Support vessels

Depolluting ships
(Anti-pollution vessel)

What Are Anti-Pollution Vessels? Anti-pollution vessel is a special type of ship which is employed to absorb pollutants from
oceanic water during ship accidents or any other incident which has lead to pollution at the sea. The pollutants can include oil spill because of an accident, garbage left behind by vessels, or other kind of floating marine debris resulting from ocean dumping. y.I y , f x v n and pollution even at the coastlines, the need, importance and presence of such vessels has increased manifold. -

These anti-pollution ships are equipped with gadgetries and systems which help in recovering back the polluting substances from the sea water. Some of the main equipment includes pumpers, liquid disinfectant substances, oil spill kits, oil booms, and oil dispersants which can be sprayed to clean up the contaminated areas. Alongside to facilitate the process of cleaning contaminated shore areas and remove debris from the sea, there are specific container systems provided which act like bins. There are various marine companies that specifically focus on providing such anti-pollution vessels to the required oceanic areas. While most of such companies have come up with their anti-pollution v y , have designed their vessels to cater to only a specific location in a particular nation. Anti-pollution ships thus help ships involved in an accident to fight oils spill at the sea. Sepor S.P.A. is a company has two such anti-oil pollution ships the Optimist and the Acqua Azzurra. Both these vessels have been engaged in many de-contaminating operations of the oceans k f f f y x q technological systems. Both vessels offer speeds of about 10 knots and while the Optimist is slightly smaller as compared to the Azzurra, its services are par excellent, nonetheless. These vessels help in cleaning oil spill or other form of marine pollution a variety of ways.

In contrast, the Japanese came with the prospect of building an anti-pollution vessel for two of its major water bodies that are sources of vital marine products and commodities for the people. Accordingly, the vessel KAIKI was built, which not only ensures appropriate cleaning operations from time-to-time, but also doubles as an observation vessel. Constructed at the Mitsubishi shipbuilding yard, the vessel is built using alloys of aluminium and is equipped with several stateof-the-art gadgets to help fulfill its observation studies better. Anti-sea pollution ships and anti-oil pollution ships are the 11th hour measures developed in order to combat the now-visible threats of marine pollution and minimize the effects of marine pollution. Though these vessels cater extensively to the maritime community, there cannot be any denying that the callousness of the marine operators has been instrumental in their creation, in the first place.

Lamor Multipurpose Oil Recovery Vessel with Ice Class KM-ICE2 R3

The oil recovery vessel with the built-in oil recovery system LORS on both sides (2 x 20 m) is usually custom built and designed pending the requirements. In addition to oil recovery, the workboat can also be used as a multi-purpose vessel for boom deployment, dispersant spraying, service tasks and as a safety patrol boat. The vessel has hull mounted brush packs, which enables recovered oil to be delivered directly to the recovered oil storage tanks in the mid-ship without the need of using oil transfer pumps. Another advantage is that the brush conveyors are in direct connection with the oil on the water surface which notably improves the high viscous oil and debris collection capabilities, but also collecting of light oils in Arctic conditions. Moreover, vessels are built to varying ice class demands and certified by the appropriate authorities in the region the vessel is used. Below is a brief extract of a general specification.

Designation of the boat:

The technical support boat is used for the following purposes: Oil spill response at sea ning water area from oil and floating garbage y f various goods with total weight up to 5 t

Areas of operation:
The boat shall operate in the water areas of Russian ports.

Design type:
Decked displacement-type flush-deck vessel made of steel, having a single deckhouse made of aluminum, and a hull divided by five transverse bulkheads into six water-proof compartments, and equipped with a twin diesel propulsion plant with shaft lines.

Class of boat:
The boat is designed according to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping class KMICE2 R3

General specifications:
Main dimensions:
Length overall, m 19.0 Beam molded, m 5.3 Mid-ship depth, m 2.7 Loaded draft with cargo, m about 1.2 Loaded draft with collected oil, m about 1.6

Displacement:
The loaded displacement is 93 t. The navigation range at speed of 10 knots is not less than 200 miles. The fresh water and victuals capacity provides a self-sustaining period of 3 days.

The deadweight of the boat at a summer load line draft is about 31 t. The cargo tanks have a total capacity of 20 m3. The capacity of the consumable tank is as follows: Diesel, m3 3.8 Fresh water, m3 1.0 The cargo hold has a capacity of about 11 m3. The gross tonnage, as determined by the Register Rules, is about 50.

Seaworthiness:
Speed of a boat at conditions: fully equipped and without cargo, driven by its 2x330 kW main propulsion units at an engine speed of 1800 rpm, at maximum sea of 1o Beaufort, a wind speed of 2o Beaufort, at minimum water depth of 20 m and with a fouling-free hull, is about 10 knots. This speed must be performed at standard speed trials at measured course. The propulsion unit provides any continuous speed within the whole speed range.

Crew and accommodations:

Boat crew consists of 2 persons. A duty room shall be allocated for the crew on board and equipped with a food reheating facility. During work emergency crew consisting of up to 4 members can be taken aboard.

