Hydraulic and earth engineering – Fluid control – treatment – or containment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-01
2002-11-26
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Fluid control, treatment, or containment
C137S341000, C219S528000, C219S538000, C219S630000, C219S635000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06485228
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance suitable for recovering a liquid substance such as fuel oil from ships sunk or stranded due to marine accidents and other places and relates to a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance capable of heating a liquid substance such as fuel oil more easily than in the past by high-frequency induction heating to reduce viscosity of the liquid substance for recovery.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ships, not only oil tankers, generally sail with a large amount of liquid substance such as fuel oil loaded in the ships. When, therefore, a ship has encountered marine accidents such as stranding and sinking, it becomes necessary to recover fuel oil or the like from its tank for preventing it from flowing out.
Fuel oil represented by a heavy oil or crude oil, however, tends to be affected by temperature and is brought to a state which is almost solid, for example, in the coldest season or in a low temperature environment of the deep sea. Therefore, when a marine accident has occurred, fuel oil or the like remaining in the ship is recovered after it is heated to flow easily.
In a case where, for example, fuel oil is recovered from a stranded ship, steam or hot water obtained by heating in a boiler is supplied to the tank for heating or a Nichrome (trademark) wire heater is inserted in the tank for heating. In a case where fuel oil is recovered from a ship sunk in the shallow sea, a boiler, a water supply tank and a generator are loaded in a work ship and a hot water hose and a recovery pipe etc. are put down from the work ship to the sunk ship for heating.
A sea area where a ship may be stranded, however, does not allow easy access from the land. Neither is it approached easily from offshore. For this reason, a preparatory work for carrying a large scale heating equipment such as a large boiler to the site where the ship is stranded and installing the equipment there requires an enormous labor and time and, moreover, there are not a few cases where it cannot be installed in the site due to adverse conditions. In a case where it can be installed in the stranded ship or in the vicinity thereof, heating can be made by means of hot water, electric heating, hot blast and the like but in a case where it cannot be installed in the vicinity of the stranded ship, it must be installed on the land at a long distance or the work ship must lie at anchor at a long distance.
When a heat source for heating is installed in a place at a long distance in this manner, hot water or steam must be delivered to the distant site of stranding by using a long hose and, therefore, there occurs a large amount of heat loss on the way and, in some cases, failure in achieving an effective heating. Even when an effect of heating is obtained, if the route for transferring fuel oil or the like taken out of the stranded ship to a recovery tank is long, the fuel oil or the like is cooled on the way and, as a result, there occurs a case where its viscosity increases to such a degree that it will not flow, i.e., it cannot be recovered.
Further, since there is no means for effectively heating the inside of a tank and a hose containing fuel oil or the like from outside thereof, a workman had to place a steam coil, a hot water coil, an electrical heating coil or the like in the tank for heating or he had to blow steam directly for heating. Since the tank of a ship is provided inside with many structures such as a side girder, a bottom longeron and a floor which is a lateral structural member, work for installing the steam coil or the like is troublesome and, in some cases, location thereof is restricted depending upon the inside construction of the tank. The direct blowing of steam also is troublesome because it cannot be performed in one place only. Moreover, work in the tank is dangerous because the stranded ship is in an insecure state and there is also possibility of fire, explosion or gas-poisoning.
In the case of recovering fuel oil or the like from the sunk ship, a hot water hose, a recovery pipe etc. must be put down from the work ship to the sunk ship and these hose and pipe are so thick that a troublesome work is required. Further, since the hose and pipe are affected by a tidal current when they are put down in the sea, work cannot be performed when tidal current is fast. Furthermore, since the hose and pipe are cooled by the sea water when they are put down in the sea, there occurs a large amount of heat loss with the result that there occur a case where the fuel oil or the like to be recovered cannot be heated effectively or a case where viscosity of the fuel oil or the like increases to such a degree that difficulty arises in its flow or it does not flow at all.
For these reasons, when a ship is sunk in the deep sea, an effective recovery cannot be made but the ship is left as it is.
In the case of stranding or sinking of a ship, installation and recovery of a heating equipment and hose etc. take a long time and a periodical visit of bad weather during this time cannot be avoided. For this reason, there are not a few cases where a ship is heavily damaged and all of fuel oil or the like flows out of the ship to cause environmental pollution. In a case where fuel oil or the like which has flowed out and is floating on the sea is recovered by using an oil skimmer, volatile ingredients contained in the fuel oil or the like are volatilized and the fuel oil or the like is cooled down and, therefore, viscosity thereof increases and it becomes difficult to absorb and recover it with the oil skimmer and, in many cases, it actually cannot be absorbed.
In a case where a marine accident has occurred in a chemical tanker or the like storing a chemical substance of a high viscosity, it becomes necessary to recover the chemical substance from a storage tank. In this case also, for the same reason that has been described above, heating cannot be conducted easily. Further, not only in a case where an accident has occurred in ships in general but also in a case where an accident has occurred in facilities located in the sea or on the seaside such as an oil field drilling rig and a crude oil loading and unloading facility, it becomes necessary to quickly recover a liquid substance such as a heavy oil.
The present invention is proposed in the above described circumstances. It is an object of the invention to provide a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance capable of recovering a liquid substance such as fuel oil from a sunk or stranded ship etc. by heating it more easily than in the past.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method for recovering a liquid substance characterized by applying a working coil to a liquid substance contacting member which is in contact with the liquid substance and is made of an electric conductor, supplying a high frequency current from a high frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reducing the viscosity of the liquid substance, and recovering this liquid substance through a recovery pipe connected to the pump.
According to this invention, since a working coil is applied to a liquid substance contacting member which is in contact with the liquid substance and is made of an electric conductor, a high-frequency current from a high-frequency inverter unit is supplied to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and viscosity of the liquid substance thereby is reduced, heating can be made with a heat source in contact with an object to be heated. Therefore, heating can be made efficiently without heat loss on the way as in the steam heating and hot blast. Neither is a bulky boiler required nor a broad occupying space is required.
Further, since a steam hose etc. which are troublesome i
Hedman & Costigan ,P.C.
Mayo Tara L.
The Nippon Salvage Co., Ltd.
Will Thomas B.
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