Extinguishing oil fire at borehole by hollow concrete ball - comprises choking oil outlet and discharging sand, and sealing outlet with solid concrete ball with oil flow control valve

摘要

Hollow concrete ball filled with sand is towed by tracked vehicles to the fire, which the ball chokes or the escaping sand extinguishes. The ball is towed away, and replaced by a concrete ball which is used to seal the borehole and has a device for controlling any further outflow of oil. A variant is claimed in which the outflow of sand is through an iron plate at the bottom of the hollow ball. The plate is melted by the heat. USE/ADVANTAGE - The procedure, including arranging for any oil outflow, after the fire has been put out, to be controlled and piped away (e.g., into tanks), takes about 40-120 days, and could be used to extinguish all borehole fires in the vicinity in a comparatively very short time.