Patent Application
20220135192
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods and devices to assure ship environment compliance, in particular compliance with regulations outlining the process on an overboard discharge of various liquid waste and effluent. In one embodiment, the environmental compliance system may include an independent computing device (also referred to as a compliance console) that records and requests authorization for overboard discharge when the ship is located within a designated no-discharge location, as may be defined by a geofence.
MARPOL and specifically Section 312 of the Clean Water Act in the US prohibits untreated sewage discharge within three miles from shore. In order to discharge the sewage within three miles, it must be first treated using a U.S. Coast Guard-approved Type I or Type II Marine Sanitation Device (MSD). Alternatively, sewage or effluent may be stored onboard in a holding tank (Type III MSD). Treated and untreated effluent discharges are prohibited in Freshwater lakes, reservoirs, and other freshwater impoundments when inlets or outlets are such as to prevent the ingress or egress by vessel traffic. Discharge is also prohibited in rivers not capable of navigation by interstate vessel traffic and in designated no-discharge zones (NDZs). In these areas, sewage effluent generally must be retained on board in a holding tank (Type III MSD). Operators of vessels equipped with flow-through MSDs (Type I or Type II) must secure the device to prevent overboard discharge.
On Oct. 26, 2020, EPA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking—Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance—was published in the Federal Register for public comment. The proposed rule would reduce the environmental impact of discharges, such as ballast water, that are incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels. The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) intends to streamline the patchwork of federal, state, and local requirements for the commercial vessel community. The VIDA applies to:
Two years after EPA publication of the final Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is required to develop corresponding implementation, compliance, and enforcement regulations for those standards, including any requirements governing the design, construction, testing, approval, installation, and use of devices necessary to achieve the EPA standards.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the term “effluent” discharge is defined as any overboard discharge of a liquid, optionally mixed with solid or gas inclusions from inside the ship hull to the surrounding body of water outboard of the ship hull. Effluent may include the following non-limiting examples: ballast water, sewage, black water, gray water, anchor chain drain water, engine cooling water, turbine cooling water, desalination brine discharge, sonar dome discharge, deck runoff, bilge discharge, inert gas system, etc.
The VIDA also called for EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) to establish, in collaboration with other federal agencies, a Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program (GLLCISP) lead by the University of Wisconsin. The project involves research, development, and piloting of ballast water management systems for use by commercial vessels operating solely within the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Systems. Despite the regulations around the globe, numerous breaches continue to occur due to the absence of active hardware to prevent uncontrolled releases from occurring.
It is well known in the art that computers can control the opening and closing of operational valves based on external commands from sensors and human-machine interfaces. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,376 disclosed a computer receiving commands from transducers through an analog to a digital converter to control valves. However, this disclosure does not have the ability to modify its behavior based on geographical position and geofence. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,409 disclosed a method of navigation using at least two earth satellites, the instantaneous locations of which are precisely known to determine a ship's precise location. However Eastern did not disclose a solution to control ship machinery based on a geofence.
In another known example of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,700 disclosed a method of using a road vehicle's GPS coordinates and placing the precise location on a digital map. This device, however, does not solve the issues resolved by the present invention. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 8,018,329 disclosed that once a geo-fence is defined and established, it can be activated to notify the owner of an asset and/or some other entity of movement of the asset beyond the boundary specified by the geo-fence. However, it fails to address the issue specifically related to ship machinery control and preventing a ship or an ocean transportation vessel from accidently discharging an effluent overboard in a no-discharge zone.
The need exists therefore for a novel and durable technical solution addressing the need to control an overboard discharge of one or more effluents and prevent an accidental discharge within the boundaries of a no-discharge zone.
The need also exists for a method and device to record the movements of the ship vs the record of discharge of effluent so as to enable technical documentation confirming compliance of the ship discharge action against applicable regulatory constraints.