General arrangement and architecture:

The boat has one deck and a single deckhouse at forward part. Five transverse watertight bulkheads divide the boat into six watertight compartments. Fire protection meets the Rules of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

Special-purpose equipment:
The following equipment is installed to provide the intended use of the boat: f2 f

brush gears, fender booms and a control panel All special-purpose units shall be actuated by hydraulics. For cargo handling operations, embarkation and debarkation of trash containers a crane-manipulator with a hydraulic drive

is provided. Crane is mounted at the middle above a collected oil tank. A lifting capacity of the crane is 0.7 t at an outreach of 4.0 m. The boat is equipped with foam-filled boom Lamor FOB1200 intended for use at wave height of up to 1 m.

Main particulars:
Class RMRS Loa, m Boa, m Draft, m Displacement, tons Deadweight, tons Speed Power, kW KM-Ice2 R3 19.0 5.3 1.6 93 31 10 knots 2x330

FOB1200 can be used in open water areas, at ports as well as for permanent installation in harbors and oil terminals. The boom is stored on a hydraulically driven reel with capacity up to 200 m. The reel has rings on each corner to be hoisted by a crane. The boom reel is placed astern above the machine compartment.

Power plant
The power plant consists of: w S nia DI 12 59M marine four-cycle engines, with output of 330 kW at 1800 rpm, operating to fixed propellers x y w ing a diesel generator of about 28 kW

Propulsion units
T propellers. f two main engines, transmission gears and fi xed pitch

Power station
Power sources:
w w , having 180 A/h, 12 V, connected in cascade , 28V, 5

-phase diesel-generator of about 25 kW at 400 V, 50 Hz, with automatic voltage control and AREP -excitation w , having 180 A/h, 12 V, connected in cascade, used to start the main diesels and the diesel generator w y , electrical equipment in emergency having 180 A/h, 12 V, connected in cascade, used to power the

Radio facilities
The following equipment is mounted aboard for the boat to navigate in A1 sea areas: VHF VHF y transponder f w -way radiophone communication y f KOSP S-SARSAT system

Navigation equipment
The following equipment is mounted aboard to ensure safe navigation: v -indicator for the radio navigation system f ector

searchlight on a top of wheelhouse

Onboard equipment
The boat is supplied with emergency, fi re protection and navigation equipment in compliance with the RMRS Rules.

VESSEL FOR REMOVING LIQUID CONTAMINANTS FROM THE SURFACE OF A WATER BODY
A vessel for use in floating contaminant liquid such as oil from the surface of water has a hull forming an immersed inverted channel into which surface layers flow as the vessel advances, the hull being shaped so as to guide into accumulation zones from which the liquid is drawn by a pump into settling tanks disposed in pontoons from the tanks and the contaminant liquid being collected in the tanks, and react: 11 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for removing from the surface of a body of water a lighter contaminant liquid. In practice it is often necessary to remove from the surface of the sea, contaminating liquids of different nature which, having less density than the water. The problem is especially acute in eliminating from the surface of the sea contaminant liquids of an oily nature , where the problem arises particularly in proximity to ports and may be caused by oil discharge from ships and by the washing-out operation of the holds of tankers. It is also necessary with every increasing frequency to work on the open sea due to oil spillage accidents or wrecks involving tankers. In such situations it is desirable to use a vessel for removing the contaminant liquid which is both seaworthy and able to reach the contaminated area with sufficient speed.

Many systems have been adopted hitherto in order to attempt to solve the abovementioned problems. One widely known procedure which has been used is based upon the use of chemical solvents capable of dissolving the contaminating liquid. The resulting solution, having a greater density than that of the water, sinks to the bottom of the sea. However, such a procedure has the serious disadvantage of greatly damaging the marine fauna and destroying the flora on the sea bed itself. Other known systems are based upon introduction into the interior of the hull of a floating vessel of the surface layers of the water to be purified and upon successive separation of the contaminant liquid from the water. Such systems have the disadvantage of having to introduce and cause to flow inside the vessel, together with the contaminant liquid, a considerable quantity of water, which inevitably leads to the vessel being unsuitable for use in the open sea, and having very much reduced efficiency if used in rough seas, the vessel also having a slow speed of movement even under nonworking conditions. An object of the present invention is to obviate the above-cited disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly the present invention provides a system of removing from the surface of a body of water a contaminant liquid of lower density than the water, the system comprising: conveying surface layers of the body of water into an inverted channel immersed in the water and having its upper surface at a level lower than the free surface of the body of

