SELF-ELEVATING OFFSHORE AUXILIARY PILE-PULLING PLATFORM AND A METHOD OF USE

The present invention belongs to the field of offshore construction, and relates to a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, comprising a platform vessel system, a counterweight system, and a pile-pulling system, wherein the platform vessel system comprises a hull, a bow, and a stern, pile legs are provided extending through the hull, pile shoes are arranged at bottom ends of the pile legs, a platform attitude monitoring device and a pile leg lifting control device are arranged on the hull, a cabin is provided within the hull, the counterweight system is arranged in the cabin and comprises rails, flatbed carts, counterweights, and a hoisting device, the pile-pulling system comprises a pile-pulling platform module, the pile-pulling platform module is connected to the stern via a hydraulic push-pull device, a pile-pulling mechanism is arranged on the pile-pulling platform module, the pile-pulling mechanism performs pile-pulling operations on a pile foundation, and a pile-pulling cooperative control center is capable of collecting parameters such as upward pulling force and upward pulling speed in real time during a pile-pulling process, and is capable of adjusting a pile-pulling speed of an auxiliary pile-pulling operation so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of a main offshore self-elevating operation platform, thereby maximizing a pile-pulling effect while ensuring safety of the pile-pulling platform and the operation platform.

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Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention belongs to the field of offshore construction of self-elevating offshore operation platforms, specifically relating to a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform and a method for using the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, which is suitable for situations where the self-elevating offshore platform fails to pull piles and requires assistance from other platforms or equipment.

BACKGROUND ART

A self-elevating offshore operation platform is an offshore operation platform vessel equipped with legs. During offshore in-position operations or station-keeping for sheltering from wind, in order to reduce hull motions caused by external loads such as wind, waves, tides, and ocean currents, the legs of the self-elevating offshore operation platform are lowered from the hull to the seabed, and the self-elevating offshore operation platform is elevated until it is raised to a certain height above the sea surface. At present, self-elevating offshore operation platforms are widely used in projects such as offshore oil and gas exploitation, subsea geological exploration, and offshore engineering assembly. However, after in-position operations of the self-elevating offshore operation platform are completed, when the bearing capacity of the seabed is weak and the seabed soil is cohesive, pile shoes and pile legs that are embedded into the seabed to a certain depth are subjected to considerable negative suction force and viscous resistance from the surrounding soil during upward pulling and recovery, which makes pile pulling difficult. Under extreme conditions, the pile shoes cannot be pulled out, causing the self-elevating offshore operation platform to face the risk of pile cutting. In order to address the problem of pile pulling of self-elevating offshore operation platforms under complex offshore geological conditions, it is necessary to develop auxiliary pile-pulling platforms, supporting pile-pulling equipment, and intelligent management and control systems, so as to achieve safe extraction of pile legs of offshore self-elevating platforms and reduce economic losses caused by pile cutting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to overcome deficiencies existing in the prior art by providing a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, so as to achieve safe extraction of pile legs of an offshore self-elevating platform and reduce economic losses caused by pile cutting.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

A self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform comprises a platform vessel system, a counterweight system, and a pile-pulling system, wherein the platform vessel system comprises a hull, a bow, and a stern, pile legs are provided extending through the hull, pile shoes are arranged at bottom ends of the pile legs, a platform attitude monitoring device and a pile leg lifting control device are arranged on the hull, a cabin is provided within the hull, the counterweight system is arranged in the cabin and comprises rails, flatbed carts, counterweights, and a hoisting device, the pile-pulling system comprises a pile-pulling platform module, the pile-pulling platform module is connected to the stern via a hydraulic push-pull device, a pile-pulling mechanism is arranged on the pile-pulling platform module, the pile-pulling mechanism pulls piles of pile foundations, and a pile-pulling cooperative control center is further arranged on the hull.

Further, the pile-pulling mechanism comprises an upper horizontal slide rail and a lower horizontal slide rail respectively arranged on upper and lower sides of a rear wall of the pile-pulling platform module, a left mounting platform and a right mounting platform that can slide left and right are arranged on the upper horizontal slide rail and the lower horizontal slide rail, a left vertical gear and a left vertical screw rod are arranged in the left mounting platform, a left movable clamp is arranged at a lower portion of the left vertical screw rod, a right vertical gear and a right vertical screw rod are arranged in the right mounting platform, a right movable clamp is arranged at a lower portion of the right vertical screw rod, the left vertical gear is capable of driving the left vertical screw rod to drive the left movable clamp at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the left mounting platform, the right vertical gear is capable of driving the right vertical screw rod to drive the right movable clamp at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the right mounting platform, so that the left movable clamp and the right movable clamp clamp a pile foundation.

