Oil spill containment system
AssigneeOil Spill Containment Systems Pty. Ltd.
InventorsDouglas Tarca, deceased, June M. Tarca, administrator
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A boom assembly is carried on board a vessel for automatic deployment around the vessel to contain an oil spill. The boom assembly comprises endless inflatable tubes supporting a skirt whose bottom edge is weighted by linear weight. The boom assembly is stored in uninflated folded form in an elongate capsule which serves as the deck handrail of the vessel. The tubes are connectable to a source of pressurized air via air lines. The capsule consists of hinged sections which are normally sealed. Upon inflation of the tubes, the seal is broken by expansion of the tubes and the hinged sections open to automatically deploy the boom assembly around the vessel.
Claims12
An improved spillage containment system adapted to be carried on, and deployed from, a ship or similar marine vessel;
- the system comprising
- an elongate boom assembly comprising at least a first inflatable tubular member, and a dependent barrier member connected therealong, the tubular member being buoyant when inflated to thereby support the barrier member when the boom assembly is deployed in water;
- container means mounted on the vessel for storing the boom assembly with the tubular member in deflated form;
- and
- inflation means for inflating the tubular member while it is still in the container means, whereby the container means is caused to open by the expansion of the tubular member therein as a result of its inflation, and thereby automatically deploy the boom assembly around the vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.