water; forming in the upper part of the inverted channel, through the formation of vortices, axially spaced apart zones for the accumulation of the contaminant liquid, applying suction to said accumulation zones for the purpose of withdrawing the contaminant liquid accumulated therein and conveying it into decantation or settling tanks. The present invention also provides a vessel for use in removing from the surface of a body of water a contaminant liquid of lower density than the water, characterized in that the vessel comprises: at least two pontoons provided with tanks for the collection and decantation of the contaminant liquid; a hull extending between each pair of adjacent pontoons and having in transverse cross section a profile different points of which have different distances from the plane tangent to the bottoms of the pontoons; at least one inverted longitudinal channel formed by the hull in the or each zone of greatest distance from the said tangent plane; means defining in the upper part of each inverted channel when the latter is completely immersed during forward movement of the vessel through surface contaminated water, accumulation zones for the contaminant liquid in correspondence with apertures in a wall of the inverted channel, and means for transferring into the collection and decantation tanks by the application of suction the liquid accumulated in the said accumulation zones of the inverted channels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view from above of a vessel according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view from below of the vessel of FIG. 1; FIG. 2a is a detail on an enlarged scale of FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a transverse cross section of the vessel along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a detail on an enlarged scale of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a partial cross section of FIG. 4 along the line VV; FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section of the vessel, taken along the line VIVI of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a variation of FIG. 3 according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, a vessel 1 according to the invention comprises two lateral pontoons 2 joined together by a central hull 3 and surmounted by a cabin 4. The central hull 3 has a cylindrical forepart 3 which meets the upper deck of the vessel; the remaining part of the central hull 3 has a V-profile in transverse section with its vertex facing downwards, so that different points in the cross sectional profile of the bottom of the hull 3 have different distances from the plane HH tangent to the bottoms of the pontoons 2. This profile is symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the vessel and defines, in proximity to the connection of the central hull 3 to each of the lateral pontoons 2, a collection zone which is a greater distance from the said tangent plane HH than the vertex of the hull 3. In each of the collection zones the central hull 3 forms an inverted channel 5 extending longitudinally over the greater part of the length of the vessel. The hull 3 has a series of fishbone ribs 33 the vertices of which point forwardly. The ribs 33 act as deflectors guiding the liquid which flows over the bottom surface of the central hull 3 towards the two channels 5. The internal wall 7 of each lateral pontoon 2 which forms the outer boundary of the respective inverted channel 5 is provided with a plurality of rectangular apertures 6 in the upper zone of said inverted channel 5. The apertures 6 open into a manifold 8 disposed inside the adjoining pontoon 2 parallel to the inverted channel 5 and having a length substantially equal to that of the said inverted channel. The part of the central hull 3 which constitutes the top of each inverted channel 5 is provided with apertures 9a disposed in correspondence with the respective apertures 6. Each aperture 9a communicates with a vertical conduit 9 which opens into the atmosphere through a narrow ventilator opening 9b facing rearward, and situated on the upper deck of the vessel 1. Each inverted channel 5 is furnished with a plurality of longitudinal fins 10 extending throughout the entire length of the channel 5. The fins 10 extend in height from the bottom of the channel 5 as far as the lower edges of the apertures 6. Perpendicularly to the longitudinal fins 10 there are disposed a plurality of main transverse fins 11 extending over the entire width and entire height of each inverted channel 5. Between each pair of successive transverse deflector fins 11 there are provided a plurality of auxiliary transverse deflector fins 12 also extending over the entire width of the inverted channel 5, but not extending over the entire height of the channel: more specifically, between the edges of the auxiliary fins 12 and the top of the said inverted channels there is provided a

flow passage 12a. The transverse fins 11 and 12 are upwardly inclined with respect to the direction of advance of the vessel 1 in the water, as indicated in FIG. 5 by the arrow F, and give rise to vortices in the liquid as the vessel advances so as to trap the contaminant liquid in the respective channels 5, as hereinafter described. The manifold 8 communicates through a conduit 13 with a plurality of decantation tanks 14 communicating with each other through apertures 16 and 15 formed respectively in the lower part and in the upper part of said tanks. A decantation pump 18 draws off, through a conduit 17, the liquid accumulated in the tanks 14 and conveys it through a conduit 19 into a slow settling tank 20 closed at the top and communicating at the bottom with the tanks 14 through an aperture 21. A discharge pump 22 withdraws liquid from the lower zone of the tanks 14 through a conduit 23 and discharges it into the surrounding water through a discharge conduit 24. Each lateral pontoon 2 has an aft buoyancy tank 25 and a forward buoyancy tank 26. FIG. 3 shows at LN the level of the free surface of water under normal navigation conditions of the vessel, and at LF the level of the free surface of the water under conditions of use of the vessel, in which it removes contaminant liquid from the surface of the water. The manner of operation of the vessel previously described, is as follows. When the vessel is under way the decantation containers 14 are partially empty and consequently the central hull 3 is completely clear of the water. Under such conditions the vessel 1 is able to move quickly and proceed to the operating zone. Once : the vessel reaches the operating zone a pump not shown fills the decantation tanks 14 so that the vessel sinks up to the operating level LF. In this situation the upper wall of each inverted channel 5 lies at a depth A 'FIG. 3) which is dependent on the dimensions of the /vessel 1: for example for a vessel 1 having a length between 12 and 15 meters, the depth A varies between 30 md 50 cms, the latter depth being adopted when the /vessel 1 is used in rough seas. The forward motion of the vessel 1 relative to the surrounding water thrusts the surface layers of the water, having regard to the profile of the underside of the central hull 3 and the inclination of the ribs 33, into the two inverted channels 5 disposed at the two sides of the hull 3. In each inverted channel 5 the surface layers are deflected towards the upwardly inclined deflector fins 11 and 12. The contaminant liquid, being lighter, tends to rise and remains trapped in the upper zones of the inverted channels 5 between the successive deflector fins 11. Such upper zones constitute, therefore, accumulation zones for the contaminant liquid. When the pump 22 is put into operation suction is applied to the inside of the tanks 14 and, through the conduit 13, to the manifold 8. The contaminant liquid in the accumulation zones of the inverted channels 5 is drawn through the apertures 6 into the manifolds 8, the apertures 6 being each positioned immediately downstream of upper ends of the deflector fins 11. The contaminant liquid trapped between the fins 11 is thus

