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US 6,673,241 B1Granted
Self-floating cover system for a body of water
AssigneeMonsanto Company
InventorsAlbert E. Tung, Brent A. Roberts
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a foldable, self-floating cover system for a body of water. This invention is also directed to a method of using this cover on a body of water, and particularly on a sewage lagoon to reduce the emission of offensive odors and/or gases.
Claims41
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one gas permeable cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass capable of oxidizing emissions from the body of water thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, a buoyancy-imparting layer substantially coextensive with the cover unit in area of coverage and constructed of a buoyant material comprising closed cell foam, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one gas permeable cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass capable of oxidizing emissions from the body of water thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, a buoyancy-imparting layer substantially co-extensive with the cover unit in area of coverage and constructed of a buoyant material, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water, said cover unit comprising a layer having a plurality of two differently sized openings, the smaller openings being from about 0.5 to about 10 mm in their largest dimension and the larger openings being at least about 10 mm in their largest dimension.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one gas permeable cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass capable of oxidizing emissions from the body of water thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, a buoyancy-imparting layer substantially coextensive with the cover unit in area of coverage and comprising multiple layers, at least two of which are formed of different buoyant materials, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water, and
- a strength-imparting layer comprising a material having a tensile strength greater than the tensile strength of the buoyancy-imparting layer that is substantially coextensive with the cover unit in area of coverage.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive cases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one gas permeable cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass capable of oxidizing emissions from the body of water thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, a buoyancy-imparting layer substantially coextensive with the cover unit in area of coverage and constructed of a buoyant material, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water, said buoyancy-imparting layer forming at least a portion of the upper surface of said cover unit capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one gas permeable cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass capable of oxidizing emissions from the body of water thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, a buoyancy-imparting layer substantially coextensive with the cover unit in area of coverage and constructed of a buoyant material, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water;
- a strength-imparting layer comprising a material having a tensile strength greater than the tensile strength of the buoyancy-imparting layer, said buoyancy-imparting layer and/or said strength-imparting layer having a plurality of openings which are from about 2.5 to about 50 mm in their largest dimension;
- and
- a layer comprising said filamentary material which forms at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass, said filamentary material being from about 1 to about 4 cm thick and having a unit weight of from about 5 to about 15 ounces/yd2.
1 more element
A self-floating cover system for a body of water, the cover system comprising at least one cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and comprising:
- a buoyancy-imparting layer;
- a strength-imparting layer comprising a material having a tensile strength greater than the tensile strength of the buoyancy-imparting layer, said buoyancy-imparting layer and/or said strength-imparting layer having a plurality of openings which are from about 2.5 to about 50 mm in their largest dimension;
- and
- a layer comprising synthetic filamentary material comprising polypropylene which forms at least a portion of the surface of said cover unit capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, said synthetic filamentary material being from about 1 to about 4 cm thick and having a unit weight of from about 5 to about 15 ounces/yd2.
1 more element
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a sewage lagoon, the cover system comprising:
- at least one cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the sewage lagoon, the cover unit being flexible and having a bottom surface for resting above or below the surface of the sewage lagoon and an upper surface formed by a synthetic material having a surface area which is greater than the surface area of the material forming the bottom surface, the synthetic material being capable of supporting the growth of aerobic biomass when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the sewage lagoon.
A self-floating cover system according to claim 36 wherein said cover unit comprises a layer having a plurality of openings which are from about 2.5 to about 50 mm in their largest dimension.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water, said cover unit further comprising a layer having a plurality of two differently sized openings, the smaller openings being from about 0.5 to about 10 mm in their largest dimension and the larger openings being at least about 10 mm in their largest dimension.
A self-floating cover system for reducing offensive gases and/or odors emitted from a body of water, the cover system comprising:
- at least one cover unit sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the body of water, said cover unit being flexible and having an upper surface formed by a filamentary material and capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass thereon when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water, the buoyancy of said cover unit being greater than the maximum weight of biomass that accumulates on and within said cover unit when the cover system is placed onto the surface of the body of water such that at least a portion of the upper surface of the cover unit remains above the surface of the body of water;
- said cover unit further comprising microporous particles which form at least a portion of the upper surface of said cover unit capable of supporting growth of aerobic biomass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.