Patent Publication Number: US-8529154-B2

Title: Oil recovery system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of my prior application Ser. No. 13/252,074, filed Oct. 3, 2011 now pending. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to environmental safety, and particularly to an oil recovery system directed primarily for use aboard oil tanker ships and the like, but which may be adapted for use on the ground as well. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The development of ever larger oil tanker ships has resulted in the potential for increasingly large oil spills and related accidents. Such potential environmental damage is of course not limited to the seas, but may occur on land as well. Oil spills and similar disasters may occur due to an accident involving a railroad train having one or more oil tanker cars, or perhaps an oil or fuel tanker truck on the highway. Oil spills are of course always a potential occurrence at any oil drilling or pumping site, an oil pipeline, or a refinery or distribution center. 
     As this potential for environmental damage has been realized, a number of different systems and devices have been developed for the containment of such spills. Devices such as oil containment booms for use on the water, oil and fuel absorbent materials, and other devices and systems are known. Such devices, however, are typically focused solely on the recovery of oil, which has already spilled into the water, rather than minimizing the size of the spill and preventing ever-increasing environmental damage. 
     Thus, an oil recovery system solving the aforementioned problems is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The oil recovery system minimizes environmental contamination and oil leakage into the ocean in the event of a rupture of the hull of an oil tanker. The oil recovery system includes at least one buoyant reservoir for receiving recovered oil, which is deployed into the ocean upon detection of a breach or rupture in the hull of the oil tanker. Preferably, the at least one buoyant reservoir is suspended from a side of the hull in a manner similar to that conventionally used with lifeboats, so that the at least one buoyant reservoir automatically being lowered and deployed into the ocean in a similar manner. 
     At least one conduit is in fluid communication between at least one oil tank housed within the oil tanker and the at least one buoyant reservoir. Upon detection of an oil spill from the oil tanker, the at least one buoyant reservoir is released from the hull of the oil tanker into the water and oil from the at least one oil tank is routed to the at least one buoyant reservoir to minimize the size of the oil spill. 
     These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an environmental, perspective view of an oil recovery system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the oil recovery system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial perspective view of a buoyant reservoir of the oil recovery system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is an environmental perspective view of a plurality of buoyant reservoirs for an oil recovery system according to the present invention, shown suspended from a hull of an oil tanker in a non-deployed state. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The oil recovery system  10  minimizes environmental contamination and oil leakage into the ocean in the event of a rupture of the hull of an oil tanker. It should be understood that the oil tanker  14  and oil spill OS of  FIGS. 1 and 2  are shown for exemplary purposes only, and that the oil recovery system  10  may be utilized with oil tankers having a wide variety of configurations. 
     As best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the oil recovery system  10  includes at least one buoyant reservoir  12  for receiving recovered oil in the event of an oil spill, such as exemplary oil spill OS. It should be understood that any suitable number of buoyant reservoirs  12  may be used, depending upon the size, configuration and carrying capacity of the oil tanker  14 .  FIGS. 1 and 2  show only two such buoyant reservoirs  12  for illustrative purposes only. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates six such buoyant reservoirs  12  suspended from only a portion of the hull of oil tanker  14 , for example, the buoyant reservoirs  12  being in a non-deployed state. In the event of the detection of a hull breach or oil spill, the at least one buoyant reservoir  12  is deployed into the ocean. Preferably, the at least one buoyant reservoir  12  is suspended from a side of the hull of the ocean tanker  14  by releasable connectors  52  (shown in  FIG. 3 ), in a manner similar to that conventionally used with lifeboats. The at least one buoyant reservoir  12  is either manually or automatically lowered and deployed into the ocean in a similar manner. Such suspension and deployment systems are known in the art. Examples of such systems for use with lifeboats are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,587,922; 4,841,901; 6,904,864; and 7,832,350, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , oil tankers typically have a plurality of individual oil tanks  16  housed therein. A longitudinal conduit  22  is in fluid communication with each oil tank  16  housed within the oil tanker  14 , and also with the at least one buoyant reservoir  12 . In the typical configuration shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , oil tanks  16  are aligned along a longitudinal axis, bisecting the tanker hull along a lengthwise direction. The longitudinal conduit  22  extends along this longitudinal axis, and communicates with each oil tank  16  through an oil outlet port  18  formed through each tank  16 . Oil is released from each tank  16  to the longitudinal conduit  22  through tank valves  20  associated with each oil tank  16 . The tank valves  20  may be any suitable type of valves for selectively releasing oil into the longitudinal conduit  22 , and may be manually or automatically controlled. It should be understood that the arrangement of the longitudinal conduit  22  depends upon the configuration of the oil tanker  14  and the arrangement of the oil tanks  16  therein. It should be understood that oil is preferably not removed from each oil tank  16  upon detection of the oil spill OS, but only from the particular individual tank or tanks  16  that have been ruptured. The corresponding valves  20  of the ruptured tanks  16  will be opened upon hull breach and oil spill, but the valves  20  of non-ruptured tanks  16  will remain closed. Thus, each tank  16  must be fitted with its own valve  20 , rather than having a single master valve for all tanks. 
