Method and apparatus for removing oily materials and floating ma

Liquid purification or separation – Processes – Separating

Patent

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Details

2102421, 2102423, 210767, C02F 140, B63B 3532

Patent

active

050873806

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention concerns a method for removing oily materials, and floating matters in general, from the surface of bodies of water, as well as an apparatus whereby said method can be put into practical use; both method and apparatus being particularly suitable to operation even on rough sea.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A large number of methods and apparatus are known for removing oily and floating waste (which in the following disclosure will be simply designated in general as "oil") from the surface of bodies of water, and in particular from the surface of the sea, of lakes and rivers. For exemplary purposes, reference if made to the method and apparatus described in GB-A-1 206 794, DE-A-2 931 795 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,119,541 and 3,684,095. However, said methods and apparatus already known in the art, have considerable drawbacks, and particularly the following:
a) a very low collecting efficiency, further remarkably reduced if an even slight wave motion is present;
b) the oily floating waste is obliged, since already the first step of the process, to pass through a level drop from the sheet of water containing the floating matter to be removed, to the fluid surface within the apparatus performing the process (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,541). As a consequence emulsifying and stirring actions are produced between oily matter and water, being previously perfectly separate, one floating over the other, and the effects of these actions have to be subsequently reduced or counteracted thus negatively affecting the efficiency and adding to the structural complexity of the apparatus. For example according to the above-mentioned U.S. patent it is necessary not only to provide anti-emulsion plates 5, 5a, but also to cause water running zigzag with a longer path and to adopt both baffles 14 for maintaining a quiescent region and densitometers for detecting a possible content of oil carried by water beyond the filter. In order to improve separation and stratification of oily matter from water an array of the above-mentioned plates 5, 5a is used, the plates being parallel, slanting suitably spaced apart and provided with tiny holes;
c) those methods and related apparatus based on the principle of enrichment in oil of the floating matter with water being discharged from the bottom and the concentrated oil recovered at the upper layers, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,119,541 and 3,684,095, require a very complex instrumentation system to control the level differences with respect to the outside, thickness of the concentrated oily layer and percentage of oil in the discharged water. Furthermore these instrumentation systems show some problems in their setup for operating in a smooth body of water and even cannot be used at all when such a body of water becomes slightly rough;
d) all these known processes accomplish their effect in a single operative step, not to be repeated, by subjecting all the fluid under treatment to only one type of process without dividing it into successive steps, each relating to a different physical treatment specifically required to that particular step of the process, thus resulting in a low operational flexibility of the overall process. Therefore the known apparatus only seldom perform in the best operating conditions; e) remarkable transportation problems due to the large size of the apparatus, when they have to work in an even slightly rough sea, and the fact that they cannot be easily disassembled in order to make their transportation easier;
f) a high operation complexity which makes absolutely compulsory a continuous attendance on board of personnel whose safety often puts a constraint to the use of such apparatus, which are further burdened by the logistics of said personnel;
g) unsatisfactory seaworthiness as far as maneuvering and wave motion resistance, especially at sea, even when only slightly rough.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for removing oily and in general floating waste matter from bodies of water, which o

REFERENCES:
patent: 3684095 (1972-08-01), Ayers
patent: 3690464 (1972-09-01), Heinicke
patent: 3704784 (1972-12-01), Craggs et al.
patent: 3754653 (1973-08-01), Verdin
patent: 3762556 (1973-10-01), Penton
patent: 3844944 (1974-10-01), Mercuri
patent: 3847816 (1974-11-01), DiPerna
patent: 3862902 (1975-01-01), Derzhavets et al.
patent: 3884807 (1975-05-01), Heddon
patent: 3966615 (1976-06-01), Petchul et al.
patent: 4119541 (1978-10-01), Makaya
patent: 4151081 (1979-04-01), Bolli
patent: 4381994 (1983-05-01), Ayers
patent: 4554070 (1985-11-01), Jordan

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