This disclosure relates to an environmental compliance system installed onboard a ship or other water transportation vessel. The environmental compliance system includes a computer or compliance console made from generic computer hardware that records and requests authorization for overboard discharge when discharge is inside a designated no-discharge location defined by a geofence. The system receives data from the ship automation system which may include ship location and valve opening commands made to discharge effluent overboard and into the surrounding water. Before the valve opening command can be received by the valve the compliance box confirms ship position and compares it against the ship's real-time location for example and without limitation using similar technology as a vehicle satellite navigation system or another location-based service well known in the art. When the ship is in a location defined as a no-discharge zone the compliance box will request authorization from the responsible duty holder before completing the command, therefore, preventing an accidental overboard discharge within a no-discharge zone. Additionally, the system may log the subsystem process name, discharge location, and duration when a command is given to discharge within an area defined as a no-discharge area by a geofence. The data may be securely stored by the compliance box and may also be transmitted to external data storage as non-transitory computer-readable medium.
The method for preventing accidental overboard discharge of a first effluent from a ship within a first no-overboard discharge zone designated for the first effluent may include the following steps:
Subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The foregoing and other features of the present 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:
The following description sets forth various examples along with specific details to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, however, that claimed subject matter may be practiced without one or more of the specific details disclosed herein. Further, in some circumstances, well-known methods, procedures, systems, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring claimed subject matter. 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 here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.
By way of a non-limiting example, and referring to
The computing device of the compliance console (2) may be a generic commercially available (COTS) computer hardware programmed to receive and record the coordinates of one or more no-discharge geofence (3) using standard computer programming methods well known in the art. The enclosure containing the computing device may be sealed and available for inspection under secure conditions so as to prevent tampering therewith. The computing device may also be configured to provide a backup of its records, such backup may be transmitted to an external location, such as cloud-based storage or another external server as the invention is not limited in this regard. Storing records of the computing device externally may also advantageously facilitate inspection and auditing of the ship records to assure environmental compliance.
The predetermined no-discharge geofence (3) record is defined as a set of geographical coordinates that outlines the boundary of a specific one or more no-overboard discharge zones, such as a first no-overboard discharge zone, a second no-overboard discharge zone, etc. A no-discharge zone may be any body of water where the overboard discharge of effluent from the vessel may be limited, controlled, or prohibited altogether. Each no-overboard discharge zone may correspond to a specific effluent, such as a first effluent, a second effluent, a third effluent, etc. In some embodiments, these no-discharge zones may overlap or coincide with each other for two or more effluents, while in other embodiments they may denote different areas altogether as the invention is not limited in this regard. A single computing device (2) may be configured to handle overboard discharge regulations for more than one effluent independently, which is yet another advantage of the present invention.
Operational logic is illustrated in
Should the compliance console (2) receive an operational discharge command (1) while the ship is inside the no-discharge geofence (3), the compliance console (2) may request the duty holder or responsible member of the ship crew to override the compliance console (2) by manually entering a duty holder override command (10). The duty holder override command (10) may include a method to authenticate the person activating an override, such as for example a personalized keypad code, a physical key, a key fob, a fingerprint scan, a retina scan, or another method to secure a human to machine interface. When the compliance console (2) receives an accepted duty holder override command (10), then the compliance console (2) issues a compliance console command (5) to the operational overboard valve unit (6), and the subsequent steps previously described are repeated.
In certain situations, a compliance console command (5) may be issued while the vessel is outside the no-discharge geofence (3) but is expected to enter into a geographical position that is inside a no-discharge geofence (3) while effluent discharge is still proceeding. In this case, a compliance console (2) may be configured to compare changing data from the ship navigation coordinate system (4) to the no-discharge geofence (3) and programmed to send a compliance console command (5) to the overboard operational valve unit (6) to close. To resume discharging effluent (8), a duty holder override command (10) may be required, and the subsequent steps previously described may be repeated once the override is complete.
The advantage of the various embodiments of the invention is the prevention of human error and negligence that can lead to gross breaches of overboard discharge and pollution limits in designated geographical locations.
Based on a description above, the general method for preventing an accidental overboard discharge of a first effluent from a ship within a first no-overboard discharge zone designated for the first effluent may comprise the steps of:
The method of the invention may also include the computing device (2) further operated to prevent an accidental overboard discharge of a second effluent within a second no-overboard discharge zone designated for the second effluent.
