GB2056299A

GB2056299A - Device for collecting contaminants in open waters

Info

Publication number: GB2056299A
Application number: GB8023821A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: EIMBCKE OILSKIMMER GmbH
Current assignee: EIMBCKE OILSKIMMER GmbH
Priority date: 1979-07-20
Filing date: 1980-07-21
Publication date: 1981-03-18
Also published as: GB2056299B; NL8004069A; BE884352A; DE2929395C2; JPS5617788A; FR2461638A1; DE2929395A1

Abstract

A device for collecting floating oil from the sea comprises a skimming unit, mounted in front of a ship 19 by hinge rods 3, and having two forwardly diverging substantially vertical walls 12 which guide oil through channel 42 to outlet pipe 2. The unit is supported by two forward floats, spaced laterally apart, and a rear float forming the bottom of channel 42. Each float comprises an upper closed float body 23, 61 and a lower hollow body 24, 62 which is variably floodable. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to devices for ships for collecting contaminants in open waters The invention relates to a device for a ship for collecting contaminants in open waters in a seaway, for instance of the type with a guide assembly mounted in front of an inlet opening in the ship body, having two laterally mounted, approximately vertically standing guide walls, as well as a skimmer body.

By means of a known device of this type (German Patent Specification 22 46 957), contaminants floating on the water surface can be collected even in a relatively rough seaway, and for this purpose a substantially constant skimming depth is required. The known device provides two parallel and vertically extending walls, which are constructed as floats. The skimmer body itself is connected to a further float and is directly carried by the ship body, with which it is hingedly connected. For connecting the skimmer body with the guide walls there is provided a further rod linkage which, through a damping device, is in turn connected to the ship body. This provides for an improvement of other known devices with regard to the preservation of a specific skimming depth.On the other hand, even with the aforedescribed, known embodiment, the unavoidable dipping motion of the ship body especially in rough seas has an unfavourable effect on the skimming depth, because these dipping movements occur independently of the dipping movements of the guide walls. Thus, if in rough seas the skimming depth varies when collecting an oil film of 2 cm thickness for example and reaches, owing to the dipping movements, a substantially higher value, then too much clean water is entrained into the ship body, thereby reducing the cleaning efficiency.

According to the invention, there is provided a device for connection to a ship for collecting contaminants in open waters in a seaway, comprising at least one skimming unit arranged to be mounted in front of an inlet opening in the ship body to be connected by hinge rods to the ship body and having two laterally mounted substantially vertically standing guide walls, the skimmer body being floatably constructed and fast with the guide walls and the float unit comprising partly floodable floats fast with front and rear sides of the skimmer body.

It is thus possible to provide a device by means of which an adjustable skimming depth can be more accurately maintained in rough waters.

The skimmer body can itself be constructed as a closed float body. With this arrangement, on arrival of a wave, first the frontal float is affected, and then it lifts the entire guiding assembly frontally. This allows the skimming depth to be maintained. If immediately thereafter the wave flows over the rear portion of the device, then the rear float acts as an additional lift, with stabilizing effect. Thus, the adaptation to large waves is effected by the elevational stabilization of the skimmer body together with the other components of the guiding device independently of the dipping and sawying movements of the ship body, because the entire device is connected to the ship body by means of hinge rods and is therefore more or less independent of the latter.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a preferred device for collecting contaminants, in side elevation, and Figure 2 is a partial plan view of the device of Figure 1.

The drawings show a device 1 for a ship for collecting contaminants in open waters in a seaway. The ship body 1 9 is merely indicated and is connected through a collector pipe 2 with the device 1, which is pushed by the ship in the direction of arrow 4 in order to skim oil from the surface of the sea to be conveyed through the pipe 2 into the ship body 19, in order to be separated there from water.

Of decisive importance is the skimming depth, which results from the distance between the upper side of a skimmer body 5 and the water surface, which is referenced with 7 or "NW", respectively.

The oil to be skimmed off is conveyed through the skimmer body 5 over a collector channel 6 of the collector pipe 2. The collector pipe 6 is connected at its rear through funnel-shaped walls 8 and an opening 9 with the collector pipe 2.

For stabilizing the position of he skimmer body 5, the skimmer body is connected at its front with two front floaters 25, of which only one is shown in each of the two Figures, since Figure 2 shows only half of the device in plan view. Another contribution to the stabilization of the skimmer body is provided by a rearwards located displacement area 11, which in the following will also be referred to as float 11.

