Abstract:
A method of removing oil from the surface of a body of water is provided. The method comprising collecting oil on the surface using a plurality of floating booms moved by a vessel floating on the surface, skimming oil collected by the booms using a moving continuous belt carried by the vessel and removing from the belt oil which has been skimmed from the surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The field of the present invention relates to removing oil from the surface of a body of water. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Environmental pollution by oil spillage can cause a wide range of damage in the marine environment. Major oil spills, for example from oil tankers, are now exceptionally rare but when they occur they can cause serious marine environmental pollution in a very short time. 
         [0005]    When oil is spilled on the sea surface, it spreads rapidly and after a few hours it can cover an area of several square miles with large variations in oil thickness. This can limit the effectiveness of all clean-up techniques at sea. The oil also suffers chemical and physical changes and can absorb up to four times its own volume of water. 
         [0006]    Two main clean-up methods are available, containment and recovery of the oil, and chemical dispersion. Although other methods, such as in-situ burning, are available these have serious limitations. Recovery of the oil is a more environmentally friendly method and is more favoured in the current climate. 
         [0007]    Containment and recovery usually involves the use of floating booms to first encircle and contain the oil within an area of sea so that recovery can begin. There are several methods of recovering the oil available, which usually involve first capturing the oil and seawater mixture and then separating the water out and returning it to the sea. Alternatively, the mixture can be transported to the shore for suitable disposal or separation. However, it is important to choose recovery equipment which can operate with the type of oil spilled and in the prevailing weather and sea conditions. 
         [0008]    One of the main recovery methods is to use an oil skimming technique which skims the top layer of fluid from the water. The simplest skimmers are suction devices which remove oil from the water surface. However, most effective sea skimmers are usually made of material to which oil is attracted and to which it sticks whereas the seawater is unaffected. These skimmers usually employ continuous belts or ropes and others employ brushes or mops. 
         [0009]    Existing oil skimming looped belts are short in length and run on rollers, with one end of the belt dipping into the sea attracting and collecting oil from the surface. The oil is then squeezed out of the belt when it returns into apparatus on board a vessel. Since such devices are fixed to a vessel, their performance is affected by sea motion. 
         [0010]    Looped rope skimmers cast the rope ahead of the vessel and draw the oil into a separator mounted on the vessel but this process takes approximately nine minutes before the rope can be redeployed. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of removing oil from the surface of a body of water. The method comprises collecting oil on the surface using a plurality of floating booms moved by a vessel floating on the surface, skimming oil collected by the booms using a moving continuous belt carried by the vessel and removing from the belt oil which has been skimmed from the surface. 
         [0012]    In a further embodiment of the present invention, a system for removing oil from the surface of a body of water is provided. The system comprising a vessel floatable on the body of water, a plurality of booms floatable on the surface and movable by the vessel, the booms configured to collect oil on the surface, a movable continuous belt carried by the vessel, the belt configured to skim oil collected by the booms, and means for removing from the belt oil which has been skimmed from the surface. 
         [0013]    In yet another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for use in removing oil from the surface of a body of water is provided. The apparatus comprising a plurality of booms floatable on the surface and which can be moved by a vessel, the booms configured to collect oil on the surface, movable continuous belt which can be carried by such a vessel, the belt configured to skim oil collected by the booms, and means for removing from the belt oil which has been skimmed from the surface. 
         [0014]    The embodiments of the present invention, which can use a custom-built vessel or the retrofitting of an existing vessel, combine or integrate both the containment of oil, using floating booms to capture the oil, and the recovery of the oil based liquid mixture from the sea surface using a belt skimmer. The oil can then be collected into a container on board a vessel for disposal or separation. 
