Replacing Hoses that Connect to Floating Barge

[Fooooks]

Hello all,
I work at a tank terminal for oil and gas. We have a floating barge that we use to load/unload barges. From our pipe bridge on land, we use a hose to connect to the hard pipe on our floating barge. The hose is used to accommodate for elevation changes on the river. The problem is that we need to test these hoses yearly, and our terminal manager is looking for a way to get rid of the hoses for something else to avoid this.

Is there a way to connect a fixed hard pipe to the hard pipe on the floating barge that is subject to elevation changes from the tide? Would a certain number of swivel joints take care of this problem? I cannot think of a modification we could undergo to address this issue. We cannot have flanges over the Mississippi River. And I'm sure there are other regulations we need to be aware of, but I do not have a document that lays these out. I will have to contact the coast guard.

Thank you,

 

[LittleInch]

They are called marine loading arms.

Like these but a lot of people make them.

http://www.emcowheaton.com/marine-loading-arms/

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Fooooks]

LIttleInch,
Yes I may have misspoke, but we have loading arms on our docks to connect to barges and ships. However this is to connect our hard pipe from land to our floating barge dock, which has additional hard pipe before the hoses connect to barges that we load/unload. We would like to replaces the first set of hoses that bring our product lines from land to the floating barge. We do not have the space to add MLAs in this area. But we are looking to somehow replace the flexible hoses to cut down on third party testing and out of service time for our hoses.

Thank you kindly for the link, we actually have a couple of Emco Wheaton MLAs in the terminal. I could always contact them for ideas as well.

 

[LittleInch]

aaah, OK now I understand.

then depending on the size you might want to look at rail wagon loading arms or tanker bottom loading arms. Emco wheaton also make those...

they look like this. You will need three axes of movement.

you will need to work out the relative movement of your fixed point and end point on the barge within certain limits to get a price, but these should be a lot cheaper than the MLAs. I assume you have things like breakaway couplings in case you barge gets detached from its moorings.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Fooooks]

Fantastic,
Yes while I was waiting on your reply I emailed Emco Wheaton, thank you for the update. I will be asking them for a quote for a design for us.

Thank you, again!