The two sides of the device are defined by guide walls 12, which at the front are angled outwards in a funnel shaped and are held by bracing plates 14.

For connecting the device 1 to the ship body 19, hinge rods 3 are provided and are connected by swivel joints 26 to the device 1 and by swivel joints 20 to the ship body 1 9. The swivel joints 20 and 26 can be constructed so that they not only allow an up-and-down movement of the device 1 relative to the ship body 19, but also a rotary movement to a certain extent, in order to avoid the transmission of a swaying motion of the ship body 1 9 to the device 1.

Over the rear section of the skimmer body 5, an obliquely oriented guide wall 41 is located and continues into a base plate 41' to form a wall component of the displacement area 11 or rear float 1 This obliquely oriented water guide wall 41 is connected, as viewed from its front, by bars 45 which in their totality form a rake, with the skimmer body 5, in order to keep the guide channel 42 free from larger foreign bodies.

The skimmer body 5, which extends over the full width of the device 1 and is fast with both lateral guide wails, is constructed to have a streamline cross-section and is subdivided by a separating wall 60 into an upper chamber 61 and a lower chamber 62. Of these, the upper chamber 61 constitutes a closed float body. The lower chamber 62 is arranged to be flooded by opening a bottom valve 80, which is closed by a valve tappet 81, which extends through a guide pipe 82 above the upper edge of the skimmer body 5.

This arrangement provides the possibility of presetting a particular skimming depth by partial or complete flooding of the lower chamber 62.

However, the front float 25 must, in addition, also be at least partly flooded.

Each of the front floats 25 is subdivided into an upper float 23 and a lower float 24, of which the lower float 24 is arranged to be flooded through a collector pipe 70, which also extends through the upper float 23. In order to avoid strong flow effects in rough seas in the lower float 24, which could affect the position of the skimmer body 5, in the lower float 24 two separating walls 72 and 73 are mounted which, however, do not extend as far as the bottom of the lower float 24, in order to provide for an equalization between the chambers when the tanks 24 are partly flooded.

For the attachment of the front float 25 support plates 63 are provided, which are held on support flangers 64 at the front of the skimmer body.

On arrival of a wave in the direction of arrow 22, the front tank 25 is partly covered with water and thereby lifts the entire device 1 at the front.

Owing to this, the skimming depth is substantially maintained. This, however, implies a rapid response by the upper float 23. To achieve this, the upper float 23 has a greater float area, i.e. a greater base surface than the lower tank 24 located underneath. If the rear part of device 1 is covered by water, then the rear float 11 acts as additional lift with stabilizing effect.

It is obvious that several identicai devices 1 of the aforedescribed type can be mounted one beside the other with a coresponding plurality of collector pipes 2 which collectively lead to a ship body 19 in order to further increase the operational width of the device.

In order to be able to convey the device to the operating site with greater speed than the working speed, it can be rendered free-floating to the largest possible extent by emptying the chambers 62 and the lower floats 24, for example by blowing out the water still contained therein with compressed air.

The device should operate in a substantially inertia-free manner as far as possible and for this reason it has been found to be advantageous to have its components fabricated of plastics or, for example, of aluminium.

Claims

1. A device for connection to a ship for collecting contaminants in open waters in a seaway, comprising at least one skimming unit arranged to be mounted in front of an inlet opening in the ship body to be connected by hinge rods to the ship body and having two laterally mounted substantially vertically standing guide walls, the skimmer body being fioatably constructed and fast with the guide walls and the float unit comprising partly floodable float fast with front and rear sides of the skimmer body.

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1, in which the skimmer body is subdivided by a separating wall extending over its entire width into two chambers of which at least one is arranged to be flooded.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the skimmer body has a streamline-shaped crosssection.

4. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, in which the skimmer body has on its front two or more float spaced relative to each other.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, in which the frontal floats are each subdivided into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, of which the lower chamber is arranged to be flooded.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which the upper chamber is larger than the lower chamber.

7. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, in which a water guide plate is mounted over the skimmer body and carries the rear float.

8. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, including a funnel-shaped rear wall behind the skimmer body having an opening to which is connected a collector pipe leading into the ship body.

9. A collecting device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

1 0. An arrangement comprising a plurality of devices, each as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, disposed side by side and connected to the ship body.