RU2766357C1 - Method of collecting oil spilled in open sea and complex of devices for implementation thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: chemistry; environmental protection.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to environmental protection, and structurally, to containment and collection of oil or oil products from water surface. Method for collecting oil spilled on the high seas by means of a set of devices for its implementation is as follows. First, boom 1 is installed in the form of a circle with boom 1 anchored at the sea bottom by means of a number of anchor assemblies. Boom 1 can be detached from tugs and closed in a ring on a new section. Then attachment 3 with propeller element and paddle blades is switched on, which inject one-way flow in direction of rigid line 6 and surface stream 5 of oil is formed, which along radially installed guides of rigid lines 6 due to the flow injected by the paddle element tends in the direction of rigid line 6 to centre 8 and collects oil in centre 8 at the inlet branch pipe 9 for collection of oil products. Rowing blades are made narrow so as to pump only the upper layer of water, which contains oil and not to touch deep layers, as it would be when using a standard paddle wheel. As a result, all oil is collected in centre 8 and the surface layer of oil collected in centre 8 increases many times compared to the initial one, when oil was spilled over the entire area. Further, the pumping equipment with the inlet branch pipe 9 for the collection of oil products is switched on, into which the liquid collected in centre 8 is supplied with an oil concentration of 50 % and higher, and through a pipeline running below the rigid line, it enters the vessels installed on ship 10.EFFECT: invention makes it possible to ensure many times faster oil recovery than that of analogues, and besides, chemical elements are not used in the claimed group of inventions.6 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the protection of the environment, and structurally to the localization and collection of oil or oil products from the water surface.

Prerequisites for the creation of the invention

The number of oil transport ships in the world's seas is constantly growing, and the risk of oil spills is higher than ever. In an oil spill, the most important response factor is speed. The sooner the oil spill area can be isolated and the oil collected from the surface of the water, the fewer problems that will arise for nature and people, and as a result, the cost of the rescue operation will be lower.

There are several ways to collect oil from the surface of the water:

Mechanical. It is most effective in the first hours of oil entering the water. Oil recovery sorbents are materials used in mechanical refining. To assess their qualities, three main indicators are used: buoyancy, oil and water absorption. The effectiveness of the sorbent is mainly evaluated in terms of oil intensity. Sorption cleaning removes dirt of any kind with virtually no residue, and it is also easy to use.

Thermal. It is applied on a sufficient layer of water pollution and represents oil burning. Also used in combination with other oil spill methods.

Physical and chemical. It is based on the use of sorbents and dispersants and works where the mechanical method cannot be applied.

Biological. They will be applied with a layer thickness of at least 0.1 mm after cleaning by the previous methods and is based on the action of biochemical preparations.

State of the art

Known 1) "A method for collecting oil and oil products from the surface of the water, involving the use of an oil-receiving tank and an oil-absorbing material", characterized in that an absorbent material is used, made in the form of a sponge made of polyurethane foam, fixed on a flexible mesh applied to the spill spot (Patent RU 2642864 )

The disadvantage of the method of collecting oil and devices is the high cost of consumables.

2) Also known is a device for collecting oil from the surface of the water, including a flexible boom, one end of which is connected to a tug, the other to an oil skimmer having a means for pumping oil. On the inner side of the boom there is a flexible sheet panel with the possibility of removal (Author's certificate SU No. 1537749,).

The disadvantage of the known device is that it does not allow for the rapid collection of oil or oil products, in particular because of the impossibility of bringing it into working condition in a relatively short period of time, as well as for objects with different water flow rates.

The main drawback of all analogues is the low speed of collecting oil spilled on a reservoir, which is shown in a situation where an oil spill occurred in the vicinity of Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory on May 29, 2020. The authorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory reported that due to an accident at a thermal power plant in Norilsk, about 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled out of the reservoir, which fell into the stream and the Ambarnaya River.

In fact, oil is collected slowly in 2021, and there are either no effective devices and methods, or they are very expensive. And the result leaves much to be desired.

The technical challenge is the following:

1. Collection of oil at sea should be many times faster than that of analogues.

2. Do not have chemical elements, as they further pollute the sea.

3. There should be lower monetary costs per unit area of spilled oil.

The technical result consists in the fact that the complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water on the high seas, containing optimally three vessels (depending on the area of spilled oil and the availability of equipment, one to five vessels can be used), at least one vessel has pumping equipment with tanks for pumping oil, booms, attached to the outer edges of the vessels evenly installed around the circumference of the booms, pontoon platforms are a platform for a stable position during operation of attachments, consisting of an engine driving-rotating a rowing element similar in design to a scraper conveyor, where Blade sizes may vary. The blades at the working moment are facing the water, and the modified scraper conveyor creates a surge current.

