Patent Application
20140319076
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for recovering hydrocarbons, including oil and oily substances, as well as other polluting chemicals floating suspended or moving within or on the surface of a body of water as a result of a spill and more particularly in the presence of ice, and to such a system using a autonomous manned submarine to remove spilled hydrocarbons from the body of water.
With an intensified development of marine oil deposits the risks of accidental oil spill increase exponentially. The latest accidents in the Mexican Gulf, in Brazil and in Nigeria demonstrated that existing methods and equipment used to contain and neutralize oil spills are ineffective and insufficient. Before the surface spill response boats begin the proper operation to collect the spilled oil, would be often spread and dispersed even more on a wide territory by various vessels, or when corralled it would be partially burnt polluting the air in addition to polluting the water. The use of various dispersants was also proved to be non-effective and harmful for the environment and for the people. That becomes even more critical for the conditions of the Arctic seas when the body of water is infested with the ice and heavy storms may delay or impede the delivery or the use of the oil spill response means and equipment. At the same time the more rapidly an oil spill can be contained and removed from the affected area, the more effective the cleanup operation will be, and the more economic and environmental damages will be reduced. Thus, the time factor defining the speed of the deployment of oil spill equipment and the performance of the oil recovery system used in such conditions are the key elements on which the success and effectiveness of the cleanup operation depend.
Various systems and equipment have been developed for oil spill containment and removal from the surface of a body of water, however, there is no suitable apparatus for recovering or even properly detecting big volumes of polluting chemicals from the body of water heavily infested with ice. It will be necessary to locate and remove the polluting chemicals from their subsurface resting place under or within the ice and/or from the adjacent water in order to recover them, prevent them from migrating to other areas with the ice flow and from entering and contaminating the water and the environment with the ice melting, or to prevent surface recontamination resulting from components of the submerged polluting chemicals escaping back to the surface over time as a result of wave action.
The use of a system comprising a surface vessel may also be complicated by the presence of ice, poor visibility or storm. U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,387 discloses an apparatus designed for the recovery of oil from sunken vessels. The apparatus is lowered from a ship and is latched onto the sunken vessel containing the oil. The apparatus pumps the oil through a pipe to either a storage chamber within the apparatus or to a ship on the surface of the body of water. U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,811 discloses a submersible manned apparatus designed for the recovery of oil below the surface of the body of water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,290 discloses a submarine oil skimmer designed to remove oil from the surface of the body of water.
None of the above means has the ability, however, to recover oil accumulated below or/and within the ice or to recover oil plumes rapidly rising in heavy volumes from the bottom in case of a blowout nor they have a autonomous versatility for removing oil in the conditions of the Arctic sea regardless of the weather conditions and of the time of the day.
EP 2532577 A1 discloses a submarine with a oil sonar detection device, a oil separating device and having a suction/discharging trunk to collect oil accumulated under the ice plate, but that does not provide means for collecting oil pollutant from the sea surface, from the slush ice, from within the ice, from the body of water regardless of the position of the submarine, or from the bottom. It does no provide means for collecting carbohydrates rising from the sea floor as a result of a blow-out. Neither it provides means for a visual control of operation and relies on sonar only.
The present invention is therefore addressed toward a versatile method and apparatus for recovering both surface and subsurface polluting chemicals, such as oil, which avoids the need for use of a surface vessel supporting the operation of a submersible work unit, either manually or remotely operated, by providing a manned, fully autonomous, self-sufficient, self-propelled apparatus which can hover above, below, near or amid the oil spill and pick up the oil using a plurality of versatile intake means, mounted within the apparatus and uniquely positioned and operable to remove the oil in various conditions and locations within the body of water. The operators can view the body of water, the intake means and the working area and can operate the intake means to pick up the oil within the reach simultaneously in various locations in various conditions of weather and visibility.
The present invention due to the unique construction overcomes a problem of restricted technical capacities of numerous existing oil spill skimmers and oil spill response means used to remove the oil and oil-based chemical pollutants from the body of water. Furthermore, the present invention creates a possibility of a rapid deployment of a powerful and versatile oil spill response vehicle in remote and hard to reach areas because such submarine possesses operative and functional on-surface and submarine autonomies untypical for existing surface vessels. Ideally at least one submarine should be on a patrol mission in the area of oil exploration and another on a stand-by position in the nearest port suitable for the moorage.
Though it may be either nuclear or conventional type submarine, in a preferred embodiment of the invention the submarine is conventional powered and such as is typically used for military purposes except for weaponry and other specific combat equipment. It comprises a substantially cylindrical pressure hull, a larger then normal sail, a deck equipped with suction means and intake means. It will navigate and approach the operation area by using a combination of data from the navigation and ice detection radars and a real time visual signal received from a plurality of lights and cameras installed in various points of the submarine's hull providing a effective visual observation of the space around the submarine in various directions. Similar underwater camera systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,761, U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,126 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,139,125. Several sets of underwater search lights may be installed on the sail and on the deck for add tonal illumination.