drawn through the manifolds 8 into the tanks 14. The auxiliary deflector fins 12 facilitate the circulation of the contaminant liquid towards the apertures 6 in the accumulation zones. The lighter contaminant liquid collects in the upper parts of the tanks 14 whilst the water is collected in the lower parts of the tanks and is discharged into the surrounding water by the pump 22 through the conduit 23 and the discharge conduit 24. The tanks 14 are thus refilled progressively with contaminant liquid. For the purpose of obtaining more efficient separating or decanting action the decantation pump 18 withdraws liquid from the upper parts of the tanks 14 and decants it to the interior of the slow settling tank 20 which is closed in its upper region whilst its bottom region is connected through the aperture 21 to the tanks 14. The tanks 14 and the slow settling tank 20 are provided with vents (not shown) in their upper walls for the escape of trapped air. The slow settling tank 20, being watertight, permits the accumulation in its upper part of contaminant liquid, even when the vessel 1 is operating in a rough sea. It will be noted that even under these conditions, the concentration of the contaminant liquid in the accumulation zones is substantial, given the tendency of that liquid, being lighter than the water to rise in the tanks 14. The contaminant liquid therefore becomes trapped in the accumulation zones comprised between the deflector fins 11 from which zones subsequent dislodgement of the said liquid would be difficult, notwithstanding the vortex action in the water underneath these zones. The longitudinal fins 10 also serve to smother such turbulence and vortex action in the accumulation zones. The use of the vessel 1 is continued until total refilling with the contaminant liquid of the settling tank 20, and almost total refilling of the tanks 14 has occurred. At this point the operation of the vessel 1 is ceased. In the variant illustrated diagrammatically in transverse cross section in FIG. 7 the central hull of the vessel, shown at 333, has an inverted V-profile with its vertex facing upwards, having therefore a single central zone of maximum distance from the plane HH tangent to the bottoms of the pontoons 2. A single inverted channel 5 is arranged in this central zone of the hull 333. It will be appreciated that constructional details of practical embodiments of the vessel according to the invention may be varied widely with respect to what has been described and illustrated by way of example, without thereby departing from the scope of present invention as defined in the claims. Thus for example the vessel may be equipped with three or more pontoons and the profile of the hull between each pair of pontoons could be of different form from the V-shaped profile of the illustrated embodiments.

I claim: 1. A vessel for collecting a liquid floating on the surface of a body of water, said vessel comprising a V-shaped hull portion, a deck there over, and catamaran hull portions connected to said deck at each side of said hull portion, a downwardly open collecting channel structure located beneath said deck between said hull portion and said catamaran hull portions at each side of said V-shaped hull portion, the surface of each side of said hull, arranged in an upwardly inclined V, joining at its upper edge the downwardly open side of said collecting channels whereby liquid displaced by said V-shaped hull portion is deflected into said downwardly open collecting channels, divider means longitudinally spaced within said collecting channels ^dividing said channels into a plurality of separated fluid compartments, and means for removing collected fluid from each of said compartments. 2. A vessel as set forth in claim 1 wherein said V-shaped hull portion is provided with a plurality of spaced apart ribs extending angularly and rearward toward the stern of the vessel to direct said fluid to be collected toward said downwardly open collecting channels. 3. A vessel as set forth in claim 1 wherein said divider means are comprised of spaced apart transverse fins extending over the entire width and the entire height of said downwardly open collecting channels. 4. A vessel as set forth in claim 3 wherein said transverse fins are upwardly inclined from the bow to the stem of the vessel. 5. A vessel as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a plurality of auxiliary transverse fins in each compartment extending across the width of said downwardly open collecting channels but spaced from the uppermost wall thereof. 6. A vessel as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said downwardly open collecting channels is provided with longitudinal fins extending throughout the entire length of said channels perpendicular to but spaced from the uppermost wall of said channels. 7. A vessel as set forth in claim 1 including at least one aperture extending through the upper portion of each of said fluid compartments and means for drawing through said apertures the liquid accumulated in each of said fluid compartments. 8. A vessel as set forth in claim 7 including at least one air exhaust conduit communicating with each of said fluid compartments at a location close to said aperture in said compartment. 9. A vessel as set forth in claim 7 further comprising storage tanks located in said catamaran hull portions for the collection and decantation of the collected liquid.

10. A vessel as set forth in claim 9 wherein said means for drawing the collected liquid through the apertures comprises manifold means disposed in communication with the apertures of each compartment, conduit means connecting said manifold means with one of said tanks, passage means interconnecting said tanks and a suction pump arranged tb withdraw the lower layers of liquid contained in said tanks and discharging the same into the surrounding water to create a suction in the tanks suitable for the purpose of drawing into the latter the liquid collected in said compartments. 11. A vessel as set forth in claim 10 including auxiliary settling tank means disposed adjacent said decantation tanks, flow passage means connecting said decantation tanks with the lower part of said auxiliary settling tank means and a decantation pump adapted to take off the top layers of liquid contained in said decantation tanks and conveys the same to said auxiliary settling tank means.