Radially mounted guide lines, consisting of connectable segments, by connecting to the joints of the connected segments, to obtain a rigid guide line of the required length, collecting oil into a surface stream, for directing the collected oil and its further conduction to the center of the open part of the pump with an inlet for collection oil. Relief pontoon support on the water, consists of the right and left modules - this is the main volume of the support rising above the water, in the middle of the support is below the water level, allowing the passage of an oil stream to the center, along radially installed rigid guide lines that firmly hold the clamps for clamping radially installed hard line guides. Towards the center, rigid bridges form a triangle or another figure (according to the number of radial guides) to stabilize the structure. In the center is the inlet pipe of the pump for collecting oil products. Vessels are installed behind the boom to fasten the general structure with pumping equipment and a tank for collecting oil.

The design is illustrated by drawings:

Fig. 1. The general layout of the devices - 1 boom, 2 pontoon platforms with attachments 3 to create a surface water current 4, the flow of collected oil directed to the center for its collection 5, radially installed guide rigid lines for collecting oil slicks located perpendicular to the water plane 6, relief supports on the water 7, bridges forming a triangle (according to the number of radial guides) to stabilize the structure 8, the open part of the pump with an inlet pipe for collecting oil products 9, ships with pumping equipment and a tank for collecting oil products 10,

Figure 2-1. In detail - Pontoon platforms 2 with attachments, which are similar to a scraper conveyor with a 3-c chain transmission and with 3-d blades, where the working blades face the water at the working moment to create a surface water current 4.

From the engine (not shown in the drawing) on the pontoons 2, the rotation goes through the rotational sprocket mechanism 3-c, then to the chain mechanism from both sides 3-c, with blades 3-d.

Figure 2-2. The device 3 creating the flow 4 is similar in design to the scraper conveyor 3-c, the blades 3-d, the size of which is sufficient to create a surge current, installed at 90 ° ± 10 ° relative to the water plane, where the blades at the working moment face the water, for creation of surge current 4 in the sea with small waves 3rd.

Figure 3-1. In detail - radially mounted guide lines 6, consisting of connected segments 6, 6-a and 6-at the junction of the connected segments, to obtain a rigid guide line of the required length. The radially mounted guide lines 6 are made of a durable material with a density of water, such as carbon fiber.

Figure 3-2. In detail: radially from the center 8, guide lines 6 are installed for collecting and transforming an oil slick in the sea area, into a surface oil stream 5,

- a relief support on the water 7, where 7 is the right and left pontoon - this is the main volume of the support towering above the water,

7-in the volume of the support below the water level for the passage of the formed oil stream 5, along the radially installed guide rigid lines 6, and in the middle of the pontoon 7-c, clamps 7-c are installed for inserting and fixing the radially installed guide rigid lines 6.

The operation of the "Complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water in the open sea" is carried out as follows:

At the beginning, the booms are installed in the form of a circle with a scheme suitable for the given conditions (according to the factors that change at each site - wave height, depth, current speed,) for example, oil-retaining booms 1 are anchored on the sea bottom, by means of a series of anchor nodes, or use any other known method of "Installing booms", according to the changed factors (depth, current speed, waves). At the same time, the boom has the ability to detach from the tugs and close it into a ring in a new section. Further from the center to the boom ring they diverge radially and at equal distances along the circumference of the booms, rigid guide lines 6 are installed perpendicular to the water plane, and each line is fastened on a relief pontoon support on the water 7, then rigid jumpers are installed forming a triangle or other figure (according to the number of radial guides) for strength and stabilization of the structure 8. To the guide rigid lines 6, pontoon platforms 2 with attachments 3 are attached to create a surface water current 4.

The mechanism of operation of the propeller element: the motor transmits rotation to the “sprocket-gear” 3-c, then to two lines of the closed chain mechanism 3-c, to which 3-d blades are fixed on both sides, which are set in motion and thereby create and superficial flow is injected 4. The size of the blades vertically and horizontally is selected to achieve the required speed of the surge current in the working area.

Pontoon platforms 2 are also used to install the Engine and fuel tanks (not marked on the drawing). The engine driving the rotation of the propeller element 3 runs on hydrocarbon fuel or electric drive.

After installing all the components, the attached equipment is launched with a propeller element 3 and propeller blades 3-d, which pump the surface current 4 in the direction of the hard line 6 and in the process of pumping the current 4 at the junction with the hard line 6, a surface stream of oil 5 is formed, (Practical experiments) .

Further, a stream of oil 5, which along the radially installed guides of rigid lines 6 due to the flow 4 injected by the rowing element 3, adjoining the rigid line 6 rushes to the center 8 and as a result, the oil is collected in the center at the inlet pipe for collecting oil - oil products 9, and pumped into prepared containers.

As a result, all the oil is collected in the center and the surface layer of oil collected in the center 8 increases in thickness many times over, compared with the initial level, when the oil was spilled over the entire area. Next, pumping equipment is launched with an inlet pipe for collecting oil products 9, into which the liquid collected in the center 8 in the surface layer enters the liquid with an oil concentration of 50% ± 20%, and above, and through the pipeline installed below the hard line 6 enters the tanks installed on the ship 10 (not shown on h-f). When filling the Tanks - tanks, the ship 10 changes to the same ship 10, but with an empty tank for collecting oil, and then it follows to transfer the oil-containing mixture received from the oil-collecting vessels to the oil depots for processing. Or the oil collection tank is on a trailer by the vessel and is changed to an empty tank.