The full size submarine provides sufficient space and operational capabilities for mounting in it a plurality of powerful versatile suction and intake means allowing the removal of oil or/and other polluting chemicals from any depth of the water column within the submarine's operational depth including plumes rising from the bottom or oil and/or polluting chemicals trapped under the ice. Pumping capacity of the suction means in combination with the high pressure steam/hot water jets will allow recovery of oil or other polluting chemicals with various viscosity. En particular pumps such as produced by FLOWESERVE, Inc. from Irving, Tex. or WASTECORP, Inc. from New York.
Depending on the concrete spill situation and on the ice and weather conditions a bottom suction compartment, a deck intake means, a hydraulic boom or a sail suction platform or their combination may be used. In case of a rising of massive plumes from the sea floor the bottom suction compartment will open its doors forming a roomy collection chamber with the wide-open doors serving as oppositely positioned side walls of a giant chamber with a plurality of suction nozzles mounted inside at the upper part of the chamber. The nozzles may be extendable and retractable. A plurality of cameras with lights installed at various points on the doors and on the walls of the chamber will allow a real time visual control over the situation inside the suction compartment and in the vicinity in order to timely react to a possible change of the situation. The bottom suction compartment may be divided into several independently operable sections with separate doors to match the size of a concrete oil plume.
The vertical position of the submarine shall be altered with the help of the top and bottom thrusters in the bow and in the stern or/and by operating the ballast system.
The deck intake means shall be normally used whenever the ice is scarce or absent and there is a possibility of using the submarine's deck as a wide area suction platform with a adjustable buoyancy to remove a oil spill from the surface of the body of water. The submarine shall be positioned across the spill at the depth allowing the oil spill to float just above the upper surface of the deck with the intake devices open, and the submarine shall be laterally propelled by the side thrusters in the bow and in the stern in the direction opposite to the movement of the spill, at a speed commensurate with the removal of the oil spill coming within the suction range of the deck intake means. The deck intake means may be equipped with a grid to prevent entry of various objects and with a debris recovery system. The control system will serve to operate a plurality of the deck intake means allowing its engagement individually, by groups or of all units available simultaneously.
The telescopic boom will be similar to one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,180, U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,292 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,118, and will be normally used when the ice is dense and a wide-angled viewing of work area is required to ensure a proper removal of pollutants, or when conditions of the sea surface would not allow the use of the deck or of the sail platform intake and suction means. There may be more than one telescopic boom with various types of work heads installed in the deck as well as in a separate compartment in the bottom.
Inside the boom there will be hydraulic hoses, steam/hot water hoses, a conduit for transferring pollutants drawn by suction from the work head and wiring for lights and cameras mounted on the work head. The telescopic booms are preferred to be hydraulically operated, though electric or combination operation is also optional.
The telescopic suction platform shall be used whenever there is a need and conditions for a wide area suction operation with ice present on the surface of the body of water. The platform is preferably hydraulically operated and all hydraulic, steam/hot water and oil suction conduits may be inside its telescoping sections to prevent them from a potential damage by moving ice. There may be various types of ice scrapers, crushers, grinders and steam jets installed on the work heads and on the suction platform varying in their dimensions and ice elimination method. On board of a submarine there are expected to be several types of replaceable work heads and of ice scrapers/crushers and drills used in accordance with a concrete type of ice encountered during oil spill response operation—from slush ice to small icebergs.
The suction pumps shall be such that would allow removal of all types of oil that may be encountered during a oil spill. Oil sucked up by the negative pressure generated in the intake entry opening first enters a debris recovery structure where high-density particles will be separated.
The debris recovery structure may further comprise a centrifugal system to separate the oil/water suspension from the debris. The pump intake is preferably located downstream of the debris recovery structure and the output of the pump feeds a pipe, which delivers the oil/water suspension to a processing tank with a separator for recovery of the oil components and possible return of the non-oil component (water) to the body of water. Such separation apparatus are well disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,800, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,839. After the removal of debris and water the oil would be fed by pumps to the store tanks.
The store tanks will be built in a manner allowing a maximum use of the inner space of the body. Additional removable store tanks could be installed outside the submarine's original body. Whenever possible the oil from the store tanks would be transferred to an outside oil tank. Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
The preferred embodiment of the invention employs a conventional powered submarine, though a nuclear powered submarine may also be used for such purposes and would give more relative advantages like longer time submerged and a bigger operational depth, but the risks associated with oil spill may greatly jeopardize the situation by adding a threat of a radioactive contamination in case of an accident involving a nuclear submarine. Either nuclear or conventional oil spill response submarine is expected to be much less expensive due to the absence of requirements for low noise, expensive military equipment, armament, etc.