VESSEL WITH OXYGENATION SYSTEM AND DECONTAMINATION METHOD

The waterborne vessel, in one embodiment, utilizes an underwater tunnel through which passes flowing water, an ozone gas generator, an ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas generator and a source of atmospheric oxygen. A manifold mixer mixes pressurized water independently with the ozone, the ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and the atmospheric oxygen to produce corresponding oxygenated water mixtures. Each of these oxygenated water mixtures are fed via a conduit system into the confined flow of water passing through the tunnel. A diversion channel with reverse flow channel permits super saturation of diverted flow from the primary underwater tunnel channel to provide super saturated oxygenated water with ozone plus hydroxyl radical gases and atmospheric oxygen water mixtures. A decontamination method is also provided. 9 Claims, 9 Drawing Sheets

VESSEL WITH OXYGENATION SYSTEM AND DECONTAMINATION METHOD The present invention relates to a waterborne vessel with an oxygenation system which decontaminates surrounding water and a method therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ozone (03) is one of the strongest oxidizing agents that is readily available. It is known to eliminate organic waste, reduce odor and reduce total organic carbon in water. Ozone is created in a number of different ways, including ultraviolet (UV) light, and corona discharge of electrical current through a stream of air or other gazes oxygen stream, among others. Ozone is formed when energy is applied to oxygen gas (02). The bonds that hold oxygen together are broken and three oxygen molecules are combined to form two ozone molecules . The ozone breaks down fairly quickly and as it does so it reverts back to pure oxygen, that is, an 02 molecule. The bonds that hold the oxygen atoms together are very weak which is why ozone acts as a strong oxidant. In addition, it is known that hydroxyl radicals OH also act as a purification gas. Hydroxyl radicals are formed when ozone, ultraviolet radiation and moisture are combined. Hydroxyl radicals are more powerful oxidants than ozone. Both ozone and hydroxyl radical gas break down over a short period of time (about 8 minutes) into oxygen. Hydroxyl radical gas is a condition in the fluid or gaseous mixture. Some bodies of water have become saturated with high levels of natural or man made materials which have a high biological oxygen demand and which in turn have created an eutrophic or anaerobic environment. It would be beneficial to clean these waters utilizing the various types of ozone and hydroxyl radical gases.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a waterborne vessel with an oxygenation system and a method to decontaminate surrounding water. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an oxygenation system on a waterborne vessel and a method of decontamination wherein ozone and/or hydroxyl radical gas is injected, mixed and super saturated with a flow of water through the waterborne vessel. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a super saturation channel which significantly increases the amount of time the ozone and/or hydroxyl radical gas mixes in a certain flow volume of water thereby oxygenating the water and

decontaminating that defined volume of flowing water prior to further mixing with other water subject to additional oxygenation in the waterborne vessel. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a mixing manifold to mix the ozone independent with respect to the hydroxyl radical gas and independent with respect to atmospheric oxygen and wherein the resulting oxygenated water mixtures are independently fed into a confined water bound space in the waterborne vessel to oxygenate a volume of water flowing through that confined space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The waterborne vessel, in one embodiment, utilizes an underwater tunnel through which passes flowing water, an ozone gas generator, an ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas generator and a source of atmospheric oxygen. A manifold mixer mixes pressurized water independently with the ozone, the ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and the atmospheric oxygen to produce corresponding oxygenated water mixtures. Each of these oxygenated water mixtures are fed via a conduit system into the confined flow of water passing through the tunnel. A diversion channel with reverse flow channel permits super saturation of diverted flow from the primary underwater tunnel channel to provide super saturated oxygenated water with ozone plus hydroxyl radical gases and atmospheric oxygen water mixtures. A decontamination method is also provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of the present invention can be found in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a side elevation view of the waterborne vessel with an oxygenation system of the present invention; FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates a side elevation view of the hull portion with the oxygenation system; FIG. 3 diagrammatically illustrates a top schematic view of the waterborne vessel;

