Emergency transfer of oil from a ruptured ship's tank to a receiving vessel or container, particularly during the maintenance of an underpressure in the tank

A system to reduce spillage of oil from a ruptured ship's tank, the system comprising:

• inerting means for maintaining a gaseous mixture enhanced with inert gas in an ullage space above oil within a tank containing oil within a ship sufficient so as to reduce the flammability of hydrocarbon vapors and air in this ullage space;
• underpressure means for maintaining a gaseous pressure within the ullage space at less than atmospheric pressure nonetheless that mixture of gases therein is enhanced in inert gas, and for thereafter maintaining a balance of pressure forces on the oil within the tank at the site of any rupture to the tank upon the occasion of the rupture so as to impede spillage of oil from the tank;
• conduit means, flow-connecting to the oil of the ruptured tank at a level above a location of the rupture, for channeling a flow of the tank's oil;
• and
• pump means, flow connected to the conduit means, for pumping with a suction force that is stronger than the underpressure the oil from the ruptured tank through the conduit means.

In a ship having

• a tank containing liquid,
• a main discharge pipe extending into the tank and through which the liquid contents of the tank may be evacuated by pumping, and
• a main pump means for pumping the liquid from the tank through the discharge pipe,
• a system to transfer the liquid from the ship's tank after its rupture, the system comprising:
• underpressure means for creating an underpressure less than atmospheric pressure in an ullage space of a ruptured tank of a ship, and for dynamically maintaining this underpressure so as to produce a balance in all forces acting on liquid contents of the ruptured tank, said balance of forces tending to preclude that the liquid contents of the ruptured tank should egress through the rupture;
• valve means, located on the discharge pipe between the ruptured tank's liquid and the main pump means, for shutting off any flow of liquid from the ruptured tank through the discharge pipe;
• conduit means, flow-connecting to the liquid of the ruptured tank at a level above a location of the rupture, for channeling a flow of the ruptured tank's liquid;
• and
• suction pump means, flow connected to the conduit means, for pumping with a suction force that is stronger than the underpressure the liquid from the ruptured tank through the conduit means to the main pump means, therein to prime the main pump means with the ruptured tank's liquid.

A plumbing system to (i) maintain a gaseous underpressure in the ullage space of a ship's tank containing liquid at the same time that (ii) liquid is pumped from the same ship's tank after rupture of the tank, the ship's gaseous and liquid plumbing system comprising:

• first gas conduit means for connecting an ullage space of a ship's tank to a gas pump means;
• gas pump means, connected to the ullage space of the ship's tank by the first gas conduit means, for pumping gases from the ullage space of the ship's tank so as to create a gaseous underpressure less than atmospheric pressure in the ullage space of the ship's tank, and for dynamically maintaining this gaseous underpressure regardless of any rupture of the tank so as to produce a balance in all forces acting on liquid contents of the ruptured tank, said balance of forces tending to preclude that the liquid contents of the tank should egress through any rupture;
• liquid conduit means for flow-connecting the liquid within the ruptured tank at a level above a location of the rupture to a liquid pump means;
• and
• liquid pump means, flow connected to the liquid within the ruptured tank by the liquid conduit means, for pumping with a suction force that is stronger than the force of the gaseous underpressure the liquid from the ruptured tank through the liquid conduit means.

A method of evacuating liquid from a ship's tank containing liquid after rupture of the tank, the method comprising:

• creating a gaseous underpressure less than atmospheric pressure in an ullage space of a ruptured tank of a ship;
• dynamically maintaining this gaseous underpressure so as to produce a balance of all forces acting on liquid contents of the ruptured tank, said balance of forces tending to preclude that the liquid contents of the ruptured tank should egress through the rupture;
• flow-connecting the liquid of the ruptured tank at a level above a location of the rupture to a pump;
• and
• pumping with a suction force that is stronger than the force of the gaseous underpressure the liquid from the ruptured tank.