1. A method of disposing of drill cuttings from an oil andor gas well drilling platform, comprising:
(a) providing a barge, the barge having a first storage area, a first cover comprising a plurality of cover plates positioned adjacent each other and covering the first storage area;
(b) placing the first storage area in a first open state by moving one or more cover plates so that cuttings can be placed in the first storage;
(c) receiving cuttings in the barge’s first and second storage areas from the drilling platform;
(d) placing the first storage area in a closed state by positioning the plurality of cover plates adjacent each other over the first storage area so that the cuttings in the storage area are contained;
(e) transporting the barge from the drilling platform to a collection site;
(f) placing the first storage area in a second open state so that the cuttings can be removed, the second open state having a larger open area compared to the first open state wherein more of the cover plates are moved in the second open state then were moved in step \u201cb\u201d;
(g) removing the cuttings from the barge’s first storage area; and
(h) during steps \u201cb\u201d through \u201cg\u201d the first storage area is at atmospheric pressure.
2. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover comprises a hatch which can be opened and closed, and the first open state in step \u201cb\u201d occurs when the hatch is opened.
3. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein the cover is detachably connected to the barge, and the second open state in step \u201cf\u201d occurs when the cover is removed from the barge.
4. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201cb\u201d the barge includes a second storage area and a second cover operably connected to the second storage area.
5. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201cg\u201d the cuttings are scooped out of the at least one storage area.
6. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 5, wherein a backhoe is used to scoop out the cuttings.
7. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 5, wherein a clam bucket is used to scoop out the cuttings.
8. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201cg\u201d the cuttings are dug out of the at least one storage area.
9. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover is detachably connected to the at least one storage area by a plurality of anchors.
10. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 9, wherein the cover comprises a plurality of pad eyes which can be used to lift the cover.
11. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover comprises a plurality of sections, each section being connected to the at least one storage area by a plurality of anchors.
12. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 11, wherein at least one of the plurality of sections are detachably connected to at least one other of the plurality of sections and a seal is used to seal the connection area between the detachably connected sections.
13. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d there exists a watertight seal between the at least one storage area and the cover.
14. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover is rotatably connected to the at least one storage area.
15. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover is slidably connected to the at least one storage area.
16. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 1, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the barge has an upper surface area and the at least one storage area occupies at least about fifty percent of the upper surface area.
17. A method of disposing of drill cuttings from an oil andor gas well drilling platform, comprising:
(a) providing a barge having at least one storage compartment, a cover operably connected to the at least one storage compartment, the cover having multiple cover sections that are positioned side by side when covering the at least one storage compartment;
(b) placing the at least one storage compartment in a first open state by moving at least one but not all cover sections;
(c) receiving through the inlet cuttings in the barge’s at least one storage compartment, the cuttings being received from the drilling platform;
(d) after step \u201cc\u201d, placing the at least one storage compartment in a closed state by repositioning the plurality of cover plates adjacent each other over the at least one storage area so that the cuttings in the storage area are contained;
(e) transporting the barge from the drilling platform to a collection site;
(f) placing the at least one storage compartment in a second open state by moving more of the cover sections than were moved in step \u201cb\u201d so that the cuttings in the barge’s at least one storage compartment can be removed, the second open state having a larger open area compared to the first open state; and
(g) removing through the inlet the cuttings from the barge’s at least one storage compartment.
18. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 17, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the barge includes a second storage area and a second cover operably connected to the second storage area.
19. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 17, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the cover comprises a plurality of sections, each section being connected to the at least one storage area by a plurality of anchors.