Further, clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks are arranged on both the left movable clamp and the right movable clamp via cushion block bolts.

Further, the rails comprise a left rail and a right rail, both of which are longitudinally arranged within the cabin, and a hoisting device is capable of hoisting counterweights stacked within the cabin onto the flatbed carts.

Further, the hydraulic push-pull device comprises two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right, and two ends of each of the two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right are respectively connected to the stern and the pile-pulling platform module.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of use of a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

A method of use of a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform comprises the following steps:

    • S1, vessel elevating operation: after the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is navigated to a predetermined working sea area, under control of a pile leg lifting control device, pile legs extend downward through a hull until pile shoes are inserted into a seabed to a certain depth, at this time the entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is elevated and lifted to a certain height above a sea surface; a pile-pulling force is estimated, and a hoisting device is operated to hoist counterweights stacked within a cabin onto flatbed carts;
    • S2, pile approaching operation: hydraulic push-pull rods of a hydraulic push-pull device control an included angle between a pile-pulling platform module and a stern, so that subsequent left movable clamps and right movable clamps are capable of clamping a pile foundation to be pulled out by adjusting upper, lower, left, and right spatial positions;
    • S3, pile clamping operation: appropriate clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks are selected and fixed to inner sides of the left movable clamp and the right movable clamp, and a pile-pulling cooperative control center controls a left mounting platform and a right mounting platform to slide along an upper horizontal slide rail and a lower horizontal slide rail, and clamp the pile foundation;
    • S4, pile-pulling operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center controls a left vertical gear and a right vertical gear inside the left mounting platform and the right mounting platform to rotate, controls a left vertical screw rod and a right vertical screw rod to drive the left movable clamp and the right movable clamp at lower portions thereof to pull the clamped pile upward by a certain distance;
    • S5, pile releasing operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center controls the left mounting platform and the right mounting platform to slide along the upper horizontal slide rail and the lower horizontal slide rail, to release the pile foundation;
    • S6, clamp lowering operation: the left vertical gear and the right vertical gear inside the left mounting platform and the right mounting platform are controlled to rotate, the left vertical screw rod and the right vertical screw rod are controlled to drive the left movable clamp and the right movable clamp at the lower portions thereof to move downward by a certain distance, so as to approach a lower portion of the pile foundation;
    • S7, during operations of S3, S4, S5, and S6, the pile-pulling cooperative control center collects real-time upward pulling force and upward pulling speed of the pile foundation, adjusts a pile-pulling speed of the auxiliary pile-pulling platform so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of a self-elevating offshore operation platform, and a platform attitude monitoring device controls flatbed carts carrying a certain amount of counterweights to move forward and backward along rails, so as to achieve force balance of an entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform vessel during a pile-pulling process;
    • S8, S3, S4, S5, S6, and S7 are repeated until the pile foundation is pulled out from the seabed.

