example, the air-water separation part) is installed in a part or the whole of the pipe.

The air-water separation unit 30 is provided on the pipe 21 and collects the gas contained in the water from the ballast tank 10 flowing on the pipe 21. An example of the air-water separation unit 30 is shown in FIG. The air-water separation unit 30 is provided with a plate-shaped member 32 that has a hollow inside of the housing 31 and serves as an obstacle plate extending upward (on the side of the pipe 41 described later) from the bottom surface (the side opposite to the pipe 41 described later). Be done. A pipe 21 on the ballast tank 10 side and a pipe 21 on the on-off valve V1 side are provided so as to sandwich the plate-shaped member 32. Further, the pipe 41 included in the gas return unit 40, which will be described later, is provided above the plate-shaped member 34. When the water flowing from the ballast tank 10 through the pipe 21 and introduced into the brackish water separation unit 30 collides with the plate-shaped member 34, the gas in the water is separated and moves upward. As a result, the gas moves to the pipe 41, and the water from which the gas is separated flows to the pipe 21 on the on-off valve V1 side. The structure of the brackish water separation unit 30 is an example, and various modifications can be made without being limited to the above.

The gas return unit 40 has a pipe 41 (gas pipe) and an air tank 42, and the ballast tank collects the gas contained in the water when the ballast tank 10 is drained under the control of the control unit 50. Return to 10. One end of the pipe 41 is connected to the pipe 21 via the air-water separation unit 30, and the other end is connected to the ballast tank 10.

The air tank 42 is provided on the pipe 41 and stores the gas recovered from the water discharged from the ballast tank 10. The air tank 42 has a liquid level sensor LG2 for measuring the height of the liquid level of water W in the air tank 42. The liquid level sensor LG2 is provided on the side surface of the air tank 42, for example, and has a function of measuring the amount of gas in the air tank 42 by measuring the height position of the liquid level of water in the air tank 42.

An on-off valve V2 and an on-off valve V3 are provided on the pipe 41 so as to sandwich the air tank 42. The on-off valve V2 is provided on the pipe 41 on the air-water separation portion 30 side of the air tank 42. Further, the on-off valve V3 is provided on the pipe 41 (on the gas pipe) on the ballast tank 10 side of the air tank 42. Further, a check valve C is provided on the pipe 41 between the on-off valve V3 and the ballast tank 10. The check valve C is provided to prevent gas from moving from the ballast tank 10 to the pipe 41 side (air tank 42 side).

The air tank 42 is provided so as to be above the pipe on the side of the pipe 41 that connects the air tank 42 and the air / water separation unit 30. With such a configuration, the gas separated in the air tank 42 tends to stay in the air tank 42.

The pipe 21 of the drainage unit 20 and the pipe 41 of the gas return unit 40 are continuously provided. In this way, the drainage unit 20 and the gas return unit 40 are integrally provided, and by controlling the opening and closing of the on-off valves V1 to V3 provided on the pipes 21 and 31, the infusion and drainage of the ballast tank 10 and the infusion and drainage of the ballast tank 10 and Gas is returned to the ballast tank 10 and the like.

The control unit 50 controls the injection and drainage of water in the ballast tank 10 and the gas return. The control unit 50 grasps the changes in the amount of water and the amount of gas in the ballast tank 10 and grasps the buoyancy received by the underwater device 1. It also has a function of controlling the injection and drainage of water in the ballast tank 10 in order to obtain a desired buoyancy. Further, when the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 drops, the control unit 50 controls the gas return unit 40 to return the gas stored in the air tank 42 to the ballast tank 10. In this way, the control unit 50 controls the drainage unit 20 and the gas return unit 40 to suppress the discharge of gas from the ballast tank while appropriately maintaining the buoyancy of the underwater device 1 using the ballast tank 10.

The control unit 50 is composed of, for example, hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and software such as a program stored in the ROM. It can be realized as a computer.

Next, a buoyancy control method and a gas recovery method of the underwater device 1 under the control of the control unit 50 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the underwater device 1 has started normal operation. During normal operation, the control unit 50 grasps the buoyancy received by the underwater device 1 based on the amount of water in the ballast tank 10 based on the information from the liquid level sensor LG1 and the pressure sensor PG attached to the ballast tank 10. do. Further, during normal operation, the on-off valves V1 to V3 are all closed.