FIG. 4A diagrammatically illustrates one system to create the ozone and hydroxyl radical gases and one system to mix the gases with water in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 4B diagrammatically illustrates the venturi port enabling the mixing of the ozone plus pressurized water, ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas plus pressurized water, and atmospheric oxygen and pressurized water; FIG. 4C diagrammatically illustrates a system which creates oxygenated water which oxygenated water carrying ozone can be injected into the decontamination tunnel shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates a side view of the tunnel through the waterborne vessel; FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a top schematic view of the tunnel providing the oxygenation zone for the waterborne vessel; FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the output ports (some-times called injector ports) and distribution of oxygenated water mixtures (ozone, ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and atmospheric oxygen) into the tunnel for the oxygenation system; FIG. 8A diagrammatically illustrates another oxygenation system; FIG. 8B diagrammatically illustrates a detail of the gas injection ports in the waterborne stream; FIG. 9 diagrammatically illustrates the deflector vane altering the output flow from the oxygenation tunnel; FIG. 10 diagrammatically illustrates the oxygenation manifold in the further embodiment; and FIG. 11 diagrammatically illustrates the gas vanes for the alternate embodiment; and FIG. 12 diagrammatically illustrates a pressurized gas system used to generate ozone, ozone plus hydroxyl radical and pressurized oxygen wherein these gasses are injected into the decontamination tunnel of the vessel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a waterborne vessel with an oxygenation system and a method to decontaminate water surround the vessel.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates waterborne vessel 10 having an oxygenation system 12 disposed in an underwater tunnel 14 beneath the waterline of vessel 10. In general, water flow is established through tunnel 14 based upon the opened/ closed position of gills 16 and the operation of the propeller at propeller region 18. Tunnel 14 is sometimes called a decontamination tunnel. The tunnel may be a chamber which holds the water to be decontaminated a certain period of time such that the gasses interact with the water to oxidize the critical compounds in the water. Water flow through tunnel 14 is oxygenated and cleaned. Rudder 20 controls the direction of 20 vessel 10 and deflector blade or vane 22 controls the direction of the output flow of oxygenated water either directly astern of the vessel or directly downwards into lower depths of the body of water as generally shown in FIG. 9. The flow path varies from full astern to full down. Lifting mechanism 24 25 operates to lift deflector blade 22 from the lowered position shown in FIG. 1 to a raised position shown in FIG. 8A. Blade 22 can be placed in various down draft positions to alter the ejected flow of the oxygenated, partially treated water from the body of water surrounding vessel 10. The crew may occupy cabin 26. A trash canister 28 receives trash from trash bucket 30. Trash bucket 30 is raised and lowered along vertical guide 32. Similar numerals designate similar items throughout the drawings. FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a side elevation view of 35 vessel 10 without the trash bucket and without cabin 26. It should be noted that the waterborne vessel need not include trash container 28 and trash gathering bucket 30. The vessel includes oxygenation system 12 which oxygenates a flow of water through underwater tunnel 14. FIG. 3 diagrammatically illustrates a top schematic view of vessel 10. Bow 34 has laterally extending bow wings 36, 38 that permit a flow of water into an upper deck region. Trash bucket 30 is lowered into this flow of water on the upper deck to capture floating debris and trash from the water being 45 cleaned by the vessel 10. The trash bucket 30 (FIG. 1) is then raised and the contents of bucket 30 is poured over into trash container 28. The extended position of bow wings 36, 38 is shown in dashed lines. FIG. 4A shows one embodiment of the oxygenation system. A source of oxygen 40, commonly atmospheric oxygen gas, is supplied to a gas manifold 42. In addition, oxygen gas (atmospheric oxygen gas) is supplied to extractor 43 (manufactured by Pacific Ozone) which creates pure oxygen and the pure oxygen is fed to a corona discharge ozone generator 44. 55 The corona discharge ozone generator 44 generates pure ozone gas which gas is applied to gas manifold 42. Ozone plus hydroxyl radical gases are created by a generator 46 which includes a UV light device that generates both ozone and hydroxyl radical gases. Oxygen and some gaseous water 60 (such as present in atmospheric oxygen)

is fed into generator 46 to create the ozone plus hydroxyl radical gases. The ozone plus hydroxyl radical gases are applied to gas manifold 42. Atmospheric oxygen from source 40 is also applied to gas manifold 42. Although source oxygen 40 could be bottled oxygen and not atmospheric oxygen (thereby eliminating extractor 43), the utilization of bottled oxygen increases the cost of operation of oxygenation system 12. Also, the gas fed to generator 46 must contain some water to create the hydroxyl radical gas. A pressure water pump 48 is driven by a motor M and is supplied with a source of water. Pressurized 5 water is supplied to water/gas manifold 50. Water/gas manifold 50 independently mixes ozone and pressurized water as compared with ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas plus pressurized water as compared with atmospheric oxygen plus pressurized water. In the preferred embodiment, water is fed 10 through a decreasing cross-sectional tube section 52 which increases the velocity of the water as it passes through narrow construction 54. A venturi valve (shown in FIG. 4B) draws either ozone or ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas or atmospheric oxygen into the restricted flow zone 54. The resulting water-gas mixtures constitute first, second and third oxygenated water mixtures. The venturi valve pulls the gases from the generators and the source without requiring pressurization of the gas. FIG. 4B shows a venturi valve 56 which draws the selected gas into the pressurized flow of water passing through narrow restriction 54. FIG. 4C shows that oxygenated water carrying ozone can be generated using a UV ozone generator 45. Water is supplied to conduit 47, the water passes around the UV ozone generator and oxygenated water is created. This oxygenated water is ultimately fed into the decontamination tunnel which is described more fully in connection with the manifold system 50 in FIG. 4A. In FIG. 4A, different conduits, such as conduits 60A, 60B 30 and 60C, for example, carry ozone mixed with pressurized water (a first oxygenated water mixture) and ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and pressurized water (a second oxygenated water mixture) and atmospheric oxygen gas plus pressurized water (a third oxygenated water mixture), respectively which mixtures flow through conduits 60A, 60B and 60C into the injector site in the decontamination tunnel. The output of these conduits, that is conduit output ports 61 A, 61B and 61C, are separately disposed both vertically and laterally apart in an array at intake 62 of tunnel 14 (see FIG. 1). 40 Although three oxygenated water mixtures are utilized herein, singular gas injection ports may be used. FIG. 12 shows atmospheric oxygen gas from source 40 which is first pressurized by pump 180 and then fed to extractor 43 to produce pure oxygen, and ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas UV generator 46 and is fed to conduits carrying just the pressurized oxygen to injector matrix 182. The pure oxygen form extractor 43 is fed to an ozone gas generator 44 with a corona discharge. These three pressurized gases (pure ozone, ozone plus hydroxyl radical