Beneficial Effects of the Invention Are As Follows

    • 1. The pile-pulling system provided by the present invention, wherein the pile-pulling cooperative control center is capable of collecting parameters such as upward pulling force and upward pulling speed in real time during a pile-pulling process, and is capable of adjusting a pile-pulling speed of an auxiliary pile-pulling operation so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of a main offshore self-elevating operation platform, thereby maximizing a pile-pulling effect while ensuring safety of the pile-pulling platform and the operation platform;
    • 2. The counterweight system provided by the present invention is located within a cabin below a deck waterline, wherein the platform attitude monitoring device is capable of monitoring parameters such as force, displacement, inclination, and vibration of a hull of an entire platform vessel during offshore navigation and operation, and is capable of controlling flatbed carts carrying counterweights to move along rails, so as to ensure force balance and stability of the platform vessel during stationary states, navigation, and pile-pulling processes;
    • 3. The platform vessel system provided by the present invention adopts a modular design, wherein a pile-pulling platform module mounted at a rear portion thereof is detachable or replaceable with other working modules as required, thereby expanding application scenarios of the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front schematic view of the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top schematic view of the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevation schematic view of the counterweight system of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an elevation schematic view of the pile-pulling system of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the movable clamp of the present invention.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is further described below in conjunction with embodiments. The descriptions of the following embodiments are merely provided to assist in understanding the present invention. It should be noted that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, various modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from principles of the present invention, and such improvements and modifications also fall within a scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, the present invention relates to a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, comprising a platform vessel system, a counterweight system, and a pile-pulling system, wherein the platform vessel system comprises a hull 1, a bow 2, and a stern 3, pile legs 4 are provided extending through the hull 1, pile shoes 5 are arranged at bottom ends of the pile legs 4, a platform attitude monitoring device 6 and a pile leg lifting control device 7 are arranged on the hull 1, a cabin 8 is provided within the hull 1, the counterweight system is arranged in the cabin 8 and comprises rails 11, flatbed carts 12, counterweights 13, and a hoisting device 14, the pile-pulling system comprises a pile-pulling platform module 22, the pile-pulling platform module 22 is connected to the stern 3 via a hydraulic push-pull device 21, a pile-pulling mechanism is arranged on the pile-pulling platform module 22, the pile-pulling mechanism performs pile-pulling operations on a pile foundation 40, and a pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 is further arranged on the hull 1. The pile leg lifting control device 7 is a conventional technology in the prior art, such as a gear-and-rack lifting structure or a hydraulic lifting structure, and is configured to drive the pile legs 4 to extend downward through the hull 1 until the pile shoes 5 are inserted into a seabed to a certain depth. The pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 is a control system configured to monitor operating conditions of various devices of the entire platform vessel.

Embodiment 1

Further, the pile-pulling mechanism comprises an upper horizontal slide rail 24 and a lower horizontal slide rail 29 respectively arranged on upper and lower sides of a rear wall of the pile-pulling platform module 22, a left mounting platform 25 and a right mounting platform 30 that can slide left and right are arranged on the upper horizontal slide rail 24 and the lower horizontal slide rail 29, a left vertical gear 26 and a left vertical screw rod 27 are arranged in the left mounting platform 25, a left movable clamp 23 is arranged at a lower portion of the left vertical screw rod 27, a right vertical gear 31 and a right vertical screw rod 32 are arranged in the right mounting platform 30, a right movable clamp 28 is arranged at a lower portion of the right vertical screw rod 32, the left vertical gear 26 is capable of driving the left vertical screw rod 27 to drive the left movable clamp 23 at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the left mounting platform 25, the right vertical gear 31 is capable of driving the right vertical screw rod 32 to drive the right movable clamp 28 at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the right mounting platform 30, so that the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28 clamp a pile foundation 40. The pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 is configured to control upper, lower, left, and right spatial positions of the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28, so as to clamp the pile foundation 40 to be pulled out at an appropriate position, and the pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 collects parameters such as real-time upward pulling force and upward pulling speed during pile pulling, and adjusts a pile-pulling speed of an auxiliary pile-pulling platform so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of a main offshore self-elevating operation platform.

Further, clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks 34 are arranged on both the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28 via cushion block bolts 35. Clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks 34 of different sizes and thicknesses may be fabricated according to an outer shape of a pile foundation 41 to be pulled out, and the clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks 34 are fixed to inner sides of the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28 via the cushion block bolts 35, so as to form effective fitting with the pile foundation 40.

Further, the rails 11 comprise a left rail and a right rail, both of which are longitudinally arranged within the cabin 8, and the hoisting device 14 is capable of hoisting the counterweights 13 stacked within the cabin 8 onto the flatbed carts 12. The counterweights 13 may be arranged on the flatbed carts 12 in a left-right balanced manner or a left-right eccentric manner according to working requirements, and the platform attitude monitoring device 6 automatically controls the flatbed carts 12 carrying the counterweights 13 to move forward and backward along the rails 11 based on monitored data thereof, so as to maintain force balance of the platform vessel during stationary states, navigation, and pile-pulling processes.

Further, the hydraulic push-pull device 21 comprises two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right, and two ends of each of the two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right are respectively connected to the stern 3 and the pile-pulling platform module 22, and the hydraulic push-pull rods control an included angle between the pile-pulling platform module 22 and the stern 3.

