Patent Application
20070209565
The History of Petrochemical Transportation
Because of the wide diversity of locations where oil is harvested from earths' underground reservoirs, it is necessary to transport the crude oil from a land or sea-based location to many sites across the globe for refinement. History books have recorded massive spillage of crude and catastrophic ecological damage during this transportation phase because of hull failure of the vessel transporting the crude. While oil spill prevention is the primary purpose of this invention, the invention contemplates the prevention of spills of various types of liquids and gasses, primarily in the petrochemical industry.
Currently Used Technology
Currently, only one transport process is being considered to significantly lower the risk of ecological damage resulting from the breach in the hull integrity of petrochemical transport vehicles: The Double Hull. Oil tankers built now and in the future are required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA '90) to use double hulled construction to reduce the risk of oil spills due to grounding and collision, and the resulting adverse impact on the environment. Although the use of double hulls is a step in the right direction, it does not fully eliminate the likelihood of oil spills since the inner hull can still be penetrated in major accidents. Major oil spills, such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill at Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Ak., can have devastating impacts on the environment, and the cost of oil recovery and restoration of the environment can be extremely high. Although the double hull is currently perceived by the public and political figures as the most “politically correct” solution to the problem, after lengthy review of the options available, the double-hull concept is flawed and still capable of failure for the same reasons as the single hull. Even with the destruction of the entire remaining existing fleet of tankers, barges, and intermediate vessels and the expenditure of billions of dollars for the construction of The Double-Hull vessels, it is a fact that the Double-Hull vessel is still capable of being pierced or crushed by an incoming object when the force of that object exceeds the strength of the hulls. The Double-hull proponents merely hope that two hulls are enough. Recent history reaffirms that even two hulls are not enough. Even with this knowledge, the petrochemical industry, driven by legislative momentum, a massively powerful and financially well-endowed lobbying organization and the ongoing voluntary implementation of the Double-Hull vessels into the current transportation, there appears to be a feeling among the major petrochemical interests that the cost of correcting the flaw in the vessel construction problem would not find a receptive market. Once again, the industry appears to accept petrochemical cargo spillage as “another risk of doing business.”
Previous patents have struggled admittedly to only minimize the risk of hull breach with the use of various forms of bladders and reinforcement. Yet, each such patent admits that the loss of cargo would occur should both the bladder and its reinforcement be pierced during a hull breach.
This present invention allows the existing fleet of small, medium and large, single-hull and double-hull vessels that function as petrochemical transport vessels on various scales of magnitude, and VLCC (Very Large Crude Carriers) having single hulls to be converted and retrofitted to become more ecologically safe and physically predictable to unexpected hull pressures. Because of the custom nature of this invention, it is applicable to varying sizes of vessels.
The present invention also contemplates additional features for improving the integrity of the overall system during acts of war or attacks by criminals or terrorists who are attempting to cause oil spills by either dropping bombs, artillery shells, or the like on the upper surfaces of the ship, as well as impacting the sides and the underneath portions of the ship with torpedoes.
Some of The Savings Expected By Using Existing Retrofitted Vessels
By using the existing retrofitted vessels with this invention:
There are many positive reasons for utilization of this invention within the existing fleet of single-hull tankers that have been retrofitted with this present invention;
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved cargo ship.
Another object of the present invention is to prevent hydrocarbon spills, or spills of other types of cargo, in the event the hull of a ship is breached.
An advantage of the present invention is a means for containing a hydrocarbon cargo, or other type of cargo, even after the hull or double hull of a ship is breached.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a method and apparatus are provided for containing cargo carried aboard a cargo carrier comprising a non-permeable, flexible bladder mounted within the carrier and in which the cargo is disposed and having an outlet port containing one or more check valves which allow the transported cargo to exit through such one or more check valves in the event the bladder is contacted by one or more objects which would otherwise cause the bladder to burst and spill the contents.
Therefore, in one embodiment the invention discloses an apparatus for containing cargo during a hull breach on a ship which comprises a non-permeable, flexible bladder mounted within the ship in which the cargo is disposed and a skeleton adjacent to the flexible bladder comprised of a plurality of relatively moveable elements for supporting the flexible bladder. The skeleton may be flexible and conformable to a shape of the flexible bladder. The plurality of relatively moveable elements forming the skeleton, in one embodiment, may comprise metallic links and/or metallic plates. There may be interconnecting metallic links mounted to the metallic plates.
This it should be appreciated that there has been described and illustrated herein new and improved methods and apparatus for preventing the spill of transported cargo aboard an oil tanker. However, the invention contemplates the use of such methods and apparatus for preventing the spills of various cargo materials on other means of transportation, for example, on barges, aircraft which are used as tankers for refueling other aircraft while in flight, tanker trucks which are used to transport oil or other fluid cargos over the highway system, and the like.
