CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/240,482 filed on September 3, 2021. The disclosure of the Provisional Application is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Vertical pumps operate in an upright position and employ a bowl assembly including a rotary impeller submerged in a body of liquid or fluid to be pumped, where the liquid or fluid may include entrained stringy material and other solids. An example implementation of vertical pumps is offshore oil rigs. The above ground component of vertical pumps called discharge head or discharge elbow, which supports a driver (typically an electric motor) and passes through the shaft to the below-surface impeller(s). The discharge head also contains a discharge flange for connection to above-surface piping.

SUMMARY

[0003] The present disclosure generally describes discharge heads with bent supporting legs for vertical pumps.

[0004] According to some examples, a discharge head for vertical pump systems may include a mounting interface to place a motor; a central plate positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and a bottom plate; a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from below-surface piping to above-surface piping, the discharge pipe comprising a vertical portion that couples to the central plate and a horizontal portion coupled to a discharge flange; a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to the bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; a plurality of stabilizers, where each stabilizer is horizontally coupled between the central plate and each supporting leg; and the bottom plate to couple the vertical portion of the discharge pipe with the below-surface piping.

[0005] According to other examples, a vertical pump system may include a motor to drive impellers; below-surface piping that contains one or more impellers; above-surface piping to receive pumped liquids from the below-surface piping; and a discharge head to provide the pumped liquids from the below-surface piping to the above-surface piping. The discharge head may include a mounting interface to place a motor; a central plate positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and a bottom plate; a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from below-surface piping to above-surface piping, the discharge pipe comprising a vertical portion that connects to the central plate and a horizontal portion coupled to a discharge flange; a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to the bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; a plurality of stabilizers, where each stabilizer is horizontally coupled between the central plate and each supporting leg; and the bottom plate to couple the vertical portion of the discharge pipe with the below-surface piping.

[0006] According to further examples, a method for manufacturing a discharge head for vertical pump systems may include forming a mounting interface to place a motor based on one or more of a size, a strength, or a weight of the motor; determining one or more of a length, a thickness, or a bend angle of each supporting leg based on one or more of a size of the mounting interface, a weight of the motor, a strength of the motor, a size of below-surface piping, or a size of above-surface piping; forming a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to a bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; forming a plurality of stabilizers to be horizontally coupled between a central plate and each supporting leg; forming the central plate to be positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and the bottom plate; forming a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from the below-surface piping to the above-surface piping; forming the bottom plate; and assembling the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, and the discharge pipe together through one or more of welding or nut/bolt pairs. [0007] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The foregoing and other features of this disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a vertical pump system;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a conventional discharge head for a vertical pump;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a vertical pump system with bent supporting legs discharge head;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example discharge head with bent supporting legs;

FIG. 5A illustrates a side-by-side comparison of a discharge head with bent supporting legs and a discharge head with straight supporting legs;

FIG. 5B illustrates a side-by-side comparison of bottom plate footprints of a discharge head with bent supporting legs and a discharge head with straight supporting legs; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for a process of manufacturing a discharge head with bent supporting legs, some of which arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. The aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated herein.

[0010] This disclosure is generally drawn, inter alia, to methods, apparatus, systems and/or devices related to discharge heads with bent supporting legs for vertical pumps.

[0011] Briefly stated, technologies are generally described for discharge heads with bent supporting legs for vertical pumps. A discharge head, according to examples, with bent supporting legs for vertical pump systems allows substantially reduced footprint (i.e., bottom plate size) and weight of discharge head without compromising torsional rigidity and structural integrity. The bent supporting legs coupling the mounting interface and the bottom plate and further connected through orthogonal stabilizers create a monocoque type frame. The reduction in the size of the bottom plate and (and thereby, the weight) allows utilization of valuable space in rig applications for other systems while preserving structural resonance, torsional rigidity performances.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a vertical pump system.

[0013] As illustrated in diagram 100, an example vertical pump system may include a pump driver (motor 104) and a connection box 102 to provide power and control connections to the motor 104. The motor 104 may be affixed to a mounting interface 106 of a discharge head 108. Below-surface piping 114 may be affixed to the discharge head 108 through bottom plate 110 of the discharge head 108. The discharge head 108 may also include a discharge flange 112 for coupling to above-surface piping. One or more impellers (not shown) may be placed inside the below-surface piping 114 and coupled to the pump driver (motor 104) through a shaft also inside the below-surface piping 114.