     A lateral conduit  24  is in communication with the longitudinal conduit  22  for receiving and distributing the oil from oil tanks  16 . It should be understood that the relative positioning of the lateral conduit  24 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , corresponds centrally and substantially orthogonally with the arrangement of the longitudinal conduit  22 , and may vary depending upon the configuration of the oil tanker  14  and the arrangement of the oil tanks  16  therein. The lateral conduit  24  feeds the oil removed from oil tanks  16  to hull conduits  54 , which extend along the sides of the hull of oil tanker  14 , as shown. As shown in  FIG. 2 , hull conduits  54  and buoyant reservoirs  12  are provided for each lateral side of the hull of the oil tanker  14 , and the buoyant reservoirs  12  are deployed only on the side of the tanker  14  opposite the oil spill OS (so as not to interfere with cleanup of the oil spill OS). 
     The selective feeding of the oil from the oil tanks  16  to the hull conduit  54  opposite the oil spill OS is controlled by a pair of valves  60  positioned on laterally opposed sides of the lateral conduit  24 , with each side feeding into its own oil pump  26 , as shown. When the oil spill OS is detected on one side of the hull, the corresponding valve  60  on that side of the lateral conduit  24  remains closed, and the corresponding pump  26  remains deactivated, and the opposite valve  60  is opened with the corresponding pump  26  on the opposite side being activated. It should be understood that the valves  60  may be opened and closed automatically or manually, as is actuation of pumps  26 . The pumps  26  may be any suitable type of pumps for pumping oil from oil tanks  16  to the hull conduits  54 . 
     The oil is then pumped into the appropriate one of the hull conduits  54 , and may then be released through hull outlets  28 . As a further safety measure, each hull outlet  28  preferably has its own valve  30 , which may be automatically or manually opened and closed. Upon opening of the valve  30 , the oil flows through the hull outlet  28  into a flexible hose  32 , extending between the hull outlet  28  and an input port  34  formed through the corresponding buoyant reservoir  12 . The flexible hose  32  may be substantially S-shaped, as shown in  FIG. 3 , thus allowing the hose  32  to maintain an inclined angle during filling of the buoyant reservoir  12 , even under the action of motion of the tanker  14  and ocean waves. The flexible hose  32  may have a thickness of six inches, for example, or any other suitable dimensions, depending upon the rate and quantity of oil being pumped from the particular tanks  16  of oil tanker  14 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a plurality of buoyant reservoirs  12  in a non-deployed state. Upon detection of an oil spill OS from the oil tanker  14 , the at least one buoyant reservoir  12  is released from the hull of the oil tanker  14  into the water by any suitable method, as described above, and oil from the at least one oil tank  16  is routed to the at least one buoyant reservoir  12  to minimize the size of the oil spill OS. As best shown in  FIG. 3 , each buoyant reservoir  12  has a plurality of buoyant floats  48  secured thereto, and is held to the hull of the oil tanker  14  by a plurality of mooring lines  50 . First ends of the mooring lines  50  are secured to the hull, and free ends thereof are preferably wrapped around sidewalls  44  of the buoyant reservoir  12 , as shown, providing not just secure mooring, but also adding to the structural stability of the sidewalls. In  FIG. 3 , the buoyant reservoir  12  is shown being shaped as a parallelepiped, although it should be understood that the buoyant reservoir  12  may have any desired relative dimensions or configuration. In addition to the primary floats  48  of the buoyant reservoir  12 , the flexible hose  32  preferably has at least one secondary float  46  secured thereto, keeping the hose  32  out of the water and aiding in preventing the formation of constrictions therein. The mooring lines  50  may be any suitable type of lines, such as the typical cotton mooring lines  50  used to secure ships to docks. 
     The buoyant reservoirs  12  may be collapsible and expandable, thus decreasing their profiles when in the non-deployed state of  FIG. 4 . Expansion of the reservoirs  12  takes place in the water under the force of the pumped oil. In addition to the primary floats  48 , the base  42  of each buoyant reservoir  12  is preferably formed from a resilient and buoyant material, such as rubber, foam rubber or the like. The upper end  40  of the buoyant reservoir  12  is similarly formed from a resilient and buoyant material. The overall thickness of each wall is preferably at least eight to ten mm, and may be formed as a dual wall, providing additional strength and security to prevent breaches in the reservoir walls. 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.