The invention may include means for permitting flow from the bladder to compensate for a sudden increase in pressure in the bladder caused by a hull breach. In one embodiment, a pressure sensitive valve is secured to the non-permeable flexible bladder. One or more pressure sensitive valves is operable to open to release the-cargo in response to a sudden increase in pressure in the non-permeable bladder due to the hull breach. The valve may close once the pressure is reduced to a normal value to seal the remaining cargo within the flexible bladder.
In one presently preferred embodiment, a plurality of tanks are provided wherein each tank may be much smaller than the flexible bladder. The pressure sensitive valve may then release the cargo into the plurality of tanks to take care of the overflow due to the hull breach. Preferably, each of the plurality of tanks is expandable so that storage is compact. A header may be provided for receiving the cargo from the pressure sensitive valve responsive to the hull breach. As the header is filled, the expandable tanks are filled with the excess.
In operation, the present invention provides methods for containing cargo during a hull breach on a ship. The method may comprise such steps as releasing cargo from a flexible container through a valve in response to increased pressure in the flexible container produced by the hull breach and directing the released cargo into the header on the ship. The method may comprise other steps such as filling at least one expandable tank, preferably with the released cargo in the header and may comprise releasing the at least one expandable tank overboard after being filled with the released cargo. The method preferably includes supporting the flexible container with a plurality of support elements flexibly interconnected together.
In other words, an apparatus is provided for containing cargo during a hull breach on a ship which preferably comprises elements such as a non-permeable bladder mounted within the ship in which the cargo is disposed, a flexible support structure in surrounding relationship to the non-permeable bladder, and a valve secured to the bladder. The valve is preferably operable to open for releasing the cargo through the valve responsive to a hull breach. The flexible support structure may take on many forms such as a plurality of elements moveably linked together. In a preferred embodiment, at least one expandable tank may be provided which is placed in communication with the valve for filling in response to the hull breach. In one embodiment of the invention, the valve is responsively opened by an increase in pressure caused by the hull breach. A header pipe is secured to the valve for receiving the cargo and directing the cargo, if necessary, to a plurality of expandable tanks which are secured to the header for receiving the cargo therefrom.
The following definitions are used in describing this invention:
Meso-skeleton is the protective, intentionally deformable infrastructure that has been developed to lay passively against the ships hull in the hold. The meso-skeleton occupies minimal space in the hold yet provides an important force distribution protective function at the moment of hull breach.
Meso-skeleton elements (add as
Meso-skeleton element joints 202 are shaped as a knuckle that will allow the three contacting ball elements of adjoining meso-skeleton elements to have wide range of motions in multiple axes.
Skeleton strips (not shown) are created using a connecting sleeve (not shown) that in a preferred embodiment can be latched over tubular members 200 to connect two tubular members together creating the meso-skeleton 100 using Sleeve Connectors 205, otherwise, the knuckle/meso-skeleton element joints join the basic elements together.
The ships bulkheads 101 serve as interrupters of cells into functioning units.
Bladder neck 138 is positioned to extend up into the port 102.
The Offloading Device is shown in
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for Hull breach containment system.
The following is the detailed description of the invention.
Meso-skeleton elements:
Referring now to
The equilateral triangles are preferably stainless steel, and preferably solid, however, strong or reinforced hollow members can be used within the scope of this invention. The triangles could be made of legs that are tubular, rectangular, or octagonal in shape. Other shapes may be usable within the scope of the present invention, provided they can be jointed together with the unique tubular joints.
The preferable size of the meso-skeleton element is 1 foot length per leg in the preferred embodiment, but size could vary from being as short as 6 inches to as long as 18 inches. Longer or shorter legs may be used. However, such longer length legs would need to be constructed from graphite composite or ultra strong materials so that the meso-skeleton element (
The tubular members of the meso-skeleton may additionally be covered in a tubular sleeve 204, preferably from a rolled sheet metal, preferably the same material as the tubular members, however, a coated sleeve, such as powder coated steel, or silicon, or elastomeric or polymeric lined material which would prevent corrosion of the tubular members and permit additional rolling of the tubular members against the unique bladder combination without tearing the tubular member and relieving the possibility of any adhesion of the tubular member against the bladder.
