Offshore Mooring Systems for Wind Turbines

A stability control system for large-scale offshore wind turbines mounted on semi-submersible floating foundations. The system uses sensors to monitor environmental factors like waves, wind, and currents, as well as the motion responses of the wind turbine and floating foundation. It integrates these data into a digital twin model to predict stability during storms. The system proactively adjusts mooring chain tension and ballast water levels before the storm to stabilize the floating foundation and prevent excessive motion. This improves stability compared to passive control methods that only respond during storms.

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Mooring system for shallow water floating wind turbines using tension leg platforms (TLPs) that provides stability and positioning without the need for large columns. The system has a central suction anchor on the seabed below the TLP, surrounded by distributed suction anchors. The TLP columns connect to tension moorings that converge at the central anchor and disperse anchors. This configuration provides stability through tension balance without requiring buoyancy from large columns.

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Shallow water mooring system for floating offshore wind turbines that improves stability in deep waters where fixed foundations are impractical. The mooring system uses tension legs, a balancing device, and a fixed block to prevent tilting and roll from ocean waves. The base has tension legs anchored to the seafloor, a fixed component for the wind turbine, and a balancing device inside. When the turbine tilts, a pressure chamber injects seawater into a receiver to counterbalance and stabilize the base. The fixed block has an indented section to prevent erosion from waves. This allows floating wind turbines to operate in deeper waters without being driven off course by wave action.

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Mooring system for floating offshore wind turbines that provides more even tension on the mooring lines to prevent loosening and damage. The system uses a rotating turret on the wind turbine foundation that transmits centrifugal force to the four mooring lines at the corners when the turbine rotates. This equalizes the tension on all four lines instead of just the one on the stressed side. This prevents loosening and breakage of the mooring lines when the turbine experiences lateral forces.

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A tensioned wind turbine foundation for offshore wind farms that can be anchored to rock seabeds in deep waters. The foundation has a rock anchoring system, a mooring cable, a semi-submersible module, a tower, and a wind turbine. The rock anchoring system attaches to the seabed rock formations. The mooring cable secures the foundation to the seabed. The semi-submersible module floats on the water and supports the tower and turbine. This allows deploying wind turbines in deep water areas without requiring expensive gravity foundations or complex pile driving. The tensioned foundation can be anchored to existing rock formations instead of requiring extensive seabed leveling or drilling. It reduces costs and simplifies construction compared to traditional foundations in challenging offshore environments.

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Group mooring of multiple floating offshore wind turbines together in a designated area at sea. The group mooring uses a mass mooring facility with concrete heavy structures arranged in a grid on the seabed. The turbines are moored to some of the concrete structures using lines. This allows multiple turbines to be moored in a grid pattern without collisions. It provides a centralized location for multiple turbines instead of individual moorings. This saves space compared to stacking turbines on land between productions.

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Tension devices for mooring lines of offshore wind turbines that provide constant tension in the mooring lines as the turbine moves in waves. The devices aim to prevent the turbine from being dragged by varying line tensions in different weather conditions. One device uses a float and weight that are neutrally buoyant when connected. Another device uses a parallelogram linkage with a weight and float that provides a force that increases slowly as the turbine moves. Both devices aim to maintain a constant force in the mooring lines even when the turbine isn't moving.

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A tension leg type offshore wind power platform that can be assembled and installed on land before being towed to sea. The platform consists of a wind turbine, tower, center buoy, extended section, and cable assembly. It connects to mooring anchors using a locking mechanism on the platform. The locking mechanism allows tensioning the mooring chain by adjusting ballast in the buoys. This eliminates the need for external cranes or boats to connect the platform to the moorings at sea, reducing costs.

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Single point mooring system for offshore floating wind turbines that allows the floating platform to rotate around a central turret for alignment with the wind without a yaw mechanism. The floating body has connecting components at intervals that can rotate relative to the body. The wind turbine is fixed on the body and connected to a cable. Each connecting component connects a mooring cable to anchor. This allows the body to rotate while keeping the turbine aligned. The turret has bearings for rotation and an electric slip ring for power transmission. An anchor windlass retracts and releases the mooring chain.

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A device to optimize the mooring of floating platforms in offshore wind farms to improve stability and reduce risk of failure. The device uses a closed transmission chain between the platform and anchor block. A ballast block is connected to one end of the chain near the platform. The chain is routed through a pulley. By adjusting the position of the ballast block, the chain angle and tension can be changed. This allows controlled variation in the restoring moment provided by the mooring tension. It helps balance forces on the platform in extreme conditions and prevent overturning.