[0014] The discharge head 118 supports the weight of the motor 104 while providing a structural frame for the shaft to pass through to the below-surface impellers and the discharge piping. Because of the rotational forces applied by the motor (and the shaft) and resonance during operation, the discharge head’s structure and configuration is a substantial design consideration for vertical pump systems. While conventional systems address the resonance and torsional rigidity requirements by having a larger bottom plate (thus, larger footprint), the size and weight of such systems creates a challenge in environments with limited space or susceptible to overall weight, for example, offshore rig installations.

[0015] A discharge head according to examples includes bent supporting legs forming a monocoque frame along with the stabilizers and top / bottom plates. The design of the supporting legs allows substantial reduction in size of the bottom place, and thereby, the weight of the bottom plate addressing the challenges in environments such as rigs and similar ones.

[0016] In an operation, the motor 104 provides rotational force to the shaft, which passes through the discharge head 118 and rotates one or more impellers pushing liquids (often with solid particles in them) to the surface. The pumped liquids are pushed to above-surface piping for processing through the discharge head 118 (a pipe that is usually horizontal or similarly angled relative to the below-surface piping 114)). Motor 104 may be an electrical motor, and its operation may be controlled remotely (e.g., speed).

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a conventional discharge head for a vertical pump.

[0018] Diagram 200 shows mounting interface 206, bottom plate 210, inclined, straight supporting legs 220, stabilizers 223 forming a discharge head. The diagram further includes a discharge pipe 224 coupling a below-surface pipe (not shown) to an above-surface pipe (not shown) at an angle through a discharge flange 212. A seal housing pipe may contain the shaft providing rotational force from a motor to impellers below the surface.

[0019] Discharge heads are designed to prevent substantially lateral and torsional movement, including movement due to reacting hydraulic forces at a pump nozzle and inertia from a driver. The example configuration with four supporting shown in diagram 200 supports a vertical motor weight, torque, pump downthrust and nozzle forces and moments. While the inclined supporting leg design reduces the overall pump vibration due to less cantilever distance from the foundation to the motor top bearing, a footprint of the discharge head (size of bottom plate 110) is inherently larger due to the outward inclination of the supporting legs. Negative angled (inverted) supporting legs may reduce a size of the bottom plate, but may also cause some buckling issues, and/or undesirable natural frequency (modal) responses of the discharge head. [0020] In pump systems requiring larger size (diameter) motors for performance needs, the bottom plate in illustrated conventional systems may become even larger. With the size of the bottom plate its weight increases too. In addition, a larger size discharge head results inherently in a longer discharge pipe, thus, more weight of the overall system. As mentioned above, a common implementation environment for vertical pump systems is offshore rigs, where the additional weight and size are substantial drawbacks.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a vertical pump system with bent supporting legs discharge head, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.

[0022] Diagram 300 shows a vertical pump system that includes connection box 302 to provide power and control connections to motor 304, which drives the impellers through a shaft. The motor is supported on the mounting interface 306 of the discharge head, which includes four bent supporting legs 320, bottom plate 310, and central plate 322. The discharge head also includes discharge pipe 324, which is coupled to above-surface piping through discharge flange 312. The discharge pipe 324 provide an elbow transition for the pumped liquids from the below- surface piping to the above-surface piping. The discharge pipe 324 and the shaft are coupled to the below-surface piping 314 at the bottom plate 310. Some vertical pump systems may include a single impeller, while others may include multiple, cascaded impellers. The illustrated example system is shown with multiple impeller sections in the below-surface pipe 314.

[0023] The monocoque frame formed by the bent supporting legs 320, mounting interface 306, and bottom plate 310 provides 360-degree access to the discharge pipe coupling and seal housing allowing field maintenance people to easily remove the coupling and seal components. By having a shorter discharge head compared to conventional systems, less overall vibration amplitude may be achieved. As mentioned above, smaller bottom plate area allows real estate savings and weight reduction in implementation environments such as rigs.

[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example discharge head with bent supporting legs, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.

[0025] Diagram 400 shows a discharge head according to some examples with a “O” shaped mounting interface 406, central plate 422, stabilizers 423, bent supporting legs 420, and square shaped bottom plate 410. Discharge pipe 424, which is coupled to the below-surface piping through the bottom plate 410 and is angled, connects to above-surface piping through discharge flange 412. The stabilizers 423 connect from the central plate 422 to the individual supporting legs 420 at the “bend” region 421 providing structural support to the legs.

