Rigid Hull Gas-Can Buoys Variable Buoyancy
First Claim
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1. A gas-can buoy for a Self Supporting Riser comprising:
- a rigid hull;
said hull including a top and side surface; and
a flexible, highly impermeable liner that provides a barrier in the gap between said side surface and an inner structure to form a variable volume gas chamber within said hull.
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Abstract
The present invention is an apparatus and method directed to a variable buoyancy gas-can buoyancy module or buoy having a flexible barrier between a variable volume gas chamber in the gas-can hull and water in the hull. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a variable buoyancy module for a Self Supporting Riser (SSR) wherein the tension in the SSR may be increased/decreased by increasing/decreasing the variable volume of a chamber formed by a flexible liner that provides a barrier between the variable volume gas chamber in the gas-can hull and water.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A gas-can buoy for a Self Supporting Riser comprising:
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a rigid hull;
said hull including a top and side surface; anda flexible, highly impermeable liner that provides a barrier in the gap between said side surface and an inner structure to form a variable volume gas chamber within said hull. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A gas-can buoy comprising:
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a rigid hull;
said hull including a top and side surface;a central column extending axially within said hull; and a load bearing surface at the top of said column shaped to transfer force to a riser joint in said column. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A multi-chambered rigid gas-can buoy comprising:
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a rigid hull;
said hull including a top and side surface;inner structure within said hull to form multi-chambers; and a movable flexible liner extending between said side surface and said inner structure to provide a variable volume gas chamber within each chamber of said hull.
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11. A method for increasing/decreasing the buoyancy in a gas-can buoy having a flexible liner that provides a barrier in the gap between said side surface and an inner structure to form a variable volume gas chamber within said hull comprising:
adding/venting gas to said chamber whereby a greater/lesser length of said liner is held to said side surface and the volume of said gas chamber is increased/decreased. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A method for increasing/decreasing the load on a riser joint in a Self Supporting Riser (SSR) comprising:
adding/venting gas to a variable volume gas chamber within the hull of a gas-can buoy that has said joint within a central column extending axially within said hull.
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14. A method for increasing/decreasing the load on a riser joint in a Self Supporting Riser (SSR) wherein said joint is a box and pin riser joint.
Specification