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US 4,420,400 AGranted
Hydrocarbon products damage control systems
AssigneeGeneral Technology Applications, Inc.
InventorWilliam Weitzen
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Technology Applications, Inc.
InventorWilliam Weitzen
Estimating the term…
Spilled liquid hydrocarbon products ranging from crude oil to refined fractions and discrete compounds are converted from a liquid to a gel or to a semi-solid or solid state by contacting a liquid petroleum product with a slurry of cryogenically comminuted polymer particles in a liquified refrigerant gas. The technique is particularly appropriate for control of oil spills in a water environment wherein the oil is either floating on or dispersed in water. Contact of the polymer particles with liquid hydrocarbons results in virtually instantaneous solvation of the polymer in the hydrocarbon to produce a cohesive gel or a semi-solid to solid material at a polymer concentration ranging generally from about 0.2% to 1% for gel formation and from about 1% to 30% for formation of a semi-solid to solid material based on hydrocarbon weight.
A method for bodying spilled liquid hydrocarbons which comprises dissolving sufficient polymer therein to form a non-flowing material of semi-solid to solid consistency by contacting said spilled hydrocarbons with a slurry of cryogenically comminuted polymer particles in a liquid cryogenic refrigerant.
A method for containing a liquid hydrocarbon spill on water which comprises dissolving a polymer in said hydrocarbon by applying a slurry of cryogenically comminuted polymer particles in a liquid cryogenic refrigerant to the surface of said hydrocarbon in sufficient amount to convert said hydrocarbon from a liquid to a semi-solid or solid state.
A method for recovering spilled crude oil which comprises dissolving a polymer in said spilled oil by contacting said spilled oil with a slurry of cryogenically comminuted polymer particles in liquid nitrogen, said polymer displaying solubility in said crude oil and being heat decomposable, in an amount sufficient to convert said crude oil to a thickened, semi-solid to solid state, collecting said solidified oil and thereafter heating said solidified oil to a temperature whereat said polymer decomposes and said oil reverts to liquid form.
A method for controlling spills of a liquid hydrocarbon at an underwater leakage point which comprises dissolving sufficient polymer in said hydrocarbon to cause agglomeration and thickening of the hydrocarbon by injecting a slurry of cryogenically comminuted polymer particles in a cryogenic refrigerant at or in close proximity to said leakage point.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.