gas and atmospheric oxy-50 gen) is fed into a manifold shown as five (5) injector ports for the pure ozone, four (4) injector ports for the ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and six (6) ports for the pressurized atmospheric oxygen gas. This injector matrix can be spread out vertically and laterally over the intake of the decontamination tunnel as shown in connection with FIGS. 4A and 5. FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates a side elevation schematic view of oxygenation system 12 and, more particularly, tunnel 14 of the waterborne vessel. A motor 59 drives a propeller in propeller region 18. In a preferred embodiment, when gills 16 are open (see FIG. 6), propeller in region 18 creates a flow of water through tunnel 14 of oxygenation system 12. A plurality of conduits 60 each independently carry either an oxygenated water mixture with ozone or an oxygenated water mixture with ozone plus hydroxyl radical 65 gases or an oxygenated water mixture with atmospheric oxygen. These conduits are vertically and laterally disposed with outputs in an array at the intake 64 of the tunnel 14. A plurality of baffles, one of which is baffle 66, is disposed downstream of the conduit output ports, one of which is output port 61A of conduit 60A. Tunnel 14 may have a larger number of baffles 66 than illustrated herein. The baffles create turbulence which slows water flow through the tunnel and increases the cleaning of the water in the tunnel with the injected oxygenated mixtures due to additional time in the tunnel and turbulent flow. FIG. 6 diagrammatically shows a schematic top view of oxygenation system 12. The plurality of conduits, one of 10 which is conduit 60A, is disposed laterally away from other gas/water injection ports at intake 64 of tunnel 14. In order to supersaturate a part of the water flow, a diversion channel 70 is disposed immediately downstream a portion or all of conduits 60 such that a portion of water flow through tunnel 15 intake 64 passes into diversion channel 70. Downstream of diversion channel 70 is a reverse flow channel 72. The flow is shown in dashed lines through diversion channel 70 and reverse flow channel 72. The primary purposes of diversion channel 70 and reverse flow channel 72 are to (a) segregate a 20 portion of water flow through tunnel 14; (b) inject, in a preferred embodiment, ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas as well as atmospheric oxygen into that subflow through diversion channel 70; and (c) increase the time the gas mixes and interacts with that diverted channel flow due to the extended 25 time that diverted flow passes through diversion channel 70 and reverse flow channel 72. These channels form a super saturation channel apart from main or primary flow through tunnel 14. Other flow channels could be created to increase the amount of time the hydroxyl radical gas oxygenated water mixture interacts with the diverted flow. For example, diversion channel 70 may be configured as a spiral or a banded sub-channel about a cylindrical tunnel 14 rather than configured as both a diversion channel 70 and a reverse flow channel 35 72. A singular diversion channel may be sufficient. The cleansing operation of the decontamination vessel is dependent upon the degree of pollution in the body of water

surrounding the vessel. Hence, the type of oxygenated water and the amount of time in the tunnel and the length of the tunnel and the flow or volume flow through the tunnel are all factors which must be taken into account in designing the decontamination system herein. In any event, supersaturated water and gas mixture is created at least the diversion channel 70 and then later on in the reverse flow channel 72. The extra time the 45 entrapped gas is carried by the limited fluid flow through the diversion channels permits the ozone and the hydroxyl radical gas to interact with organic components and other compositions in the entrapped water, cleaning the water to a greater degree as compared with water flow through central region 76 50 of primary tunnel 14. In the preferred embodiment, two reverse flow channels and two diversion channels are provided on opposite sides of a generally rectilinear tunnel 14. FIG. 4A shows the rectilinear dimension of tunnel 14. Other shapes and lengths and sizes of diversion channels may be 55 used. When the oxygenation system is ON, gills 16 are placed in their outboard position thereby extending the length of tunnel 14 through an additional elongated portion of vessel 10. See FIG. 1. Propeller in region 18 provides a propulsion system 60 for water in tunnel 14 as well as a propulsion system for vessel 10. Other types of propulsion systems for vessel 10 and the water through tunnel 14 may be provided. The important point is that water flows through tunnel 14 and, in a preferred embodiment, first, second and third oxygenated water mixtures (ozone + pressurized water; ozone + hydroxyl radical gas + pressurized water; and atmospheric oxygen + pressurized water) is injected into an input region 64 of a tunnel which is disposed beneath the waterline of the vessel. In the preferred embodiment, when gills 16 are closed or are disposed inboard such that the stern most edge of the gills rest on stop 80, vessel 10 can be propelled by water flow entering the propeller area 18 from gill openings 80A, 80B. When the gills are closed, the oxygenation system is OFF. FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the placement of various conduits in the injector matrix. The conduits are specially numbered or mapped as 1-21 in FIG. 7. The following Oxygenation Manifold Chart shows what type of oxygenated water mixture which is fed into each of the specially numbered conduits and injected into the intake 64 of tunnel 14.