Embodiment 2

As another embodiment, a method of use of the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform in Embodiment 1 comprises the following steps:

    • S1, vessel elevating operation: after the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is navigated to a predetermined working sea area, under control of the pile leg lifting control device 7, the pile legs 4 extend downward through the hull 1 until the pile shoes 5 are inserted into the seabed to a certain depth, at this time the entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is elevated and lifted to a certain height above the sea surface 42; a pile-pulling force is estimated, and the hoisting device 14 is operated to hoist the counterweights 13 stacked within the cabin 8 onto the flatbed carts 12;
    • S2, pile approaching operation: hydraulic push-pull rods of the hydraulic push-pull device 21 control an included angle between the pile-pulling platform module 22 and the stern 3, so that subsequent left movable clamps 23 and right movable clamps 28 are capable of clamping the pile foundation 40 to be pulled out by adjusting upper, lower, left, and right spatial positions;
    • S3, pile clamping operation: appropriate clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks 34 are selected and fixed to inner sides of the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28, and the pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 controls the left mounting platform 25 and the right mounting platform 30 to slide along the upper horizontal slide rail 24 and the lower horizontal slide rail 29, and clamp the pile foundation 40;
    • S4, pile-pulling operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 controls the left vertical gear 26 and the right vertical gear 31 inside the left mounting platform 25 and the right mounting platform 30 to rotate, controls the left vertical screw rod 27 and the right vertical screw rod 32 to drive the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28 at lower portions thereof to pull the clamped pile foundation 40 upward by a certain distance, wherein the distance is generally controlled within an effective stroke of the left vertical screw rod and the right vertical screw rod;
    • S5, pile releasing operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 controls the left mounting platform 25 and the right mounting platform 30 to slide along the upper horizontal slide rail 24 and the lower horizontal slide rail 29, to release the pile foundation 40;
    • S6, clamp lowering operation: the left vertical gear 26 and the right vertical gear 31 inside the left mounting platform 25 and the right mounting platform 30 are controlled to rotate, the left vertical screw rod 27 and the right vertical screw rod 32 are controlled to drive the left movable clamp 23 and the right movable clamp 28 at lower portions thereof to move downward by a certain distance, so as to approach a lower portion of the pile foundation 40;
    • S7, during operations of S3, S4, S5, and S6, the pile-pulling cooperative control center 33 collects parameters such as real-time upward pulling force and upward pulling speed of the pile foundation 40, adjusts a pile-pulling speed of an auxiliary pile-pulling platform so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of an offshore self-elevating operation platform, and the platform attitude monitoring device 6 controls the flatbed carts 12 carrying a certain amount of counterweights 13 to move forward and backward along the rails 11, so as to achieve force balance of an entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform vessel during a pile-pulling process;
    • S8, S3, S4, S5, S6, and S7 are repeated until the pile foundation 40 is pulled out from the seabed 41.

The above specific embodiments are provided to explain and illustrate the present invention, rather than to limit the present invention, and any modifications and changes made to the present invention within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of protection of the claims shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, characterized in that it comprises a platform vessel system, a counterweight system, and a pile-pulling system, wherein the platform vessel system comprises a hull (1), a bow (2), and a stern (3), pile legs (4) are provided extending through the hull (1), pile shoes (5) are arranged at bottom ends of the pile legs (4), a platform attitude monitoring device (6) and a pile leg lifting control device (7) are arranged on the hull (1), a cabin (8) is provided within the hull (1), the counterweight system is arranged in the cabin (8) and comprises rails (11), flatbed carts (12), counterweights (13), and a hoisting device (14), the pile-pulling system comprises a pile-pulling platform module (22), the pile-pulling platform module (22) is connected to the stern (3) via a hydraulic push-pull device (21), a pile-pulling mechanism is arranged on the pile-pulling platform module (22), the pile-pulling mechanism performs pile pulling on a pile foundation (40), and a pile-pulling cooperative control center (33) is further arranged on the hull (1).

2. The self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform according to claim 1, characterized in that the pile-pulling mechanism comprises an upper horizontal slide rail (24) and a lower horizontal slide rail (29) respectively arranged on upper and lower sides of a rear wall of the pile-pulling platform module (22), a left mounting platform (25) and a right mounting platform (30) that can slide left and right are arranged on the upper horizontal slide rail (24) and the lower horizontal slide rail (29), a left vertical gear (26) and a left vertical screw rod (27) are arranged in the left mounting platform (25), a left movable clamp (23) is arranged at a lower portion of the left vertical screw rod (27), a right vertical gear (31) and a right vertical screw rod (32) are arranged in the right mounting platform (30), a right movable clamp (28) is arranged at a lower portion of the right vertical screw rod (32), the left vertical gear (26) is capable of driving the left vertical screw rod (27) to drive the left movable clamp (23) at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the left mounting platform (25), the right vertical gear (31) is capable of driving the right vertical screw rod (32) to drive the right movable clamp (28) at the lower portion thereof to move up and down within the right mounting platform (30), so that the left movable clamp (23) and the right movable clamp (28) clamp a pile foundation (40).

