GB1482570A - Self-stabilizable apparatus for sinking onto a submarine bed - Google Patents

Abstract

1482570 Ballasting TECNOMARE SpA 23 Dec 1974 [23 Jan 1974] 55612/74 Heading B7M To control the attitude of an offshore structure as it is sunk to the seabed, a ballasting apparatus comprises a reservoir with a rim over which liquid flows into compartments which are connected to a plurality of ballast chambers so that when the structure is upright liquid flows equally from the reservoir over the rim into each of the compartments and thereafter into the ballast chambers but when in an inclined position, more liquid flows to those chambers which will restore the structure to the upright position than to those which will not. In one embodiment (Fig. 2) water flows over the rim of a central circular reservoir into compartments 8, 9, 10 which are connected to ballast chambers 18, 19, 20 by pipes 15, 16, 17. If during sinking chamber 19 becomes lower than the others, more water will flow over the rim of the central reservoir into compartments 8 and 10 and thence to chambers 18 and 20 than into compartment 9 and thence chamber 19 and thus restore the structure to an upright position. The ballasting operation is controlled by a valve which controls the flow rate of water into the reservoir. The rim of the reservoir may have a polygonal shape and may surround the compartments instead of being surrounded by them.