[0026] The example discharge head is shown with four bent supporting legs 420. A 3-leg design may not provide sufficient stability and structural resonance resistance. While other designs with more than four supporting legs may be implemented, four legs may be optimal for commonly implemented single discharge pipe vertical pump systems. As illustrated in the diagram, the supporting legs may comprise three segments: a straight segment coupled to the mounting interface, another straight segment coupled to the bottom plate, and a bend coupling the two straight segments. An angle of the bend may depend on the sizes of the top and bottom plates, diameter of the supporting legs, desired resonance and torsional rigidity, and other configuration parameters. Yet, in some examples, instead of the shown configuration, the supporting legs may be designed with a continuous or semi-continuous curve. The bend region 421 may be selected based on the height of the discharge head, height of the discharge pipe 424, and/or other dimensions of the discharge head. The stabilizers 423 may be optimally placed at the bend region 421 between the central plate 422 and supporting legs 420, but may also be located higher or lower than the bend region 421 (e.g., the central plate may be designed thicker). The supporting legs may be solid or hollow, while hollow design provides further weight reduction of the discharge head. While in typical implementations, the supporting legs (and the top and bottom plates) may be manufactured from suitable metals and/or metal alloys, other durable materials such as composites may also be used.

[0027] In typical metal implementations, various components of the discharge head may be affixed to each other through welding or similar robust coupling methods. The mounting interface 406, the bottom plate 410, and/or the discharge flange 412 may be of any suitable shape such as “O” shape, square, rectangular, elliptical, and others.

[0028] The discharge head may be optimally designed top to bottom, that is, a size, strength, and weight of the motor may dictate the sizes of the top and bottom plates, as well as, sizes, bend angle, and thickness of the supporting legs. In some examples, the discharge head design may be optimized based on specific operational parameters such as motor, piping sizes, pumped liquid type (expected resistance to pumping action), etc. Thus, size, bend angle, thickness of the supporting legs, thickness and location of the stabilizers, etc. may be modified while performing structural resonance and torsional load analysis to optimize the configuration. [0029] Another advantage of the bent supporting leg type discharge head over inclined, straight leg designs or walled discharge head designs is reduction of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe 424. Because the bottom plate 410 can be reduced in the example configurations, the discharge pipe 424 may also be shortened providing further weight reduction. In some example implementations, the weight reduction from the reduced discharge pipe alone may exceed 21%. The footprint reduction of the bottom plate may also exceed 38% with a corresponding weight reduction. The bent supporting leg design also eliminated a need for external stabilizers used in some walled discharge head designs.

[0030] FIG. 5A illustrates a side-by-side comparison of a discharge head with bent supporting legs and a discharge head with straight supporting legs, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.

[0031] Diagram 500A shows side-by-side comparison of discharge head 530 with bent supporting legs and discharge head 531 with straight supporting legs. Discharge head 530 with bent supporting legs includes mounting interface 506, central plate 522, supporting legs 520, stabilizers 526, and bottom plate 510. Discharge head 531 with straight (inclined) supporting legs includes mounting interface 507, central plate 523, supporting legs 521, stabilizers 527, and bottom plate 511.

[0032] While mounting interfaces 506, 507 and central plates 526, 527 may be similarly dimensioned between the two different discharge head types, the bent supporting legs 520 allow smaller footprint bottom plate 510 compared to larger bottom plate 511 of the discharge head 531. The stabilizers 526 of the discharge head 530, compared to stabilizers 527 of the discharge head 531, are also shorter due to the bent formation of the supporting legs 520. The diagram also illustrates how the horizontal portion 532 of the discharge pipe in the discharge head 530 is shorter than the horizontal portion 534 of the discharge pipe in the discharge head 531. The reduction in size of the bottom plate, stabilizers, and the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe contribute to substantial weight reduction in the discharge head 530 without losing structural resonance or torsional rigidity performance.

[0033] FIG. 5B illustrates a side-by-side comparison of bottom plate footprints of a discharge head with bent supporting legs and a discharge head with straight supporting legs, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. [0034] Diagram 500B shows a botom view of the discharge head 530 with bent supporting legs and discharge head 531 with straight supporting legs. The “O” shaped mounting interfaces 506, 507 are shown in the background. The substantial size difference between the bottom plates 510 and 511 are also illustrated. The size reduction due to the bent formation of the supporting legs in the discharge head 530 allows, in turn, substantial weight reduction, an important consideration in offshore rig and similar implementations.