Here, it is assumed that the control unit 50 determines that drainage from the ballast tank 10 is necessary. Specifically, when the water level in the ballast tank 10 measured by the liquid level sensor LG1 is higher than the reference water level corresponding to the assumed buoyancy, the control unit 50 controls the water level to be the reference water level. do. The control unit 50 issues a command to the drainage unit 20 and the gas return unit 40 to start the drainage operation (S01). In the drainage unit 20 and the gas return unit 40, based on the drainage operation command from the control unit 50, the on-off valves V1 and V2 are opened (S02), and the pump P is started to drain the water from the ballast tank 10. Is started (S03).

The state in which drainage is started is shown in FIG. By driving the pump P, water is discharged from the ballast tank 10 to the outside of the housing 2 via the pipe 21. At this time, the water passing through the pipe 21 passes through the air-water separation unit 30. The gas in the water is separated in the air-water separation unit 30 and moves to the upper pipe 41 side. Therefore, the water discharged to the outside of the housing 2 is water from which at least a part of the gas has been removed. The separated gas is mixed and water with an increased amount of mixed gas moves to the pipe 41 side. In addition, the gas moves upward in the water. As a result, the separated gas A2 stays in the air tank 42. Since the gas A2 stays in the air tank 42 while water is supplied from below, the gas A2 in the air tank 42 is held in a state of being compressed more than the atmospheric pressure.

Since the on-off valve V3 is in the closed state, the gas A2 staying in the air tank 42 does not move to the ballast tank 10.

In the air tank 42, when the water in the ballast tank 10 is discharged by the drive of the pump P, the gas A2 separated by the air-water separation unit 30 and the water moved upward from the air-water separation unit 30 are contained in the air tank 42. It will exist. By measuring the water level in the air tank 42 with the liquid level sensor LG2 attached to the air tank 42, the amount of gas A2 staying in the air tank 42 can be measured.

The control unit 50 determines whether or not the measured value of the liquid level sensor LG1 is at the reference water level (S04), and if it is not at the reference water level (S04-NO), drainage is continued. On the other hand, when the measured value of the liquid level sensor LG1 reaches the reference water level (S04-YES), drainage is stopped. That is, under the control of the control unit 50, the drive of the pump P is stopped (S05), and the on-off valves V1 and V2 are changed to the closed state (S06). As a result, drainage from the ballast tank 10 is stopped.

Next, the control unit 50 confirms whether or not the water level in the ballast tank 10 after the drainage is stopped is the reference water level (S07). When the water level is not the reference water level (S07-NO), the control unit 50 performs normal operation and does not perform the processing after (S08). When the water level in the ballast tank 10 is the reference water level (S07-YES), the control unit 50 determines that the pressure (air pressure) of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 is based on the information from the pressure sensor PG of the ballast tank 10. Check whether the pressure is smaller than the reference pressure (S09). The reference pressure defines the lower limit of the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 capable of suitably pouring and draining the ballast tank 10. As the reference pressure, for example, atmospheric pressure can be set, but it can be appropriately changed based on the usage environment of the underwater device 1.

When the pressure (air pressure) of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 is equal to or higher than the reference pressure, the normal operation is continued (S08). On the other hand, when the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 is less than the reference pressure (S09- YES ), the control unit 50 returns the gas so that the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 is equal to or higher than the reference pressure. The gas is returned by the unit 40. Specifically, the on-off valve V3 is changed to the open state (S10). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the air tank 42 and the ballast tank 10 are connected to each other. As described above, the gas A2 in the air tank 42 is in a compressed state, whereas the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 is smaller than the reference pressure (the reference pressure is set to atmospheric pressure). If so, the pressure is below atmospheric pressure). Therefore, it is highly possible that the pressure of the gas A2 is higher than the pressure of the gas A. Therefore, when the on-off valve V3 is opened, the gas A2 in the air tank 42 moves into the ballast tank 10. As a result, the pressure of the gas in the ballast tank 10 rises. When the on-off valve V3 is in the open state, gas may move from the ballast tank 10 side to the air tank 42 side, but the movement of gas in this direction is prevented by the check valve C.

