Floating oil confining apparatus

Patent · Tue Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 1972

OSTI ID:6206063

Fitzgerald, H J

A practical, effective, and inexpensive apparatus is provided for confining an oily material to a limited area of the surface of the water, thereby preventing its spreading or migration, and for removing the resulting accumulation. In general terms, this is accomplished by elongated flexible, hollow, tubular float members, which are inflated to low pressure, on the order of 0.5 psi, to maintain a high degree of flexibility, and which are connected end to end in a ring which surrounds an area of substantial width around the source of the oily material. Depending from the float members are skirts of impermeable sheet material weighted at the lower ends, for example by a chain, and extending downward a distance exceeding the anticipated maximum thickness of the oily accumulation. The ring is preferably generally polygonal. (3 claims)

• Assignee: Ocean Pollution Contr Inc.
• Patent Number(s): US 3641770
• OSTI ID: 6206063
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CONTAINMENT
CONTROL
DESIGN
EQUIPMENT
OFFSHORE OPERATIONS
OIL POLLUTION CONTAINMENT
OIL SPILLS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SKIMMERS
WATER POLLUTION
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL