US1860428A - Oil pumping apparatus - Google Patents

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May 31, 1932. B OLSSON 1,860,428

OIL PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 23, 1928 MTA/55555 l numcoz APatented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BENGT OLSSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, .-ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES J'. ONEILL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

OIL PUMPING APPARATUS Application led October 23, 1928. Serial No. 314,374.

My invention refers to an apparatus and method whereby viscous material, oil, molasses and heavy sludge may be pumped by a conventional force pump.

The device is specially adapted for the pumping down and cleaning of QiLburning vessels and tankers.

The tanks of such vessels are generally cleaned by means of a high vacuum apparatus comprising high yvacuum tanks,placed. on hoard. a, barge andthe viscous material is sucked from the -tanks in the ships bottom into said high vacuum tank throughwa hose slung over the ships side.

It has been found that only one hose may be successfully operated from the high vacuum tank as the use of two or more hoses does materially impair the vacuum so that the transmission through the hoses either entirely ceases or becomes too slow for the commercial demand.

My invention provides an apparatus and a method whereby it is possible to operate as many as six hoses from the .vacuumh unit which hitherto only was able to operate one transmission hose.

The drawing shows my preferred apparatus part of which is temporarily installed on the tank top of the vessel and part of which is permanently installed on a barge which is moored alongside the vessel, and the pumped material is preferably discharged into a conventional slop barge also shown at the side of the vessel.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts, 1 represents the oil burning vessel alongside which the pumping barge 2 and the slop barge 3 are moored.

On board the pumping barge is the high vacuum pump 4 installed and connected to the vacuum tank 5 by means of the pipe 6.

On top of the vacuum tank a manifold 7 is provided to which manifold a couple of exible hoses 8 are attached.

These hoses are led into the hold of the ship and there connected to the vacuum chambers 9.

The ilexible suction hoses 10 are attached to the suction chambers 9 and are led into the oil tank 11 of the vessel.

The suction chamber is at the bottom provided with the supporting pipe 12 which is closed at the end and the pipe 13 connects the chamber with the mud box 14.

From the mud box the material is sucked into the reciprocating pump 15 through pipe 16.

The nonreturn by-pass pipe 17 connects the pump intake proper with the vacuum chamber 9 and is provided with the check valve 18.

A vacuum relief valve 19 is also provided at the top part of chamber 9.

The pumped material is forced up and through the exible hoses 20 over the ships side and is finally discharged into the slop barge.

The operation is as follows The vacuum pump 4 and the reciprocating pumps 15 are started and the end of the left hand hose is entirely submerged in the liquid material to be pumped while the hose on the right side is only partially dipped into the material so that air together with the liquid material will enter the suction hose during the operation.4 f

It is to be noted that both the hoses may be either partially submerged or entirely submerged all depending on the nature of the material to be pumped.

If the viscosity of the material is high,.f admission of air to the suction hose is neces-Ky sary, while if the viscosity ofthe material is mi ing Velocity in the hose forciblyiDlPDgQgpgn small displacement.

The piston wave will therefore after gainthe bottcmnttherailum Qhambr'fland any airaiid water which wasimprisoned in the viscous material in form of bubbles will be liberated by the impact andcarried away rejspectively by the reciprocating pump andmby v'Lthe vacuum pump 4 through the hose 8. i

It is also to be noted that the heavy oil sludge in a ships bottom is an extremely viscous and stable air and water emulsion which cannot be pumped by a force pump. Thismulsionis. howevwffeqtively broken uebrtherlelert mpatinftlmipe Cler andithe...emlilsi m`isheremsepararmfbmits constituentswhich, flKQMIQQlT-l S.v .preA 91H5- lydescribed.

On top of the viscous emulsion there is however most often a layer of oil and sometimes water which can readily be pumped when properly heated.-

The workk of tank cleaning involves the removal of the pumpable liquid as well as the viscous emulsion generally termed sediment or oil sludge.

Hitherto the tank cleaner, who is most often confronted with a ship without steam, and as his equipment, which is especially adapted for the raising of the sludge a considerable height over the ship side, also will serve to remove the pumpable oil in the same manner, he uses thev air cracking method also for pumping down the tank, i. e. removing the pumpable oil layer.

This pumping method however is very slow and inefficient when compared with other pumping methods.

With my apparatus the pumping down may be done by conventional pumping from one tank, i. e. without air'admittance simliltaneouslv with the removal of nonpumpable sludge from another,. or the tanks may be conventionally pumped down at the same time, or sludge may be removed by the piston Wave method simultaneously fromrliffereiit tanks, all as the occasion requires.

My pumping apparatus will not ordinarily clog and will automatically change from the wave transmission to the conventional pumping without interruption and vice versa. l

The vacuum pump 4 on the pumping barge is of suflicient capacity to care for a plurality of pump units.

The vacuum connection between the pump and the vacuum tank 5 is much larger than the vacuum connections from this tank to the vacuum chamber 9.

Therefore the vacuum in tank 4 is' at all times higher than the vacuum in chamber 9 as either the air admitted through the partially sealed hoses or through the relief valves 19 will serve to maintain a low vacuum in the chambers 9, while the vacuum pump 4 will remove the air from the vacuum tank 5 faster than the air admitted into the chambers 9 can pass through the hoses 8.

In practice a vacuum of more than 2O inches is maintained in the tank 5 while a vacuum of l0 inches or less exists in the chambers 9.

The pumped material is sucked through the HiggiQiLstrai-ner boxes'vfrom. the chambers 9 into the reciprocating pumps 15, which discharge the material through the hoses 20 into the slop barge in the conventional manner.

It is to be noted that the high vacuum tank 5 is of such a capacity that the intermittant fluctuations of vacuum in chambers 9 will not affect said high vacuum.

It is also to be noted that the air hoses 8 are of such a size or so restricted that even if the hose l0 is wide open the vacuum in tank 5 will not be destroyed.

l do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the specific details of construction as it is manifest that variations and modifications may be made in the adoption of the device to various conditions without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

l. In a pumping apparatus for cleaning and pumping down thetanks of a maritime vessel, a pump unit, adapted to be placed d1- rectly on top of saidtanks, which unit comprises a vacuum chamber, a suction hose to said chamber, liquiddischarge means from said chamber, a high vacuum tank, and an air connection at all times open between the vacuum chamber rand the high vacuum tank.

2. The method of cleaning and pumping down the tanks of a maritime vessel, characterized by creating a high vacuum in a chamber to thereby maintain a low vacuum in a receptacle placed directly on the top of said tanks to thereby 'suck the material from said tanks to said receptacle, forcing the material from the receptacle over theshipV side and admittingwair at the suction end to cause a wave or slug transmission necessary for the transfer of viscous material into said receptacle.

3. In a pumping apparatus for cleaning and pumping down the tanks of a maritime vessel, a pump unit adapted to be placed directly on top of said tanks, said unit comprising a vacuum chamber, a suction hose connecting theshiptank with said chamber, liquid discharge means for forcing the pumped liquid material over the ship side from said chamber, a high vacuum tank, an

open connection from the chamber to said high vacuum tank and.meanscfonpreventing the pumped material from entering vsadWI/lnection.

4. In apumping apparatus lfor cleaning and pumping ydown the tanks of a maritime Vessel, apluralitypf pump units adapted to be placed directly 6i'i`top of aidtanks, each of said units comprising a Vacuum chamber, a suction hose connecting the ship tank With said chamber, an open high vacuum connection attached to said Vacuum chamber and liquid discharge means for forcing the pumped liquid material over the ship side from said chamber.,`

" BENGT OLSSON.

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