[0035] Some of the above-discussed elements are typical features of knife gate valves generally and are not unique or critical to the present disclosure. Accordingly, embodiments are not limited to valves having any particular components except those specifically recited in the claims

[0036] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for a process of manufacturing a discharge head with bent supporting legs, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.

[0037] Example methods may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 610, 620, 630, 640, 650, and 660 may in some embodiments be performed by a manufacturing system, automated, manual, or a combination thereof. Such operations, functions, or actions in FIG. 6 and in the other figures, in some embodiments, may be combined, eliminated, modified, and/or supplemented with other operations, functions or actions, and need not necessarily be performed in the exact sequence as shown. The operations described in the blocks 610-660 may be implemented through execution of computer-executable instructions stored in a computer-readable medium and executed by a computer controlling the manufacturing system.

[0038] An example process to provide a bent supporting legs discharge head may begin with block 610, “FORM MOUNTING INTERFACE BASED ON MOTOR SIZE, STRENGTH, WEIGHT”, where the mounting interface may be formed based on a motor size, strength (expected resonance and torsional forces), and weight. The mounting interface may be formed in any suitable shape such as a ring, a solid circle, square, rectangular, elliptical, or other. The motor may be affixed to the mounting interface through nut/bolt pairs, welding, or other suitable methods.

[0039] Block 610 may be followed by block 620, “DETERMINE SUPPORTING LEGS LENGTH, THICKNESS, BEND”, where dimensions and configuration of the supporting legs may be determined through static and dynamic analysis of the expected forces, resonance, and torsional rigidity. The dimensions and configuration may be selected to minimize the footprint of the discharge head while preserving structural resonance and torsional rigidity performance.

[0040] Block 620 may be followed by block 630, “FORM SUPPORTING LEGS AND STABILIZERS”, where the supporting legs and stabilizers may be formed based on the determined dimensions and configuration of the supporting legs. The dimensions of the supporting legs also defined a size of the bottom plate and discharge pipe (specifically, a length of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe).

[0041] Block 630 may be followed by block 640, “FORM DISCHARGE PIPE”, where the discharge pipe may be formed based on the dimensions of the below-surface piping, the abovesurface piping, and the length of the horizontal portion defined by the supporting legs.

[0042] Block 640 may be followed by block 650, “FORM BOTTOM PLATE”, where the bottom plate may be formed based on the dimensions of the below-surface piping and the dimensions and configuration of the supporting legs. The bottom plate may also be in any desired or suitable shape.

[0043] Block 650 may be followed by block 660, “ASSEMBLE MOUNTING INTERFACE, CENTRAL PLATE, SUPPORTING LEGS, STABILIZERS, DISCHARGE PIPE, AND BOTTOM PLATE”, where the manufacturing system may assemble the formed components and any other ancillary components. The components may be assembled through welding, nut/bolt pairs, and/or other suitable affixation methods.

[0044] The operations included in process 600 are for illustration purposes. Assembly of a vertical pump system with a discharge head with bent supporting legs may be implemented by similar processes with fewer or additional operations, as well as in different order of operations using the principles described herein. The operations described herein may be executed by one or more assembly devices / systems managed by one or more computing devices, one or more processor cores, and/or specialized processing devices, among other examples.

[0045] While examples are discussed using specific designs herein, embodiments are not limited to the example configurations. Embodiments may also be implemented in other forms of similar components, shapes, materials, and dimensions.

[0046] Disclosed herein are methods and devices to provide a discharge head with bent supporting legs for vertical pumps. Technical advantages of a discharge head, according to examples, with bent supporting legs for vertical pump systems include, but are not limited to, substantially reduced footprint (i.e., bottom plate size) and weight of discharge head without compromising torsional rigidity and structural integrity.

[0047] According to some examples, a discharge head for vertical pump systems may include a mounting interface to place a motor; a central plate positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and a bottom plate; a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from below-surface piping to above-surface piping, the discharge pipe comprising a vertical portion that couples to the central plate and a horizontal portion coupled to a discharge flange; a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to the bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; a plurality of stabilizers, where each stabilizer is horizontally coupled between the central plate and each supporting leg; and the bottom plate to couple the vertical portion of the discharge pipe with the below-surface piping.