The control unit 50 confirms that the pressure (air pressure) of the gas in the ballast tank 10 measured by the pressure sensor PG rises to the reference pressure (S11). When it is confirmed that the pressure (air pressure) of the gas in the ballast tank 10 has reached the reference pressure (S11-YES), the on-off valve V3 is changed to the closed state (S12), and the normal operation is resumed.

On the other hand, when the pressure (air pressure) of the gas in the ballast tank 10 does not reach the reference pressure (S11-NO), the gas A2 in the air tank 42 continues to wait for the gas A2 to move into the ballast tank 10. When the pressure of the gas A2 in the air tank 42 becomes equal to the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10, the movement of the gas is stopped. Therefore, in the control unit 50, the gas A2 in the air tank 42 is sufficiently moved to the ballast tank 10 based on the result measured by the liquid level sensor LG2 attached to the air tank 42, and the amount of gas in the air tank 42 ( It is confirmed whether the air amount) becomes constant (whether the liquid level sensor LG2 shows a value corresponding to the lower limit value of the gas amount in the air tank 42) (S13). If the amount of gas (amount of air) in the air tank 42 is not constant (the liquid level sensor LG2 does not indicate the lower limit of the amount of gas in the air tank 42) (S13- YES ), the control unit 50 continues. The on-off valve V3 is opened to promote the movement of the gas A2. On the other hand, when the amount of gas (amount of air) in the air tank 42 is constant (the liquid level sensor LG2 indicates the lower limit of the amount of gas in the air tank 42) (S13- NO ), the movement of the gas A2 When it is determined that the operation is completed, the control unit 50 changes the on-off valve V3 to the closed state (S12), and returns to the normal operation. If the pressure of the gas A in the ballast tank 10 becomes very small compared to the reference pressure and there is a possibility that the ballast tank 10 cannot be injected and drained appropriately, the control unit 50 is an underwater device. Control related to the operation such as emergency ascent in 1 is performed, but if there is no problem even if the normal operation is returned, the normal operation is continued. By attaching a pressure sensor instead of the liquid level sensor LG2, the pressure inside the air tank 42 is monitored, and from this result, it is attached to the air tank 42 whether the amount of gas (the amount of air) in the air tank 42 is constant. It may be determined from the values of the pressure sensor and the pressure sensor attached to the ballast tank 10.

In the submersible device 1, when draining water from the ballast tank 10, gas separation and return are repeated as described above. By repeating the separation and return of the gas, the water from the steam separation section 30 can be stored in the gas return section 40 (pipe 41 and air tank 42) between the steam separation section 30 and the ballast tank 10. There is sex. Therefore, a mechanism (piping or the like) for discharging the water in the gas return unit 40 to the ballast tank 10 side or the submersible device 1 may be provided. In this case, the control unit 50 may be configured to discharge water from the gas return unit 40 based on, for example, the measured value of the liquid level sensor LG2 of the air tank 42.

As described above, according to the underwater device 1 according to the present embodiment, the gas is separated from the water by the air-water separation unit 30 provided on the pipe 21 of the drainage unit 20 connected to the ballast tank 10. Then, the gas separated by the steam-water separation unit 30 is returned to the ballast tank 10 by the gas return unit 40. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the gas contained in the water discharged by the drainage unit 20 from being discharged to the outside.

Conventionally, when the gas mixed in the water is discharged to the outside together with the water when the ballast tank 10 is drained, the air pressure in the ballast tank 10 is lowered. If the air pressure in the ballast tank 10 drops, pouring and draining from the ballast tank 10 may not be possible, and it is necessary to take measures such as emergency ascent. Therefore, it becomes difficult to operate the underwater device 1 in water for a long period of time. On the other hand, in the above-mentioned underwater equipment 1, since it is possible to prevent gas from being discharged from the ballast tank 10 to the outside of the underwater equipment 1, the operation of the underwater equipment 1 can be extended for a long time.

Further, the above-mentioned underwater device 1 is configured to return gas to the ballast tank 10 when the air pressure in the ballast tank 10 measured by the pressure sensor PG as the pressure measuring unit is less than the reference pressure. With such a configuration, when the air pressure in the ballast tank 10 drops from the reference pressure, the gas can be returned to increase the air pressure in the ballast tank 10, so that the air pressure in the ballast tank 10 can be increased. The operation to prevent the decrease can be performed at a more appropriate timing.

