Articulated fluid loading arm

Abstract

An articulated fluid loading arm especially suited for transferring petroleum from a floating storage and loading terminal to a marine tanker. The arm comprises a support boom pivotally mounted on the deck of the terminal, a pair of fluid conduits extending along the boom from risers at the deck, and a dual-flow passage drop-pipe assembly suspended from a carriage that rides in a track on the boom. The drop-pipe assembly comprises four rigid pipe sections interconnected by swivel joints into a parallelogram-like structure, one corner thereof pivotally connected to the carriage and the opposite corner connected to a pull-in type pipe connector for releasably securing the arm to a tanker manifold. A tensioning cable extends from the pipe connector up to the carriage and then along the boom and around a motion-compensating tensioner to a dead-man winch for lowering, raising, and supporting the drop-pipe assembly, and means are provided to disconnect the drop-pipe assembly from the fluid conduits at the outer end of the boom so that the assembly can be brought in on the carriage to the station deck for servicing. A tag line connected between the pipe connector and a tanker winch allows the pipe connector to be gently pulled down to connect with the tanker manifold even when the tanker is moving up and down.