[0048] According to other examples, each supporting leg may have a first straight portion coupled to the mounting interface, a second straight portion coupled to the bottom plate, and a bend portion coupling the first straight portion and the second straight portion. Each stabilizer may be coupled to a corresponding supporting leg at the bend portion. One or more of a length, a thickness, or a bend angle of each supporting leg may be determined based on one or more of a size of the mounting interface, a weight of the motor, a strength of the motor, a size of the below- surface piping, or a size of the above-surface piping. The one or more of the length, the thickness, or the bend angle of each supporting leg may be further determined based on a reduction of a size of the bottom plate and a length of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe. A location of the bend portion of each supporting leg may be determined based on a reduction of a size of the bottom plate and a length of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe.

[0049] According to further examples, the plurality of supporting legs may include four supporting legs. The plurality of stabilizers may include four stabilizers. One or more of the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, or the discharge pipe may be coupled together through one or more of welding or nut/bolt pairs. One or more of the mounting interface or the bottom plate may have an “O” ring shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a solid circle shape, or an elliptical shape. One or more of the supporting legs or the stabilizers may be solid or hollow. One or more of the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, or the discharge pipe may be made from metal or metal allow materials.

[0050] According to other examples, a vertical pump system may include a motor to drive impellers; below-surface piping that contains one or more impellers; above-surface piping to receive pumped liquids from the below-surface piping; and a discharge head to provide the pumped liquids from the below-surface piping to the above-surface piping. The discharge head may include a mounting interface to place a motor; a central plate positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and a bottom plate; a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from below-surface piping to above-surface piping, the discharge pipe comprising a vertical portion that connects to the central plate and a horizontal portion coupled to a discharge flange; a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to the bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; a plurality of stabilizers, where each stabilizer is horizontally coupled between the central plate and each supporting leg; and the bottom plate to couple the vertical portion of the discharge pipe with the below-surface piping.

[0051] According to further examples, the below-surface piping may contain multiple stages of impellers. Each supporting leg may have a first straight portion coupled to the mounting interface, a second straight portion coupled to the bottom plate, and a bend portion coupling the first straight portion and the second straight portion. Each stabilizer may be coupled to a corresponding supporting leg at the bend portion. One or more of a length, a thickness, or a bend angle of each supporting leg may be determined based on one or more of a size of the mounting interface, a weight of the motor, a strength of the motor, a size of the below-surface piping, or a size of the above-surface piping. The one or more of the length, the thickness, or the bend angle of each supporting leg may be further determined based on a reduction of a size of the bottom plate and a length of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe. A location of the bend portion of each supporting leg may be determined based on a reduction of a size of the bottom plate and a length of the horizontal portion of the discharge pipe.

[0052] According to some examples, the plurality of supporting legs may include four supporting legs. The plurality of stabilizers may include four stabilizers. One or more of the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, or the discharge pipe may be coupled together through one or more of welding or nut/bolt pairs. One or more of the mounting interface or the bottom plate may have an “O” ring shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a solid circle shape, or an elliptical shape. One or more of the supporting legs or the stabilizers may be solid or hollow. One or more of the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, or the discharge pipe may be made from metal or metal allow materials.

[0053] According to further examples, a method for manufacturing a discharge head for vertical pump systems may include forming a mounting interface to place a motor based on one or more of a size, a strength, or a weight of the motor; determining one or more of a length, a thickness, or a bend angle of each supporting leg based on one or more of a size of the mounting interface, a weight of the motor, a strength of the motor, a size of below-surface piping, or a size of above-surface piping; forming a plurality of supporting legs to couple the mounting interface to a bottom plate, where each supporting leg has an inward bent shape and the supporting legs are distributed substantially equally around a perimeter of the mounting interface and the bottom plate; forming a plurality of stabilizers to be horizontally coupled between a central plate and each supporting leg; forming the central plate to be positioned substantially centrally between the mounting interface and the bottom plate; forming a discharge pipe to provide an elbow transition from the below-surface piping to the above-surface piping; forming the bottom plate; and assembling the mounting interface, the supporting legs, the central plate, the bottom plate, the stabilizers, and the discharge pipe together through one or more of welding or nut/bolt pairs.

[0054] According to some examples, the method may also include further determining the one or more of the length, the thickness, or the bend angle of each supporting leg based on one or more of a structural resonance analysis or a torsional rigidity analysis. The method may further include further determining the one or more of the length, the thickness, or the bend angle of each supporting leg based on one or more of a pump downthrust, nozzle forces, and moments.

[0055] The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, are possible from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

[0056] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. Such depicted architectures are merely examples, and in fact, many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermediate components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable", to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically connectable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

[0057] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0058] In general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation, no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).

[0059] Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general, such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

[0060] For any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” “less than,” and the like include the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth. [0061] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments are possible. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.