• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.51-61
• /
• 2018

In this study, the operability of an FLBT (floating LNG bunkering terminal) was evaluated experimentally. Model tests were conducted in the KRISO (Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering) ocean engineering basin. An FLBT, an LNG carrier, and two LNG bunkering shuttles were moored side by side with mooring ropes and fenders. Two white-noise wave cases, one irregular wave case, and various regular wave cases were generated. The relative local motions between each LNG loading arm and its corresponding manifold in the initial design configuration were calculated from measured 6-DOF motions at the center of gravity of each of the four vessels. Furthermore, the locations of the LNG loading arms and manifolds were varied to minimize the relative local motions.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.217-228
• /
• 2012

As the size of container ships continues to increase, not many existing harbors can host the super-container ship due to its increased draft and the corresponding dredging requires huge budget. In addition, the minimization of waiting and loading/offloading time is the most important factor in harbor competitiveness. In this regard, mobile-harbor concept has been developed in Korea to achieve much improved harbor capacity and efficiency. In developing the concept, one of the most important elements is the operability of crane between two or more floating bodies in side-by-side arrangement. The container ship is to be stationed through a hawser connection to an outside-harbor fixed-pile station with the depth allowing its large draft. The mobile harbors with smart cranes are berthed to the sides of its hull for loading/offloading containers and transportation. For successful operation, the relative motions between the two or more floating bodies with hawser/fender connections have to be within allowable range. Therefore, the reliable prediction of the relative motions of the multiple floating bodies with realistic mooring system is essential to find the best hull particulars, hawser/mooring/fender arrangement, and crane/docking-station design. Time-domain multi-hull-mooring coupled dynamic analysis program is used to assess the hydrodynamic interactions among the multiple floating bodies and the global performance of the system. Both collinear and non-collinear wind-wave-current environments are applied to the system. It is found that the non-collinear case can equally be functional in dynamics view compared to the collinear case but undesirable phenomena associated with vessel responses and hawser tensions can also happen at certain conditions, so more care needs to be taken.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.16-21
• /
• 2010

During the loading/offloading operation of a liquefied natural gas carrier (LNGC) that is moored in a side-by-side configuration with an offshore plant, sloshing that occurs due to the partially filled LNG tank and the interactive effect between the two floating bodies are important factors that affect safety and operability. Therefore, a time-domain software program, called CHARM3D, was developed to consider the interactions between sloshing and the motion of a floating body, as well as the interactions between multiple bodies using the potential-viscous hybrid method. For the simulation of a floating body in the time domain, hydrodynamic coefficients and wave forces were calculated in the frequency domain using the 3D radiation/diffraction panel program based on potential theory. The calculated values were used for the simulation of a floating body in the time domain by convolution integrals. The liquid sloshing in the inner tanks is solved by the 3D-FDM Navier-Stokes solver that includes the consideration of free-surface non-linearity through the SURF scheme. The computed sloshing forces and moments were fed into the time integration of the ship's motion, and the updated motion was, in turn, used as the excitation force for liquid sloshing, which is repeated for the ensuing time steps. For comparison, a sloshing motion coupled analysis program based on linear potential theory in the frequency domain was developed. The computer programs that were developed were applied to the side-by-side offloading operation between the offshore plant and the LNGC. The frequency-domain results reproduced the coupling effects qualitatively, but, in general, the peaks were over-predicted compared to experimental and time-domain results. The interactive effects between the sloshing liquid and the motion of the vessel can be intensified further in the case of multiple floating bodies.