Very large floating structure: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Artificial islands used as infrastructure in aquatic environments}}

{{use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}

[[File:Floating_runway.jpeg|350px|thumb|rightupright=1.35|A [[Mobilemobile offshore base]] ]]

[[File:Floating_runway.jpeg|350px|thumb|right| [[Mobile offshore base]] ]]

'''Very large floating structures''' ('''VLFSs''') or '''very large floating platforms''' ('''VLFPs''') are artificial islands, which may be constructed to create [[floating airport]]s, [[bridge]]s, [[breakwater (structure)|breakwaters]], [[pier]]s and [[Dock (maritime)|dock]]s, storage facilities (for oil and natural gas), [[Floating wind turbine|wind]] and [[Tata Power#Future projects|solar]] power plants, for [[Sea-based X-band Radar|military purposes]]<!-- example only; there may possibly be a more general article on large military floating structures? or not. -->, to create industrial space, emergency bases, entertainment facilities (such as [[casino]]s), recreation parks, [[Oil platform|mobile offshore structures]] and even for [[Seasteading|habitation]]. Currently, several different concepts have been proposed for building [[Ocean colonization|floating cities]] or huge living complexes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deltasync.nl/deltasync/index.php?id=1&L=1|title=DeltaSync floating city|publisher=Deltasync.nl|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> Some units have been constructed and are presently in operation.<ref>Japan constructed the Mega-Float (a floating runway in Tokyo bay); Japan also has floating fuel storage bases at Shirashima and Kamigoto Islands, and floating ferry piers at Ujina port (Hiroshima). Several very long floating bridges are currently in use; three are located near Seattle, Washington USA. The [[Floating Bridge, Dubai]], over the Dubai Creek, is 300 meters long. Singapore built the world’s largest floating performance stage at the Marina Bay, and is currently installing a mega floating fuel storage facility off Pulau Sebarok. South Korea is currently installing three floating islands on the Han River, to be used for convention centers, and another project at Seoul will function as hotel/convention center/customs site/quay. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811010848 Science Direct, ''Very Large Floating Structures'', p. 63]</ref>

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===Floating airport===

A ''Mega-Float'' [[floating airport]] prototype was constructed in Tokyo Bay from 1998 to 1999.<ref>[http://www.build.new-atlantis.org/vlfs.htm Very large floating structure — Mega-Float, completed 1999]. New Atlantis 2002, retrieved 1 October 2011</ref> It was one kilometer in length and was primarily intended as a test vehicle, to research the loadings and responses of such installations.<ref>Areas being studied in Mega-Float include the hydroelastic behavior of the unit, the mooring system response and durability, the connector system and its welded joints, the anti-corrosion system, the unit's effect on the surrounding sea waves which impact the nearby shoreline, and the unit's effect on the bay's prevailing currents, water quality, and marine ecosystems.</ref> This project was substituted as a study project to provide more definite information about a proposed floating runway at [[Kansai International Airport]], which was not built (an artificial island was instead constructed to support the runway). However the choice to build an airport on two islands composed of sand landfill has resulted in the Kansai Airport sinking several centimeters per year. (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-to-save-a-sinking-airport-180968985/)

BY STEVE CHAPPLE, SPECIAL TO THE San Diego Union-Tribune

SEPT. 21, 2013 12 PM PT

What happens when San Diego outgrows its new $1 billion expansion of Lindbergh Field?

The ocean is wide open, and it’s right here. Why not build the world’s first major floating airport?

This is the practical and visionary idea being “floated” by Dr. Walter Munk, who holds the Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Chair at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Munk is widely considered the dean of world ocean scientists

Researching several VLFS research papers, new concrete mixes incorporating polymers and fibers for greater strength, and the new technology of 3D building printing, as well as Dr. Munk's proposal; a San Diegan Author wrote the novel San Diego Floating Airport, published on Amazon.com in the hopes of stimulating further interest in the concept, as a solution to both land scarcity in large coastal urban areas and sea level rise due to global warming.

=== Floating launch vehicle operations platform ===

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===Floating parking garage===

[[File:Goteborg_P-arken.jpg|thumb|[[:sv:{{ill|P-Arken]]|sv}}, a floating garage moored in [[Gothenburg]], Sweden]]

A concept has been patented for a floating automotive parking barge with angled sides to deflect wind shear.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Liollio |first1=Zachary |title=10,472,024 Floating parking barge for vehicles |url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=liollio&OS=liollio&RS=liollio |website=USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database |publisher=U.S. Patent & Trademark Office |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=1 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101091910/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=Liollio&OS=Liollio&RS=Liollio |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Floating LNG production facility===

The [[Shell floating LNG plant]] was constructed to process and [[cryogen|liquify]] offshore [[List of countries by natural gas production|natural gas]] into [[LNG|liquified natural gas]] for transport and storage.<ref name=shell20110611>{{cite web|url=http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_media_releases/archive/2010/flng_technology_greater_sunrise_29042010.html |title=Shell floating LNG technology chosen by joint venture for Greater Sunrise project - Shell Worldwide |publisher=Shell.com |access-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529042931/http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_media_releases/archive/2010/flng_technology_greater_sunrise_29042010.html |archive-date=29 May 2011 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.shell.com/about-us/major-projects/prelude-flng.html|title=Prelude FLNG|website=www.shell.com|language=en|access-date=2019-09-19}}</ref> The Shell project was scheduled to begin processing gas in 2016.<ref name=wsj20140619>{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Ross|title=GDF Suez, Santos Halt Innovative LNG Plan in Australia: Companies Say Offshore Conversion Project Not Commercially Viable|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/gdf-suez-retreats-from-australian-floating-lng-project-1403167709|access-date=30 December 2014|work=Wall Street Journal|date=19 June 2014|quote=''The decision highlights the risks confronting Australian gas-export projects as they grapple with high costs and competition from North America and Russia, which are vying to provide Asian utilities with cleaner-burning fuels. Confidence in "floating" liquefied natural gas may also be diminishing—two years before a Royal Dutch Shell PLC-owned vessel is due to begin processing gas for the first time.''}}

</ref> In December 2018, Shell announced that the wells have been opened and the plant was ready to begin the initial phase of production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shell.com.au/about-us/projects-and-locations/prelude-flng/prelude-e-news/prelude-starts-production.html|title=Prelude starts production|website=www.shell.com.au|language=en|access-date=2019-09-19|archive-date=26 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526132108/https://www.shell.com.au/about-us/projects-and-locations/prelude-flng/prelude-e-news/prelude-starts-production.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2019, it reached a significant milestone, shipping its first [[liquefied natural gas]] cargo to customers in Asia.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==