US-12617498-B2 - Environmental barge for filtering oil from water in the spill response to oil pollution at sea

US12617498B2US 12617498 B2US12617498 B2US 12617498B2US-12617498-B2

Abstract

Environmental barge with belt skimmer for spill response to oil pollution at sea. The environmental barge consists of an upper part with pontoons and a lower part with a bottom with an integrated hydrophilic filter. The environmental barge is designed so that at least four environmental barges can be stacked inside and on top of each other. Oil-mixed water is guided to the belt skimmer, which carries it up into the environmental barge, where the gravitational principle means that the oil pushes the water through the hydrophilic filter and back into the sea as the barge is filled with oil. The environmental barge can thus be completely filled with oil without increasing the draft. The environmental barge footprint is identical to a standard 20-foot container, and it has container corner castings, allowing significant spill response capacity to be quickly transported and deployed in areas where no other spill response capacity is available. The size of the environmental barge and the constant draft regardless of loading condition mean that the invention is particularly useful in coastal shallow water areas, marshlands and river deltas.

Inventors

Jens Walther
Erik Schmidt

Assignees

FLEX-FEB ApS

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20221110
Priority Date: 20211216

Claims (10)

1 . An environmental barge for filtering oil from water in the control of oil pollution at sea, comprising one upper and one lower part, wherein the upper part of the environmental barge comprises a frame comprising two longitudinal pontoons and two vertical transverse pontoons, the pontoons have horizontal and vertical sides which together form a watertight space, and the longitudinal pontoons are longer than the transverse pontoons; wherein the lower part of the environmental barge comprises a bottom sump consisting of a watertight bottom of the bottom sump with a filter and with sides connecting the bottom with the longitudinal pontoons and the vertical transverse pontoons; and wherein the environmental barge is an environmental barge without propulsion, and where the bottom of the bottom sump is a double bottom with an integrated hydrophilic filter and the environmental barge is configured for mounting a belt skimmer.
2 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein a cross-section of the area which the frame surrounds is larger than a cross-section of the largest cross-section of the bottom sump, and wherein a first environmental barge's bottom sump fits into the frame of another environmental barge so that at least four environmental barges can be stacked inside and on top of each other.
3 . The environmental barge according to claim 2 , wherein the first environmental barge is designed so that the larger cross-section of the frame of the environmental barge matches the cross-section of the second environmental barge at a distance that allows the setting down and taking up the second environmental barge in and from the first environmental barge, while maximizing the volume of the bottom sump.
4 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein the environmental barge comprises a cross pontoon or a transverse pontoons at each end with at least one fastener for mounting a belt skimmer.
5 . The environmental barge according claim 1 , wherein the filter is a centrally located hydrophilic filter integrated into the double bottom of the environmental barge.
6 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal pontoons, transverse pontoons or bottom sump of the environmental barge are made of aluminum.
7 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein the environmental barge's footprint is identical to a standard 20-foot container.
8 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein four stacked environmental barges on a transport frame have the same external dimensions as a standard 20-foot container.
9 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein the environmental barge has one or more of the following removable baffle bulkheads or removable deck plates.
10 . The environmental barge according to claim 1 , wherein the environmental barge is configured with a removable electrically driven, belt skimmer with fixed movers that can be accommodated in the free volume of the environmental barge by stacking four environmental barges inside and on top of each other.

Description

A barge is a vessel with or without its own propulsion, characterized by having a flat bottom and no keel and by the fact that it can float in shallow water. An environmental barge is defined here as a barge without propulsion that can be used for oil spill response at sea. A flexible environmental barge is an environmental barge with a hydrophilic filter integrated into the bottom construction. Shallow water is low water depth. In connection with wave formation, a water depth below 1/25 of the wavelength. DESCRIPTION The invention concerns an environmental vessel for filtering oil from water by spill response to oil pollution at sea. BACKGROUND Today, oil spill response at sea is carried out with special ships and special vessels, which have their own propulsion system and are specially designed to contain and collect oil-mixed water. Special vessels are designed for deployment at water depths of more than approx. 5 m, while special vessels (lay water vessels) are flat-bottomed or of the catamaran type, such that they can be deployed at very shallow water depths. Special ships store the collected oil-mixed water in tanks, while lay water vessels often collect oil-mixed water in big-bags, which are thrown overboard for the purpose of later collection from the coast. Only a small part of the collected oil mixed water is oil, so a large part of the storage capacity is used to store water, and it is therefore necessary to have a subsequent filtration in a treatment plant. An example is described in US 2014/0021113 A1, which describes an environmental vessel that is of a catamaran/barge-like type suitable for filtering oil from water in shallow water, as oil-mixed water is collected and filtered. Once oil-mixed water has been collected and filtered, it is packed in bags and the bags are thrown overboard. The environmental vessel is of the type that includes two parallel and longitudinal frames, between which a tunnel is defined through which water flows. It has a control bridge and at least one fuel tank, which serves as the main engine. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,558 A describes a ship or barge with its own propulsion system, control bridge and fuel tank(s). The draught of the ship and the conveyer is controlled from the control bridge by use of ballast tanks. The surfacing layer of pollutant is received in an internal tank. Oil, generally of the crude oil and heavy type, is collected by the flow over the edge of this tank thereby being separated from water and collected in a second internal tank. The water is pumped out from the bottom of the first internal tank and the oil from the second is transferred into a tanker. The endless belts of the conveyer are driven by a link chain and a motor mounted into the bow of the barge. The ship or barge is mechanical complex. U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,558A describes a conveyor arrangement for picking up floating pollutant such as oil at sea. The conveyor system is pivoted onto the bow of a barge or similar boat. The polluted sea water is conveyed upwardly and drops into tanks. Water ballast tanks are used to balance the dipping depth of the barge or boat depending on the how much the conveyor belt end sticks into the body of sea water. Oil spill response worldwide can become more effective if its costs are lower. Both the acquisition, operation and cargo of an environmental vessel are very costly. It therefore makes good socio-economic sense to have an environmental vessel that is both cheap in acquisition, operation and cargo. This problem has been solved by the provision of an environmental vessel according to the present invention. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION An environmental vessel for oil spill response at sea, which is both cheap in acquisition, operation and in cargo, comprises two longitudinal pontoons, each of which has horizontal and vertical sides, which together form a watertight space, vertical transverse sides, where the longitudinal pontoons are longer than the transverse sides, where the vertical and vertical transverse sides are connected to other vertical sides, and, together with a bottom with a filter, forms a sump where the environmental vessel is an environmental barge without propulsion and has a double bottom with an integrated hydrophilic filter and on which a belt skimmer can be attached to the environmental barge. An embodiment of the environmental barge is where the environmental barge sump is designed so that the sump has a larger cross-section of the upper part than the cross-section of the lower part, and where the lower part of the sump of a first environmental barge fits into the upper part of the sump of another environmental barge so that at least four environmental barges can be stacked inside and on top of each other. An embodiment of an environmental barge is where the environmental barge has removable baffle bulkheads and removable deck plates. An embodiment is also where a first environmental barge's sump fits into another environmental barge's