GB2232383A

GB2232383A - Pollution containment equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2232383A
Application number: GB8912331A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rupert Ellis Carr; Dominic Michaelis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-05-30
Filing date: 1989-05-30
Publication date: 1990-12-12
Also published as: GB8912331D0

Abstract

To contain oil spilt from a tanker 10, a pontoon 20 is launched from the stern and two oil booms 21, 22 comprising inflatable sections 35 are deployed from the pontoon until they meet in front of the tanker. Besides booms 21, 22 the pontoon comprises a generator (24, Fig. 2 not shown), a compressor 27, and winches and drums 28, 29 for paying out the booms. This equipment and the booms can be mounted on the tanker 10 itself if required. <IMAGE>

Description

Pollution Containment Equipment Upon pollution being caused by, for example, an oil spillage at sea, there is often a considerable delay before suitable treatment equipment can be transported to the site. The lack of immediately available retention methods has led to oil slicks spreading disastrously.

The present invention seeks to overcome this problem and to prevent the spread of oil slicks from disabled ships.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an arrangement for the containment of a pollutant in a large body of water, such as the sea, comprising a vessel arranged to float on the water, the vessel carrying at least one oil boom comprising a plurality of inflatable sections, means for inflating the sections and for paying out the boom from the vessel into the water.

The vessel may be a pontoon carried by a larger craft, e.g. a tanker, and may be lowered into the water only after a spillage of pollutant. The pontoon is preferably mounted at the rear of the tanker, and carries two booms which are deployed one to each side of the tanker. Means are preferably provided for connecting the leading edges of the booms when they meet in front of the tanker.

Means may me provided for retaining the pontoon relatively close to the rear of the tanker, and escape means, e.g. a slide may be provided to enable the crew te escape from the tanker into unpolluted water.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for the containment of pollutant spillage from a large craft comprising launching a vessel from the large craft and deploying at least one oil boom from the vessel around the craft.

In a preferred method the vessel deploys two booms which extend around the vessel and have their leading edges interconnected. In an alternative method the leading edges meet the coast or other shore structure.

In a modification the boom(s) may be deployed directly from the large craft itself.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an oil tanker having deployed in association therewith pollution retaining equipment in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional front view of a pontoon of the equipment of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through an oil boom of Fig. 1; and Fig.4 is a general view of the deployed oil boom on a different scale.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a tanker 10 with davits 11 at the rear supporting a pontoon 20 which carries pollution retention equipment. An emergency exit slide 30, part of which is shown in Fig. 1, is provided for members of the crew.

As shown in Fig. 2, the pontoon 20 is a seaworthy vessel in its own right. It carries two stowed booms 21, 22, a watertight housing 23, a generator 24, a battery 25, a fuel tank 26, a compressor 27, a pressure sensing system and winch equipment including stowage drums 28,29.

Each oil boom 21, 22 comprises a plurality of inflatable segmented sections 35, of coated fabric buoyancy tube and of circular cross-section. The sections are linked so that each boom has an inbuilt semi-circular crosssection along its length. The sections 35 are inflated in turn by the equipmemt on the pontoon via an inflation line 36 with non-return valves. Microprocessor control is provided so that the air supply to any damaged section can be switched off.

A vertical screen or barrier membrane 38 and a stabiliser 39 are provided beneath ach section 35.

Members 38 and 39 are stowed and deployed along with the boom.

Upon an oil spillage, or other pollution, occurring the equipment is deployed as follows: (i) The pontoon 20 is launched (as shown at 20' in Fig.

1) but is still connected to the tanker 10.

(ii) The generator 24 is started up from the tanker, and the compressor is powered ready for inflating line 36.

(iii) Air pressure is then used to inflate the leading edge of each stowed oil boom which then deploys automatically. In addition, the winch may be powered from the generator 25.

(iv) The oil booms 21, 22 continue deploying until the pressure sensing system detects the booms are full and the pontoon equipment reverts to a pressure maintenance role.

An advantage of the above described arrangement is that it is carried by a tanker or any other ship as an autonomous unit requiring minimal involvement of the ship's crew. It is arranged to operate substantially independently of the ship's power. The oil booms are capable of surrounding the ship and remain inflated for the duration of the emergency. The segmented nature of the booms leads to ease of manufacture and enhanced safety; if a boom is damaged, only a part thereof becomes non-operational. The pontoon 20 is retained relatively closely to the tanker to allow the crew to escape via slide 30 over the polluted water 40 to the unpolluted open sea 50.

Various modifications may be made to the above-described system. As described, the pontoon is mounted at the rear of the ship as this is the area least likely to be damaged in a collision. To cover the possibility of an oil leak occurring with a ship with forward motion, a separate pontoon can be mounted on the bows of the ship which moves an oil boom backwards. For particularly large vessels, both fore and aft systems may be provided.

When deployed, the leading ends of the booms may be joined, via ship borne equipment, to form a complete barrier. Alternatively, the system is capable of being joined to land to use the coast as part of the barrier.

Greater flexibility can be provided by disconnecting the pontoon completely from the ship.

The stabilisers 39 on the booms may be omitted if desired; alternatively they can be supplemented or replaced by sea anchors welded to the booms.

Provision may be made for evacuation of seaborne oil within the oil boom itself. This consists of vertical and horizontal tube systems leading back to the pontoon onto separate evacuation points. Part of such an abstraction tube system is indicated at 41 in Fig. 3.

The equipment on the pontoon can be operated electrically, hydraulically or prenmatically, and can be computer controlled to any desired extent. The boom deployment may be effected by the inflation line 36, and this may be integrated with a hydraulic drive. A wave energy device, such as an energy mat, can be used with the boom to reduce the intensity of the waves and thus reduce oil spillage.

The pontoon may be omitted, in which case the equipment is mounted on the tanker (or other large craft) itself and is deployed directly therefrom.

Although the most likely leaking substance is oil, the equipment of the present invention can be used to contain any floating pollutant.

Claims

1. An arrangement for the containment of a pollutation in a large body of water, comprising a vessel arranged to float on the water, the vessel carrying at least one oil boom comprising a plurality of inflatable sections, means for inflating the sections and for paying out the boom from the vessel into the water.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the vessel is carried by a larger craft and, in use, the oil boom serves to at least partially surround the larger craft.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vessel carries two booms which, in use, are deployed one to each side of the vessel and/or the larger craft.

4. An arrangement according to claim 3 comprising means for connecting the ends of the booms remote from the vessel.

5. An arrangement according to any preceding claim comprising an escape slide which, in use of the boom(s) projects thereover.

6. An arrangement according to any preceding claim wherein the or each boom comprises a plurality of inflatable sections.

7. An arrangement according to any preceding claim wherein each section has stabilising means thereunder.

8. An arrangement according to claim 7 wherein the stabilising means comprises a barrier membrane with a stabiliser element at or adjacent the bottom thereof.

9. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each boom has an inbuilt substantially semi-circular cross-section along its length.

10. An arrangement according to any preceding claim comprises means for evacuating pollutant from within the boom(s) in use.

11. An arrangement according to any preceding claim comprising wave intensity reducing means.

12. An arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the wave intensity reducing means comprises a wave energy mat.

13. An arrangement substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. A method for the containment of pollutant spillage from a large craft comprising launching a vessel from the large craft and deploying at least one oil boom from the vessel around the craft.

15. A method for the containment of pollution substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.