Ship-mounted oil and water separator has hot water jets promoting separation of captured heavy oil particles from sea water

摘要

A continually-operated assembly separates oil from a mixture of oil and water especially following accidental oil spillage in shallow-water coastal zones. The assembly is transported by truck to the vicinity of spillage, where it is off-loaded an attached to a suitable shallow-draught barge or ship. The barge or ship pushes the assembly through the carpet of oil, which is captured by a series of chain-driven (3) pick-up (2) paddles which lift the oil and transport it up a sheet metal slide (4). At the upper end of the slide, a pipe (8) dispenses hot water at high pressure through numerous small nozzles (25). The hot water jets impinge on the pick-up paddles, penetrating the mixture of oil and water and breaking up the integrity of the mixture, which is released into a heated tank in which the oil and water separate into two layers continually monitored by photo-cells (17, 18). The photo cells detect the presence of oil and water and are linked to pumps which remove oil or water as required. The oil is transferred by pump into a tank which is transported by the ship or barge.