Liquid purification or separation – Processes – Ion exchange or selective sorption
Patent
1980-08-19
1982-07-27
Cintins, Ivars C.
Liquid purification or separation
Processes
Ion exchange or selective sorption
210671, 210 86, 210143, 2102424, 210924, C02F 140
Patent
active
043416373
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the removal or recovery of oil floating on a water surface.
As will become apparent from the detailed description which follows, a principal use (although not necessarily the only use) for methods and apparatus in accordance with the present invention is in clearing up oil spillage which has occurred on the surface of the sea, rivers, inland waterways, gravel pits, etc., particularly where rapid removal of an oil slick has to be accomplished in order to avoid pollution and ecological damage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years with increasing interest and concern with environmental problems, numerous systems have been proposed for removing and collecting oil floating on water surfaces. A principal disadvantage which has become apparent on seeking to put the numerous prior proposals into practice has been their marked inability to work effectively in a rough sea. This is especially so in the case of suction devices, where wave motion results in the device ingesting large quantities of sea water along with the oil, rendering the rate of oil removal unsatisfactorily slow and also resulting in a substantial volume of oil and sea water which must be retained on board a vessel for subsequent processing.
Of course, numerous proposals have been made for separating oil and water, but such arrangements are inherently bulky and are best suited to operation on land and with relatively small through-puts. So far as the inventor is at present aware, no recovery and separation system for oil and water has been previously proposed specifically for use at sea and proved successful. A major problem is the paradoxical requirement that an antipollution vessel working in a heavily polluted sea is itself bound by the oil discharge regulations not to discharge into the sea water which contains significant quantities of oil. The need, therefore, which has not previously been satisfied, so far as the present inventor is aware, is for a system which is both relatively quick and effective in separating oil and water.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides, in a first aspect, apparatus for the removal and recovery of pollutant oil and the like floating on the surface of a body of water, comprising: means capable of the physical withdrawal of pollutant oil and the like with or without additional water from the water surface to a recovery station on site; means for spraying hot water over such pollutant oil and the like at said recovery station; a receiving tank for the oil/water washings resulting; an oil/water separator/coalescer for separating oil containing a minor quantity of water only from the washings; means for receiving such separated oil; means for recirculating water from said separator/coalescer for heating and further spraying; and means for returning any excess purified water from said separator/coalescer to said body of water.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for the removal and recovery of oil floating on the surface of a body of water, which method comprises the steps of: the physical withdrawal of pollutant oil and the like with or without additional water from the water surface to a recovery station on site; spraying hot water over such pollutant oil and the like at said recovery station; receiving the oil/water washings resulting: separating oil containing only a minor quantity of water from the washings; re-circulating water from which oil has been separated for heating and further spraying; and returning any excess purified water to said body of water.
The term "pollutant oil and the like" is used herein to encompass one or more of oil, including heavy crude oil or heavier tarry constituents of oil, oil/water mousse, and other petroleum of liquid fuel based products, liable to pollute bodies of water whether inadvertantly or by illegal or antisocial design.
The receiving station is suitably a floating vessel. The separator/coalescer is preferably a corrugated plate separator. A pump is provided for the recircul
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Cintins Ivars C.
Hulbert W. R.
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