         [0015]    In an embodiment of the present invention, two floating booms act as a funnel to guide surface oil into a recovery arrangement which utilizes an oil absorbent wide continuous loop belt which is dropped on to the sea surface at some distance ahead of the carrying vessel where it floats on the surface, collecting oil until it is recovered into the vessel. In addition, as the floating belt is drawn towards the vessel, it has the effect of drawing surface liquid towards the vessel for oil to be skimmed off by the belt. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a floating boom arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an oil skimmer arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of two systems according to embodiments of the invention adjacent each other. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The system to be described comprises essentially two arrangements, a floating boom arrangement and a floating belt skimmer arrangement. The complete system can be designed to enable it to be carried on board a vessel and deployed when needed and the method of mounting can be adapted for different types of vessels. The operation is continuous, unlike a rope skimmer which has to be repeatedly redeployed once recovered. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  shows a floating boom arrangement which includes two rigid arms  1  mounted at or near the forward end of a vessel  2  in its direction of movement and suitably angularly positioned, that is each arm  1  extends outwardly at an angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the vessel to define a generally V-shaped area in front of the vessel as it moves in the direction of arrow A. The vessel  2  could be a self-propelled vessel or a vessel such as a floating pontoon moved by another vessel. Floating booms  3  are attached to the rigid arms by means of tethering ropes  4  so that, when the booms  3  are floating on the sea surface, the ropes  4  are slack and allow the booms  3  to move up and down with sea motion. The booms  3  are held by the rigid arms  1  so that they, like the arms, each extend outwardly at an angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the vessel  2  so that they act as a funnel guiding surface oil towards recovery equipment on the vessel  2  as the latter moves forward in the direction of arrow A. Typically, each boom  3  has a curtain  5  hanging below it and weighted by a weight  6 . 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , mounted at or near the forward end of vessel  2  in its normal direction of movement is separation equipment through which extends a wide, continuous loop belt  7  moved electrically or hydraulically, More particularly, the belt  7  passes between gantry mounted pinch rollers  8  carried by the vessel and extends beyond the vessel  2  by several metres over the sea surface  9  around a gantry mounted roller  10  carried by the vessel  2  down to the sea surface, back along the sea surface for a distance (see portion  11  of the belt floating on surface  9 ) and towards the vessel  2  via a tensioning roller  12 . As belt  7  passes between pinch rollers  8 , oil from the belt picked up from the sea surface is squeezed from it by rollers  8 . Scrapers  13  carried by the vessel guide such oil to a tray  14 , from which the oil passes to a container  15  in the vessel  2  for storage, possibly being filtered before reaching the container. Reference numeral  16  denotes means for removing debris from the belt  7  before it reaches rollers  8 . 
         [0022]    When the skimmer arrangement is deployed, the continuous loop belt  7  drops down on to the sea surface  9  between the booms  3  several metres distance ahead of the vessel, the latter moving in a direction from left to right in  FIG. 2 . The portion  11  floats on the sea surface  9 , the belt moving along the sea in the direction of arrow B, rising and falling with the sea motion. Portion  11  floats on the sea surface for a distance of several metres, a greater amount than in the case of conventional skimming belts. Oil on the sea surface is attracted to and absorbed by the belt  6 , which is then drawn up between rollers  8  which remove oil from the belt  7  by squeezing, assisted by the scrapers  13 . Typically, the belt  7  can be made of polypropylene mesh or foam, or any other material that will absorb oil and retain its absorbency properties over a reasonable period of time after regular squeezing. 
         [0023]    The outer end of at least one of the booms  3  could be linked or attached to the outer end of one of the booms of an adjacent such vessel as schematically shown by  FIG. 3 . 
         [0024]    In practice, the most efficient recovery of oil with existing oil skimmers is only achieved under calm conditions. Winds, currents and wave actions seriously reduce the ability of existing designs of skimmers to recover oil. Embodiments of the present invention provide for an improvement on previous designs in this respect in that it can cope with wave motion. 
         [0025]    The system described is an improvement on most existing systems in that it combines containment and recovery in one operation. 
         [0026]    By allowing the belt to float, more time can be allowed for oil to be in contact with and stick to the belt. 
         [0027]    The movement of the belt along the sea surface also has the effect of drawing surface liquid towards a vessel for oil to be skimmed off by the belt.