20. The method of disposing of drill cuttings of claim 17, wherein in step \u201ca\u201d the barge has an upper surface area and the at least one storage area occupies at least about fifty percent of the upper surface area.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for characterizing the linear properties of an electrical component having n>1 ports (p1, . . . , pn), said method including
an estimation procedure comprising the step of determining an estimated admittance matrix Y\u2032 of said component by applying voltages to said ports (p1, . . . , pn) and measuring a response of said component,
said method further being characterized by a measurement procedure comprising the step of applying several voltage patterns uk to the ports (p1, . . . , pn) of said component, each voltage pattern uk corresponding to an eigenvector vk of said estimated admittance matrix Y\u2032, and determining, for each applied voltage pattern uk, a response of said component.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said measurement procedure comprises the step of measuring, for each voltage pattern uk applied to said ports (p1, . . . , pn), a current pattern ik at said ports (p1, . . . , pn).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said estimated admittance matrix Y\u2032 has n eigenvectors v1, . . . , vn and wherein each voltage pattern uk corresponds to a different eigenvector vk.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the voltage pattern uk is substantially parallel to the eigenvector vk, wherein the voltage patterns uk and the eigenvectors vk are not exactly matched due to discretization errors in a test device generating the voltage patterns uk.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said voltage patterns uk are generated by means of a test device capable of applying a discrete set of different voltage patterns uk to said ports (p1, . . . , pn), wherein each voltage pattern uk corresponds to that member of said set that has the property that the term
\u2211
i
=
1
n
\u2062
(
\u03bb
i
\u2062
\u03b1
i
)
2
–
(
\u03bb
k
\u2062
\u03b1
k
)
2
(
\u03bb
k
\u2062
\u03b1
k
)
2
is minimal, wherein \u03bb1, . . . \u03bbn are n eigenvalues of the estimated admittance matrix Y\u2032 and
u
k
=
\u2211
i
=
1
n
\u2062
\u03b1
i
\u2062
v
i
with coefficients \u03b1i.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein said test device has n voltage generators generating n different voltages \u03bbk, which voltages \u03bbk are applied through n selectable impedances Zk to said ports (p1, . . . , pn), wherein
\u03b1=v1 . . . vn\u22121\xb7(I+Z\xb7Y\u2032)\u22121\xb7\u03c6
where a is a vector of the coefficients \u03b11 to \u03b1n, I is the n\xd7n identity matrix, Z is a diagonal matrix with diagonal elements Zk and \u03c6 is a vector with elements \u03c61 to \u03c6k.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein a single voltage source and n voltage converters are used instead of the n voltage generators.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising the steps of repeating said estimation procedure at a plurality of frequencies over a frequency range of interest and carrying out said measurement procedure for at least some of the frequencies.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein said measurement procedure is carried out for frequencies where an absolute ratio between maximum and a minimum eigenvalue of said estimated admittance matrix Y\u2032 has a local maximum or exceeds a given threshold.
10. The method of claim 8, comprising the step of determining critical frequencies, wherein a density of measurements close to said critical frequencies is larger than a number of measurements away from said critical frequencies.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the desired frequency range is divided in a number of frequency windows and the most critical frequencies are calculated in each frequency window.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the applied voltage patterns uk and the current patterns ik are used directly for further processing, without prior conversion to an admittance or impedance matrix Y.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is an electrical motor, a transformer, a switch, or a transmission line.
14. A method for modeling an electrical system with at least one component comprising the steps of
characterizing the component using the method of claim 1 by determining the applied voltage patterns uk and, for each voltage pattern uk applied to said ports (p1, . . . , pn), a current pattern ik at said ports (p1, . . . , pn) , and
modeling said system using said voltage patterns uk and said current patterns ik without calculating an admittance or impedance matrix of said component.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the model is used to analyze the stability of a network that component is part of.
16. A device for characterizing the linear properties of an electrical component having n>1 ports, said device comprising
n voltage generators for generating a voltage for each port. (p1, . . . , pn),
n current sensors for sensing the current at each port (p1, . . . , pn), and
a control unit that carries out the measurement using the estimation and measurement procedures of claim 1.
17. The device of claim 16, wherein a single voltage source and n voltage converters are used instead of the n voltage generators.
18. The device of claim 16, having n>2 ports (p1, . . . , pn)
wherein the control unit automatically generates several voltage patterns uk at said ports (p1, . . . , pn) and measures the corresponding currents ik at said ports (p1, . . . , pn) and derives the linear response of said component therefrom.
19. The device of claim 16, wherein said control unit is adapted to apply at least n different voltage patterns uk to said ports (p1, . . . , pn) consecutively.
20. The device of claim 17, having n>2 ports (p1, . . . , pn)
wherein the control unit automatically generates several voltage patterns uk at said ports (p1, . . . , pn) and measures the corresponding currents ik at said ports (p1, . . . , pn) and derives the linear response of said component therefrom.
21. The device of claim 18, wherein said control unit is adapted to apply at least n different voltage patterns uk to said ports (p1, . . . , pn) consecutively.