PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR WATCHING AND CONTROLLING AN ARTICULATED FLUID-TRANSFER ARM FOR LINKING A SHIP TO A PLATFORM IN THE SEA

摘要

A system for sensing the position in space of the outer end of an articulated loading arm connected to a marine tanker or other transport vessel, for predicting if the arm will move outside a safe operating envelope, for discontinuing the flow of fluid before the arm reaches an unsafe area, and for disconnecting the arm from the vessel when the arm reaches an unsafe area. The sensing system includes means for determining various angles representative of the orientation of the limbs of the loading arm, and a computer for using these angles to compute the spatial position of the arm's outer end. The computer uses the spatial position and movement of the loading arm to predict future positions of the outboard end of the arm, and to determine if the loading operation should be terminated and the arm disconnected from the vessel. When the computer predicts that the loading arm may move outside a first operating envelope an alarm is sounded. When the computer predicts that the arm may move outside a second operating envelope the flow of fluids through the arm is automatically discontinued, and if the computer predicts that the loading arm may move outside a third operating envelope the arm is automatically disconnected from the vessel.