Method and Plant for Treating Bottom Sludge in a Tank

Plant for treating bottom sludge in a storage tank, comprising:

• means for generating one or more jets under pressure into the tank, said jets serving for breaking up the banks of bottom sludge and/or for mixing the contents of said tank, said means being adjustable for varying the range and direction of said jets and being intended for being fed with the contents of said tank;
• and
• a control unit of said means for generating jets;
• characterised in that it comprises active SONAR means suitable for detecting the state of the bottom sludge inside said tank, said SONAR means interfacing with said control unit so as to allow the latter to adjust the range and the orientation of said jets on the basis of the bottom sludge state.

A system for treating bottom sludge in a storage tank, comprising:

• one or more guns configured to generate one or more jets under pressure into a storage tank, each gun having an adjustable nozzle for varying a range and a direction of the one or more jets, each jet being generated from fluid from the storage tank;
• a detection system configured to detect the state of a bottom sludge in the storage tank;
• and
• a control system in electrical communication with the detection system, the control system configured to adjust at least one adjustable nozzle based, at least in part, on the bottom sludge.