By using the inner space of the submarine typically occupied by the combat elements it will be possible to install large capacity store tanks 8 for collected oil and highly powerful oil pumping and/or processing equipment ensuring a operational flexibility and a autonomous performance of the ship in spill response operations.
Beside the on-board equipment the submarine may carry at least one remotely operated vehicle for specific missions like spill site search and reconnaissance, water column analysis, etc.
The oil spill response submarine will have all basic non-combat elements of the military submarine necessary to ensure its proper functioning: propulsion system 7, navigation systems with respective elements, including a radar/sonar system 6, command and control room 18, crew quarters, rescue system, etc.
One of the options is to consider a possibility of converting a decommissioned nuclear submarine into a conventional powered non-military submarine for oil spill response operations if a risk of a residual radiation could be completely eliminated.
In addition to the main propulsion system the submarine should have at least four pairs of oppositely installed thrusters 24, namely two in the bow and two in the stern to allow a increased body maneuvering capability along two mutually perpendicular axis.
Due to the fact that the submarine would have to eventually conduct operation both in a surfaced and submerged position the outer hull 5 and the pressure hull 4 need to be ice-strengthened all-around to increase its survivability in the arctic conditions in the presence of the ice of at least 40-60 inches thick.
The rudders and propellers should be also either strengthened or protected from moving broken ice by either the shape of the submarine or by a protective casing or ribs.
The submarine is meant to be equipped with a GPS buoy system for marking the area affected by the spill and for tracking the movement of the buoys together with the water current and ice and oil spill respectively.
The submarine is equipped with video cameras and lights assemblies 19 installed in a manner allowing a constant real time visual control over the movement of the submarine, over the space surrounding it, over the spilled area the submarine approaches and over the position and operation of the oil spill response equipment.
The submarine deck 1 comprises a plurality of deck intake means 16 mounted within the submarine and equipped with shutter means to close the intake openings when the intake means are not in use, and with a grid to prevent a entry of various objects. The deck intake means is normally used to remove the oil from the surface of the body of water adjacent to the deck 1 of the submarine. Pipes connect the deck intake means with suction pumps 20 installed beneath the deck within the pressure hull.
Suction pumps transfer the oil and water mix to the processing tank 22 comprising a oil/water separator such as the one represented in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,839 or those manufactured by the Water Planet Engineering, Los Angeles, Calif. or by the Skimoil, Inc., Carrboro, N.C. After the oil is separated it is transferred to the store tanks 8 and the cleaned water after proper purity analysis performed is pumped outside. In a situation when it's impossible to overhaul the collected oil, some of the properly adopted ballast tanks may be used for storing the oil.
The bottom suction compartment 11 is used when the oil is accumulated or is moving below the surface or is rising after a blowout. The weight and the dimensions of the submarine would allow it to be positioned on top of the rising plumes and to contain at least a major portion of oil before it comes to the surface. If the oil settles on the bottom or within the water column close to the bottom within the submarine's operational depth the submarine is capable of locating the oil mass, its position, volume, movement, then approaching and gradually removing the oil by opening doors 28 and operating the retractable nozzles of the bottom suction compartment intake means 12.
When removing the oil accumulated beneath or within the ice the submarine opens the sail suction compartment 15 and uses the sail suction platform 23 by rising it to the required level to be positioned adjacent to the oil spill and operating the ice crusher 25 and steam jets 26. the water and oil mix enters the intake opening and is drawn through the conduits 10 to the suction pipe 20 and further to the processing tank 22 where the oil is separated from the water and transferred by a transfer pump to the store tank. The telescopic suction platform is normally used when the area affected by the spill is rather wide and requires and allows to conduct a suction operation using a large device like the sail suction platform.
When the access of the submarine to the spill zone is restricted by the physical conditions like a presence of ice keels or any other obstacles protruding from the above, the telescopic suction device 14 mounted within the deck suction compartment 13 is used.
When deploying the telescopic boom or returning it to the transport position within the deck suction compartment 13 the suction hose and other conduits are rendered and recovered by the render-and-recover reel 21. The oil and ice removing elements of the telescopic suction device 14 work head 27 are similar to those of the sail suction platform 23 and operate in the same manner and order.
The light and camera assembly installed on the suction platform and on the work head allow a real time control over the process of the oil removal. Due to the risk of camera lenses and lights being covered with the oil the lenses and lights are protected with replaceable transparent covers.
All deck intake means 16, bottom suction compartment intake means 12, sail suction platform, telescopic suction device work head comprise a steam jet system operable to prevent a formation of the ice and of methane hydrate crystals at the entry openings, and to reduce the oil viscosity before it enters the conduits 10 connecting them with the suction pumps 20.
While have herein above described and illustrated in the drawings, a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claims. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
This application dams priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/854,653 filed Apr. 29, 2013; said application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61854653 | Apr 2013 | US |
