Method intended for the progressive reduction of an oil slick (slick of hydrocarbons) spilt into the sea, and installation for implementing it

摘要

The invention relates to a method intended for the progressive reduction in the surface area occupied by hydrocarbons spilt into the sea. The method consists in encircling an oil slick (5) by means of a flexible and adaptable containing wall (3), of small height, in progressively contracting the wall in order gradually to reduce the surface area occupied by the spillage and increase the thickness thereof, which subsequently makes it possible to remove the oil by suction when the height of the slick exceeds a minimum determined suction threshold, in progressively tightening the circle and reducing the slick until it has been eliminated. The invention also relates to an installation for implementation of this method. This installation comprises a floating wall of the flexible and adaptable type (3), coupled with a plurality of movable floats (2), a fixed float (1) associated with the wall itself, which can be combined optionally with other fixed floats (7) in order to place the suction point there. IMAGE