3. The self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform according to claim 2, characterized in that clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks (34) are arranged on both the left movable clamp (23) and the right movable clamp (28) via cushion block bolts (35).

4. The self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform according to claim 1, characterized in that the rails (11) comprise a left rail and a right rail, both of which are longitudinally arranged within the cabin (8), and the hoisting device (14) is capable of hoisting the counterweights (13) stacked within the cabin (8) onto the flatbed carts (12).

5. The self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform according to claim 1, characterized in that the hydraulic push-pull device (21) comprises two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right, and two ends of each of the two hydraulic push-pull rods on the left and right are respectively connected to the stern (3) and the pile-pulling platform module (22).

6. A method of use of a self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

S1, vessel elevating operation: after the self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is navigated to a predetermined working sea area, under control of the pile leg lifting control device (7), the pile legs (4) extend downward through the hull (1) until the pile shoes (5) are inserted into the seabed to a certain depth, at this time the entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform is elevated and lifted to a certain height above the sea surface (42); a pile-pulling force is estimated, and the hoisting device (14) is operated to hoist the counterweights (13) stacked within the cabin (8) onto the flatbed carts (12);
S2, pile approaching operation: hydraulic push-pull rods of the hydraulic push-pull device (21) control an included angle between the pile-pulling platform module (22) and the stern (3), so that subsequent left movable clamps (23) and right movable clamps (28) are capable of clamping a pile foundation (40) to be pulled out by adjusting upper, lower, left, and right spatial positions;
S3, pile clamping operation: appropriate clamp profile special-shaped cushion blocks (34) are selected and fixed to inner sides of the left movable clamp (23) and the right movable clamp (28), and the pile-pulling cooperative control center (33) controls the left mounting platform (25) and the right mounting platform (30) to slide along the upper horizontal slide rail (24) and the lower horizontal slide rail (29) and clamp the pile foundation (40);
S4, pile-pulling operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center (33) controls the left vertical gear (26) and the right vertical gear (31) inside the left mounting platform (25) and the right mounting platform (30) to rotate, controls the left vertical screw rod (27) and the right vertical screw rod (32) to drive the left movable clamp (23) and the right movable clamp (28) at lower portions thereof to pull the clamped pile foundation (40) upward by a certain distance;
S5, pile releasing operation: the pile-pulling cooperative control center (33) controls the left mounting platform (25) and the right mounting platform (30) to slide along the upper horizontal slide rail (24) and the lower horizontal slide rail (29), to release the pile foundation (40);
S6, clamp lowering operation: the left vertical gear (26) and the right vertical gear (31) inside the left mounting platform (25) and the right mounting platform

(30) are controlled to rotate, the left vertical screw rod (27) and the right vertical screw rod (32) are controlled to drive the left movable clamp (23) and the right movable clamp (28) at lower portions thereof to move downward by a certain distance, so as to approach a lower portion of the pile foundation (40);

S7, during operations of S3, S4, S5, and S6, the pile-pulling cooperative control center (33) collects real-time upward pulling force and upward pulling speed of the pile foundation (40), adjusts a pile-pulling speed of an auxiliary pile-pulling platform so as to keep the pile-pulling speed consistent with a pile-pulling speed of an offshore self-elevating operation platform, and the platform attitude monitoring device (6) controls the flatbed carts (12) carrying a certain amount of counterweights (13) to move forward and backward along the rails (11), so as to achieve force balance of an entire self-elevating offshore auxiliary pile-pulling platform vessel during a pile-pulling process;
S8, S3, S4, S5, S6, and S7 are repeated until the pile foundation (40) is pulled out from the seabed (41).
Patent History
Publication number: 20260243041
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 17, 2026
Publication Date: Aug 20, 2026
Inventors: Qiang LI (Shenzhen), Mingyuan WANG (Shenzhen), Fabo CHEN (Shenzhen), Lihong GAO (Shenzhen)
Application Number: 19/542,255
Classifications
International Classification: E02D 9/02 (20060101); E02B 17/00 (20060101);