The “complex of devices for collecting oil” is assembled and fastened into a single rigid structure, therefore, pontoon platforms 2 with attachments 3 do not move from their place when working with propeller blades 3-d due to the massiveness of the ships 10 and the small volume of surface current, since the propeller blades 3-d are made in a height of 20-30 cm and pump only a thin - surface layer of water, and do not touch the deep layers, as would happen when using a standard paddle wheel.

Also, attachments 3 are equipped with a mechanism for lifting - lowering the level of attachments relative to sea level, in order to find the optimal level of height of propeller blades 3-d relative to the water plane, when the sea is rough.

Radially mounted guides of rigid lines 6 are assembled from segments by connecting joints 6-a and 6-b, to obtain a line of the required length, rigid lines 6 are located perpendicular to the plane of the water, are thin and are fixed in fixture 7-c, forming a flat barrier, have a height of up to 30 cm above the water, depending on the roughness of the sea, so that the collected oil does not overflow through them.

Management of all processes (on-off attachments 3 is carried out mechanically or remote control is established.

The advantages of the proposed design are that, unlike analogues, it takes literally minutes to collect oil at the site (boom circumference) after the installation of the equipment.

Terms:

A pontoon is a watercraft for supporting weights on the water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F

A scraper conveyor is a continuous transporting device in which bulk cargo is moved along a fixed chute - pan, with the help of scrapers mounted on one or more traction chains and immersed in a layer of bulk cargo. Wikipedia

Claims (6)

1. A complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water on the high seas, containing at least three vessels 10, including at least one oil skimmer vessel with means for pumping oil, a boom 1, with outer edges attached to ships uniformly installed along circumference of the boom 1, from the center 8 of the boom ring, radially mounted guide rigid lines 6 diverge, collecting oil into the surface stream 5, to direct the collected oil and its further passage to the center 8 with an inlet pipe for collecting oil 9, while to the guide rigid lines 6, pontoon platforms 2 are attached with attachments 3, consisting of an engine mounted on pontoon platforms 2 and driving-rotating a rowing element consisting of a chain drive 3c on both sides of the blades 3d attached to the chains and a rotational mechanism - sprockets 3c, where the workers blades 3d at the working moment are facing the water to create a surge current 4, that Also, attachments 3 are equipped with a mechanism for raising and lowering the level of attachments relative to sea level, which serves to create a surface water current 4, relief support on the water 7, rigid jumpers forming a triangle or polygon in the center 8, depending on the number of radial guides 6 to stabilize the structure 8, inlet pipe for collecting oil products 9, vessels with pumping equipment and a tank for collecting oil 10. 2. A complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water in the open sea according to claim 1, characterized in that from the engine on pontoons 2 rotation goes through the rotational mechanism of the sprocket - gear 3c, then to the mechanism - the chain on both sides 3c and attached to the chains blades 3d, set at 90° with respect to the plane of the propeller element and to the plane of the sea 3e, the size of the blades vertically and horizontally is selected to achieve the required speed of the surge current in the working section, while the engine that sets in motion-rotation of the propeller element operates on hydrocarbon fuel or electric drive. 3. A complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water in the open sea according to claim 1, characterized in that the radially installed guide lines 6, consisting of connected segments 6, by connecting 6a and 6b at the junction of the connected segments to obtain a rigid guide line of the required length , while the radially mounted guide lines 6 are made of durable and lightweight material, such as carbon fiber, while the radially mounted guide lines 6 are fixed to the center 8 with the inner edge, and the ship 10 with the outer edge to the vessel. 4. The complex of devices for collecting oil from the surface of the water in the open sea according to claim 1, characterized in that the relief pontoon support on the water 7 consists of 7a, the right and left modules are the main volume of the support that rises above the water, and 7c is the volume of the support below the water level, allowing the passage of the oil stream 5 to the center 8 along the radially mounted guide rigid lines 6, which firmly hold the clamps 7-c for clamping-fixing the radially mounted guide rigid lines 6. 5. A method for collecting oil spilled on the high seas by means of a set of devices for its implementation according to claim 1, including installing a boom 1 in the form of a circle with fixing the boom 1 with an anchor on the sea bottom, attaching the boom 1 with the outer edges to the ships 10, evenly installed along the circumference, installation of guide rigid lines 6 radially along the circumference of the boom, after which the attachment 3 with a propeller element and propeller blades is launched to inject a one-way flow, which, when adjacent to the rigid line 6, forms a surface stream of oil 5, the direction of the surface stream 5 along radially installed guides from rigid lines 6 to the center of the circle by means of a flow injected by the propeller element, and collecting oil in the center 8 at the inlet pipe of the oil collecting pump 9, after which the pumping equipment on the vessel 10 is turned on and through the inlet pipe 9 through the pipeline installed below radial rigid lines 6 pump oil into collection tanks with subsequent transportation of oil for its processing. 6. A method for collecting oil spilled on the high seas by means of devices for its implementation according to claim 5, characterized in that it can have both direct mechanical - manual, and electronic remote control.

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