Optionally, the meso-skeleton elements could be construed of solid triangular materials or otherwise that have strong supporting sides. The solid element could be a fabric, which would cover the side structural elements and provide further cushioning against the bladder. The cover for the bladder could for example, be fabricated from leather, cloth, plastic or other flexible materials. As a specific example, the cover could be fabricated from the KEVLAR product manufactured by or on behalf of I.E. duPont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del. KEVLAR is the trademark of Dupont. The KEVLAR material is a flexible, synthetic fiber of high tensile strength which has been used to make bullet proof vests among other things. Suffice it to say at this point that the function served by the cover which is formed by the meso-skeleton elements of this present invention could also be performed by various other materials to allow intruding objects such as another boat hull to push against the cover and hence against the bladder to perform the various objects of this present invention.
Meso-skeleton element joints:
The legs of the triangles are connected together with rotatable joints 202, similar to a knuckle type joint, permitting multi-axis rotation of three connections as well as translation of force from each leg through the joint.
Skeleton Strips:
Meso-skeleton elements are prejoined into skeleton strips. In the preferred embodiment, the strips are created to either be one, two, three or more meso-skeleton elements wide (as in
The meso-skeleton strips can be connected together by placing a connecting sleeve 205
Deck Hull Hanging Device
The deck hull-hanging device comprises a series of flat rectangular plates 104 that extend from the bow of the ship to the stem, and each plate specifically extends from the edge of one bulkhead in the hold of the ship to the edge of the next bulkhead in the hold of the ship. The plates are placed as close as possible to the edge of the ship's hull-deck interface. The plates extend from bow to stem on each side of the ship, both the starboard side and the port side. It is even contemplated that this device could be used to extend across the stem of the ship as well and provide protection on all exposed sides of the vessel. It is possible that the plates could be stopped prior to meeting at the bow, as the bow compartment typically does not hold cargo such as oil or similar materials.
The plates are bolted, riveted or welded to the superstructure of the deck, so that the deck hull-hanging device maximizes the support of the plates while connected to the meso-skeleton. A main hanging support rod 105 is placed under the deck in the hold and in line with the plates that are on the deck. The rod is connected to each plate via a volt which extends from the rod through the deck, through the plate and is bolted, welded or riveted to the plates. If the plates do not extend the full length of the ship, it is contemplated that two rods would be used within the scope of the present invention within each cargo compartment of the hold. The deck plates that support the hanging support rod are intended to provide weight transfer or load transfer in the vertical plane.
A support strut 134 (
The support strut can be welded to the hull, rivets or otherwise connected to the interior hull of the ship.
Sliding connecting means 205
Bladder 136:
A bladder (
The bladder is preferably custom designed in size to exactly match the size dimensions of the ship hold into which it is to reside. The bladder is designed so that it is contained laterally and interiorly by the meso-skeleton structure. The bladder is lowered through a deck port into the hold and then partially inflated so that the bladder lies against the meso-skeleton which has already been inserted in the hull of the ship. Cargo, such as oil, water, fertilizer, grain, or other fluids, including wine or beer, could be then flowed into the bladder through a conventional fill and discharge port, preferably, located on the top surface of the bladder. Remaining air is then evacuated form within the bladder to provide a bladder containing only cargo. The bladder is then sealed such as with a pressure sensitive valve 142 that is capable of monitoring and maintaining will no longer be in direct contact with the oil, but instead will be exposed to a damp, salty, and corrosive atmosphere. Preservative coatings will need to be applied in the tank spaces. These coatings will need to be frequently renewed as a result of metal-to-metal contact between the meso-skeleton and the tank structure that will probably harm the coatings.
The system which has been described herein above has for the most part been a system for handling high mass, low velocity, large momentum hull breaches which would endanger the ability of a tanker to handle a hull breach. It has become increasingly more important and necessary to augment the above described system to include protection from low mass, high velocity projectiles which could approach a vessel not only from under the sea in the unlikely form of a torpedo but also more likely above the water line in the form of a missile, a bomb or another explosive projectile.
Because it will be necessary to strip the deck of the ship during the retrofitting of the systems described herein to install the deck portals, which will house bladder nipple extensions, at the time of reinstalling the deck a new projectile resistant deck will be installed as described herein below. The deck in accordance with the invention, is a lightweight, laminated structure as described with respect to
Referring now to
As illustrated in
In summary, by having the structure illustrated in
This application is a Continuation-In-Part Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/676,900, filed on Oct. 2, 2000 and also claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/165,421, filed on Nov. 13, 1999, entitled Method and Apparatus for Preventing Cargo Spills, filed by and on behalf of Keith A. Robinson.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60165421 | Nov 1999 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10341524 | Jan 2003 | US |
| Child | 10718259 | Nov 2003 | US |
| Parent | 10032619 | Nov 2001 | US |
| Child | 10341524 | Jan 2003 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09676900 | Oct 2000 | US |
| Child | 10032619 | Nov 2001 | US |