The method may further include steps to operate the computing device (2) to receive ship coordinates, and wherein the steps to prevent the accidental overboard discharge of the second effluent within the second no-overboard discharge zone further comprising the following steps:
The method may include steps to operate the computing device (2) to prevent an accidental overboard discharge of further effluents within further no-overboard discharge zones designated to correspond to the further effluents. To achieve this objective, the computing device (2) may be operatively connected to and control the operation of further operational valves, each of the further operational valves is configured to control an overboard discharge of a corresponding further effluent, whereby the computing device (2) is configured to individually control the discharge of further effluents and prevent an accidental overboard discharge thereof within the boundaries of a no-overboard discharge zone corresponding thereto.
The method may further include a step of recording of ship coordinates corresponding to opening and closing of the first operational valve, thereby creating a record of overboard discharge and no-discharge of the first effluent corresponding to ship position relative to the first no-overboard discharge zone. The step of recording may include a step of recording of ship coordinates, recoding of time when the first operational valve is open, and recording of ship coordinates and time when the first operational valve is closed. The step of recording may be conducted using a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as an external data storage device or a cloud-based computer storage medium.
The method of the invention may further include the computing device further configured to automatically close the first operational valve upon detecting the ship crossing into the first no-overboard discharge zone, whereby preventing the first effluent from discharging overboard within the first no-overboard discharge zone.
It is contemplated that any embodiment discussed in this specification can be implemented with respect to any method of the invention, and vice versa. It will be also understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.
All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Incorporation by reference is limited such that no subject matter is incorporated that is contrary to the explicit disclosure herein, no claims included in the documents are incorporated by reference herein, and any definitions provided in the documents are not incorporated by reference herein unless expressly included herein.
The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.
As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. In embodiments of any of the compositions and methods provided herein, “comprising” may be replaced with “consisting essentially of” or “consisting of”. As used herein, the phrase “consisting essentially of” requires the specified integer(s) or steps as well as those that do not materially affect the character or function of the claimed invention. As used herein, the term “consisting” is used to indicate the presence of the recited integer (e.g., a feature, an element, a characteristic, a property, a method/process step or a limitation) or group of integers (e.g., feature(s), element(s), characteristic(s), propertie(s), method/process steps or limitation(s)) only.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
As used herein, words of approximation such as, without limitation, “about”, “substantial” or “substantially” refers to a condition that when so modified is understood to not necessarily be absolute or perfect but would be considered close enough to those of ordinary skill in the art to warrant designating the condition as being present. The extent to which the description may vary will depend on how great a change can be instituted and still have one of ordinary skilled in the art recognize the modified feature as still having the required characteristics and capabilities of the unmodified feature. In general, but subject to the preceding discussion, a numerical value herein that is modified by a word of approximation such as “about” may vary from the stated value by at least ±1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 or 25%.
All of the devices and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the devices and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the devices and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit, and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope, and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The environmental compliance system includes a computer or compliance console (2) made from generic computer hardware that records and requests authorization for overboard discharge when discharge is outside a designated discharge location defined by a geofence (3). The compliance console (2) receives data including location from the Ship navigation coordinate system (4) and valve Operational discharge commands (1) made to discharge effluent overboard and into the surrounding water. Before the Operational discharge commands (1) can be received by the overboard valve unit (6) the compliance console (3) confirms ship position and compares it against the allowable discharge zone defined by a geofence (3). When the ship is outside a location defined as a discharge zone the compliance console (3) will request authorization from a Duty holder override command (10) before completing the command to open the overboard operational valve unit (6), therefore, preventing an accidental overboard discharge outside a discharge zone. When the ship is inside a location defined as a discharge zone the compliance console (2) allows the overboard operational valve (6) unit to operate without further instruction. The prior and subsequent steps and procedures described in previous embodiments may be followed and consider to be within the scope of the claims.
This patent application claims the priority date benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/118625, filed 25 Nov. 2020 by the present inventor, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63118625 | Nov 2020 | US |
