Hydraulic and earth engineering – Fluid control – treatment – or containment – Floatable matter containment
Patent
1996-03-12
1998-01-27
Taylor, Dennis L.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Fluid control, treatment, or containment
Floatable matter containment
2102423, 210923, 405 52, E02B 1504
Patent
active
057116334
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering fluid substances floating on a water surface.
More particularly, it relates to an apparatus that can be installed on stationary or moving watercraft which operates in bodies of water where floating fluid substances, such as oil or its derivatives, are present.
These fluids may be present due both to accidental causes, such as oil or fuel spills caused by accidents at sea, and to the accumulation in basins of wastewaters from treatments that entail the use of greases or oils, or even due to natural causes, such as spontaneous surfacing.
Other cases are, for example, basins for collecting the water of areas for the loading and unloading of hydrocarbons, vehicle washes, et cetera.
Devices for collecting these floating fluid substances are already known; they use the principle of the different adhesion of these substances with respect to water.
It is in fact known that if a body is immersed in water in which a substance such as a hydrocarbon is floating and is then removed, said body remains coated by adhesion with a film of hydrocarbon with a small amount of water.
Starting from this principle, devices have been produced which have rotating disks that are partially immersed in the water and arranged on a horizontal shaft.
In this manner, regions of the disk continuously enter the water and emerge soiled with the hydrocarbons that are present; these hydrocarbons are then removed by means of scrapers provided in the region above the water.
The problem that arises in these devices is their efficiency, i.e. their ability to gather and collect from the water the largest possible amount of floating substances with the lowest possible percentage of water.
Long tests and trials conducted even by the Applicants themselves have shown that many parameters affect efficiency in the collection of these products.
A first parameter is linked to the viscosity of the fluid to be collected, whereas a second important parameter is the speed at which the collection means, which is a disk in the specific case, enters the water and correspondingly resurfaces.
These two parameters are certainly linked one another, but in any case it has been observed that by increasing the speed of the disk the gathering of material from distant regions and its collection increase, but the percentage of water simultaneously collected also increases.
These devices are mainly meant for emergency intervention in case of accidents at sea, in lakes, or in rivers, and therefore while it is important to quickly collect as much floating product as possible it is equally important to avoid collecting an excess of water at the same time, which would fill the storage tanks undesirably.
Another phenomenon which always occurs in systems using disks or in any case bodies that enter the water and emerge therefrom is a partial separation of collected fluid from said body as it surfaces.
In practice, according to the type and viscosity of the floating fluid product and also to the ambient temperature, a layer of fluid continues to adhere to the emerging surface; said layer cannot exceed a certain thickness, whereas the excess separates when leaving the water surface.
This produces a gradually rising accumulation of floating substances in the part that corresponds to the inactive region of the disks.
Systems are also known which, in order to solve this problem, even if only partially, place multiple consecutive batteries of disks mounted on parallel shafts.
Nonetheless there is still the problem that the last battery generates discharges, albeit modest ones, of uncollected product.
Another problem occurring in these recovery operations with these systems is the need to produce a current for drawing the floating product towards the collecting disks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal aim of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for recovering fluid substances floating on a water surface which solves, as much as possible, the problems linked to these systems and pa
REFERENCES:
patent: Re32298 (1986-12-01), Baer et al.
patent: 3358838 (1967-12-01), Kosar et al.
patent: 4172036 (1979-10-01), Morris
patent: 4360429 (1982-11-01), Morris
patent: 4368122 (1983-01-01), Ravagnan
patent: 4473469 (1984-09-01), Ayroldi
patent: 4642185 (1987-02-01), Turner et al.
patent: 5460735 (1995-10-01), Burt
Josif Albert
Modiano Guido
Taylor Dennis L.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for recovering fluid substances floating on a water su does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for recovering fluid substances floating on a water su, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for recovering fluid substances floating on a water su will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-337595