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Offshore wind turbine foundation design to improve stability and bearing capacity in deeper waters. The foundation uses a collar around the top of the pile, hydraulic cylinders attached to the collar, tension sensors on the cylinders, and mooring cables connecting the cylinders to anchor foundations. The hydraulic cylinders can adjust the tension in the mooring lines to counteract bending and tilting forces on the pile from wind and waves. This provides additional horizontal resistance to stabilize the pile in deeper waters where traditional single piles may not be sufficient.

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A compliant mooring hybrid floating wind turbine platform that provides a small mooring radius, low cost, good stability, and ease of installation compared to existing floating wind turbine platforms. The platform has a semi-submersible foundation, tower, wind turbine, and compliant mooring device. The compliant mooring allows adjusting mooring line length and ballast level to mitigate extreme loads on the mooring anchors. This reduces anchor chain tension and improves stability. The compliant mooring also allows compact mooring layouts compared to catenary anchors. The platform can be towed, installed, operated, maintained, stabilized, and recovered in stages.

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Mooring system for semi-submersible wind power platforms that reduces platform motion and improves stability. The system uses three mooring lines connected to the platform columns and anchors. The first two lines are connected to the adjacent columns, forming an angle close to 120 degrees. The third line is connected to an anchor and splits into two cables to connect to the other columns. This creates a Y-shape at the platform. The splitting cables reduce horizontal loads on the columns. The angled lines improve lateral stability versus parallel lines.

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Mooring system for floating wind turbines in transitional water depths to improve stability and reduce costs compared to conventional systems. The system uses distributed dampers and mechanical energy storage devices on the turbine platform. The dampers connect to the platform and a central connecting plate. The energy storage devices are between the plate and platform. The mooring cable connects to an anchor and passes through fairleads on the platform. This setup allows the dampers to absorb energy during wave events, reducing turbine motion. The energy storage devices provide additional restoring force. This reduces mooring tension and load compared to shallow water depths. The distributed dampers and energy storage allow customizing stability versus motion versus cost compared to centralized systems like catenary anchors.

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Subsea configuration for floating wind turbines in ultra-deep water (>400m) that reduces costs and footprint compared to conventional deep water wind farms. The configuration involves arranging the turbine foundations and mooring lines in a compact layout. The turbines have inward-facing inner mooring lines and outward-facing peripheral lines. This allows mutualizing some anchors between turbines and reduces the overall mooring footprint compared to conventional layouts. The inward-facing lines are shorter and the outward-facing lines are longer. This avoids clashes between lines and simplifies the layout compared to having all lines facing outward.

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Mooring system for floating single-pillar wind power platforms that reduces pitch motion and improves structural safety. The system uses cable groups around the platform perimeter connected to an anchor chain and foundation on the seabed. This creates a restoring moment to counteract pitching forces. Additional pitch restoring comes from connecting adjacent platforms together. The mooring also allows the platform to float at the waterline using a water drum.

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Mooring system for floating wind turbines that reduces stress concentrations and prevents damage when the turbine moves due to waves. The system uses a movable frame and rotating beams to connect the turbine to the mooring wires. The frame slides on guide rails at the turbine base. Rotating beams connect to the frame and wires. This allows the wires to move with turbine heave without transmitting forces back to the frame. The beams rotate around the frame pivots to keep tension in the wires. The movable frame slides on the rails to absorb any remaining vertical motion.

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A mooring system and monitoring system for floating offshore wind turbines that enables dynamic adjustment of mooring tension to reduce loads on the turbine platform. The system uses a combination of static and dynamic mooring components. The static mooring provides initial stability, while the dynamic mooring allows adjustment of tension based on platform motion and environmental conditions. The system also includes positioning and environmental monitoring to calculate loads and determine tension requirements. This allows proactive load reduction and management compared to traditional fixed mooring.

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A mooring device for offshore wind turbines that reduces the tension in the mooring lines compared to conventional systems. The device uses a torsion spring mechanism connected to the turbine and seabed. The mooring line attaches to the turbine and wraps around a cylinder inside the device. The cylinder has a rotating hub that can turn when the turbine moves. This rotation causes the spring to twist and generate forces that counteract the mooring tension. The hub and damping plate provide additional mass to increase the rotational inertia and further reduce the tension. This allows using lighter mooring lines and reducing costs compared to conventional systems like chain or heavy wire ropes.

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Load shedding device for mooring lines of floating wind turbines that reduces tension in extreme conditions. The device has a buoy, center counterweight, suspended counterweight, and rotating wing plates. The buoy and center counterweight reduce tension and dampen loads. The wing plates rotate to convert tension into non-collinear loads. This slows down impacts from instantaneous loads. The device can be hoisted as a whole for installation. The buoy has foam for buoyancy and rotating damping flaps to adjust buoyancy. The wing plates have hinges connected to the buoy and center counterweight.

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