Further, the above-mentioned underwater device 1 is configured to return gas to the ballast tank 10 when the water level in the ballast tank 10 measured by the liquid level sensor LG1 as a water level measuring unit is the reference water level. With such a configuration, gas can be returned when the air pressure is low even though the water level in the ballast tank 10 is appropriate, and the water level and air pressure in the ballast tank 10 can be appropriately adjusted. Can be maintained.

Further, when the reference pressure is equal to or lower than the atmospheric pressure as in the above-mentioned underwater device 1, the gas can be returned to the ballast tank 10 by opening and closing the on-off valve V3 on the pipe 41 of the gas return unit 40. Become. Therefore, the gas return unit 40 can be realized with a simpler configuration. Even when the reference pressure is larger than the atmospheric pressure, if the pressure of the gas in the gas return unit 40 can be made larger than the pressure of the gas in the ballast tank 10, the above simple configuration can be used. The gas return unit 40 can be configured.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, the shapes of the housing 2, the ballast tank 10, and the like in the underwater device 1 are appropriately changed. Further, the mechanisms of the drainage unit 20, the air-water separation unit 30, the gas return unit 40, and the like for pouring and draining the ballast tank 10 can be appropriately changed.

Further, the underwater device 1 may be a so-called underwater floating device moored by a mooring line or the like and floating. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the underwater device 1 includes one housing 2 has been described, but when the underwater device 1 is connected to the mooring line, the two housings 2 each having a propeller are provided. (Pods) may be connected by a connecting portion. In this case, each of the two housings 2 can be moored to the same fixed point in the water by a mooring line. Further, the above configuration may be realized as a floating power generation device that converts the rotation of the propeller into electric power by utilizing a water flow such as an ocean current.

Further, in the case of having the above structure, the postures of the two housings 2 can be stabilized by setting the rotation directions of the propellers of the two housings 2 to different directions. Further, another housing 2 may be provided at the connecting portion that connects the two housings 2. When the underwater device 1 has a plurality of housings 2 in this way, the configuration relating to the ballast tank 10, the drainage unit 20, the air-water separation unit 30, and the gas return unit 40 is among the plurality of housings 2. It suffices if it is provided in at least one.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the drainage unit 20 drains water has been described, but the mechanism related to water injection and the mechanism related to drainage may be integrated. Regardless of the configuration of the mechanism related to water injection and the mechanism related to drainage, the air-water separation unit 30 is provided on the pipe used for drainage.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration for storing the gas in the air tank 42 has been described, but the structure for storing the gas separated by the brackish water separation unit 30 can be appropriately changed. For example, the structure may be such that the gas is stored in the pipe 41 included in the gas return unit 40 instead of the air tank 42.

Further, the pipe 41 of the gas return unit 40 may not be connected to the upper part of the ballast tank 10. Depending on the arrangement and structure of the pipe 41, the gas separated in the air-water separation unit 30 via the pipe 41 may be returned to the ballast tank 10 in a state of being mixed with water. Such a configuration. Even so, since the gas is returned to the ballast tank 10, it is possible to suppress the discharge of the gas to the outside of the underwater device 1.

1 Underwater equipment 2 Housing 10 Ballast tank 20 Drainage section 21 Piping 30 Brackish water separation section 40 Gas return section 41 Piping 42 Air tank

Claims (4)

Ballast tank and
A drainage unit having a pipe for draining water in the ballast tank,
A brackish water separator provided on the pipe to separate gas from the water flowing through the pipe.
A gas return unit that returns the gas separated by the steam-water separation unit to the ballast tank, and a gas return unit.
Have, underwater equipment. It has a pressure measuring unit that measures the air pressure inside the ballast tank.
The underwater device according to claim 1, wherein the gas returning unit returns the gas to the ballast tank when the air pressure in the ballast tank measured by the pressure measuring unit is less than a reference pressure. It has a water level measuring unit that measures the water level in the ballast tank.
The underwater device according to claim 2, wherein the gas returning unit returns the gas to the ballast tank when the water level in the ballast tank measured by the water level measuring unit is a reference water level. The reference pressure is below atmospheric pressure,
The gas return unit includes a gas pipe connecting the air-water separation unit and the ballast tank, and an on-off valve provided on the gas pipe.
The underwater device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the gas is returned to the ballast tank by opening and closing the on-off valve.

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