Means of mounting and installing a fabric to provide a fence for separating oil from bodies of water
AssigneeCerex Advanced Fabrics, Inc.
InventorsAlbert E. ORTEGA, Daniel Patrick BAILLIE, Erin S. CARTER, James D. BOSTWICK
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Means for easily mounting fabric on stakes or posts and installing a fence that separates oil from water on land, on shorelines, or bodies of water are provided, as are methods of fabricating and methods of deploying such a mounting fabric. A fabric can be securely and easily mounted to stakes or posts to fabricate a fence that separates oil from water. The fabric can be a strong, lightweight fabric for separating spilled oil from water.
Claims20
An oil containment/separation fence, comprising:
- a fence nonwoven fabric;
- and
- fasteners configured to attach the fence nonwoven fabric to support elements, wherein the fasteners comprise at least one of the following types of fastener:
- straps integrally formed with the fence nonwoven fabric;
- and grommets within the fence nonwoven fabric.
A method of fabricating an oil containment/separation fence, the method comprising:
- fabricating a fence nonwoven fabric;
- and
- fabricating straps attached to the fence nonwoven fabric and configured to be fastened to a plurality of support elements for supporting the nonwoven fabric,
- wherein fabricating the fence nonwoven fabric comprises:
- feeding and spinning, in an extruder, one or more polymer resins;
- extruding the one or more polymer resins in the form of a plurality of filaments;
- depositing the filaments onto a collection surface to form a web;
- and
- thermally bonding the filaments of the web to form the fence nonwoven fabric, and
- wherein the fence nonwoven fabric has a machine direction grab tensile strength of at least 58 lbsf as measured using American Society for Testing and Materials test method (ASTM) D5034, a cross direction grab tensile strength of at least 38 lbsf as measured using ASTM D5034, a machine direction trapezoidal tear strength of at least 14 lbsf as measured by ASTM D5587, and a cross direction trapezoidal tear strength of at least 10 lbsf as measured by ASTM D5587.
A method of fabricating an oil containment/separation fence, the method comprising:
- fabricating a fence nonwoven fabric;
- inserting a plurality of support elements into the ground within a body of water, near a body of water, or both;
- and
- attaching the fence nonwoven fabric to the plurality of support elements, such that the plurality of support elements support the fence nonwoven fabric,
- wherein fabricating the fence nonwoven fabric comprises:
- feeding and spinning, in an extruder, one or more polymer resins;
- extruding the one or more polymer resins in the form of a plurality of filaments;
- depositing the filaments onto a collection surface to form a web;
- and
- thermally bonding the filaments of the web to form the fence nonwoven fabric,
- wherein each support element is a stake or a post,
- wherein the fence nonwoven fabric is attached to the plurality of support elements using fasteners, wherein the fasteners comprise at least one of the following types of fastener:
- straps integrally formed with the fence nonwoven fabric;
- and grommets within the fence nonwoven fabric.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.