As noted above, generally an ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas oxygenated water mixture is fed at the forward-most points of diversion channel 70 through conduits 7,15,17,1, 8 and 16. Pure oxygen (in the working embodiment, atmospheric oxygen) oxygenated water mixture is fed generally downstream of the hydroxyl radical gas injectors at conduits 30 19, 21, 18, 20. Additional atmospheric oxygen oxygenated water mixtures are fed laterally inboard of the hydroxyl radical gas injectors at conduits 6, 14, 2, 9, and 10. In contrast, ozone oxygenated water mixtures are fed at the intake 64 of central tunnel region 76 by conduit output ports 5,4,3,13,12, and 11. Of course, other combinations and orientations of the first, second and third oxygenated water mixtures could be injected into the flowing stream of water to be decontaminated. However, applicant currently believes that the ozone oxygenated water mixtures has an adequate amount of time to 40 mix with the water from the surrounding body of water in central tunnel region 76 but the hydroxyl radical gas from injectors 7, 15, 17, 1, 8, 16 need additional time to clean the water and also need atmospheric oxygen input (output ports 19, 21, 8, 20) in order to supersaturate the diverted flow in diversion channel 70 and reverse flow channel 17. The supersaturated flow from extended channels 70, 72 is further injected into the mainstream tunnel flow near the tunnel flow intake. Further additional mechanisms can be provided to directly inject the ozone and the ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and the atmospheric oxygen into the intake 64 of tunnel 14. Direct gas injection may be possible although water through-put may be reduced. Also, the water may be directly oxygenated as shown in FIG. 4C and then injected into the tunnel. The array of gas injectors, the amount of gas (about 5 psi of the outlets), the flow volume of water, the water velocity and the size of the tunnel (cross-sectional and length) all affect the degree of oxygenation and decontamination. Currently, flow through underwater channel 14 is, at a minimum, 1000 gallons per minute and, at a maximum, a flow of 1800 gallons per minute is achievable. Twenty-one oxygenated water mixture output jets are distributed both vertically (FIGS. 4A and 5) as well as laterally and longitudinally (FIGS. 6 and 7) about intake 64 of tunnel 14. It is estimated 65 that the hydroxyl radical gas needs about 5-8 minutes of reaction time in order to change or convert into oxygen. Applicant estimates that approximate 15-25% of water flow is diverted into diversion channel 70. Applicant estimates that water in the diversion channel flows through the diverters in approximately 5-7 seconds. During operation when the oxygenation system is operating, the boat can move at 2-3 knots. The vessel need not move in order to operate the oxygenation 5 system. FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment which is possible but seems to be less efficient. A supply of oxygen 40 is fed into an ozone generator 44 with a corona discharge. The output of ozone gas is applied via conduit 90 into a chamber 92. Atmospheric oxygen or air 94 is also drawn into chamber 92 and is fed into a plurality of horizontally and vertically

disposed nozzles 96. Manifold 98 consists of a plurality of oxygenation nozzles 96. Manifold 98 can be raised or lowered by any appropriate means. In the illustrated embodiment, rotating 15 threaded sleeve 110 operates on threaded rod 112 to raise and lower oxygenation manifold 98. Diverter blade 22 can be raised and lowered by another mechanism generally shown as lifting mechanism 24 in FIG. 1. Shaft 114 drives propeller 116 to provide a propulsion system to move water through 20 tunnel 118. FIG. 8A shows that the water propulsion system to move the water through the tunnel could be forward the tunnel intake 64 shown in FIG. 6. The alternative embodiment also shows that the tunnel may be foreshortened. FIG. 8B is a detail showing gas injection nozzle 96 and 25 water flow 120 passing through restricted flow channel 122. FIG. 9 diagrammatically shows that diversion blade 22, when rotated downward as shown by arrow 142, directs oxygenated and treated water output 144 the oxygenation systems into lower depths of the body of water being treated by 30 vessel 10. FIG. 10 diagrammatically illustrates aeration injector manifold 98. FIG. 11 shows aeration injectors 96 having a forward inverted V shaped body 160 and a rearward generally oval 35 shaped body 162. Air plus ozone is pumped or drawn into the interior region 164 of V shaped body 160. Water flow is directed through constricted channel 122 and a high degree of turbulence in region 166 mixes the ozone with the water flow through constricted channel 122. This turbulence in restricted 40 flow channel 122 causes the ozone and atmospheric oxygen to mix with the water flow thereby oxygenating the water. FIG. 12 shows a pressurized gas system which has been described earlier. The claims appended hereto are meant to cover modifications and changes within the scope and spirit of the present invention. What is claimed is: 1. A method of oxygenating and decontaminating water surrounding water in a body of water with a waterborne vessel, said waterborne vessel having an underwater tunnel with an intake and an output, the method comprising : said tunnel having a longitudinal axis and a closed perimeter wall surrounding the longitudinal axis of the tunnel, 55 said tunnel and perimeter wall further including a diversion channel with a first, upstream portion and a second, downstream portion, said first and second portions defining a diversionary path; moving water through said tunnel; diverting a portion of said water into said diversionary path from said tunnel, wherein the diverted water first flows through said first portion of said diversion channel and then flows into said second portion, wherein a flow direction of

the diverted water in the second section is 65 opposite to a flow direction of said water moving through said tunnel; providing a source of ozone and a source of pressurized water; intermixing said ozone and said pressurized water and creating a first oxygenated water mixture; injecting said first oxygenated water mixture at a location within said tunnel proximate said intake. 2. A method of oxygenating and decontaminating water surrounding water in a body of water with a waterborne vessel, said waterborne vessel having an underwater tunnel with an intake and an output, the method comprising : said tunnel having a longitudinal axis and a closed perimeter wall surrounding the longitudinal axis of the tunnel, said tunnel and perimeter wall further including a diversion channel with a first, upstream portion and a second, downstream portion, said first and second portions defining a diversionary path; moving water through said tunnel; diverting a portion of said water into said diversion channel defining a diversionary path from said tunnel, wherein the diverted water first flows through said first portion of said diversion channel and then flows into said second portion, wherein a flow direction in the second section is opposite to a flow direction of said water moving through said tunnel; providing a source of ozone and a source of pressurized water; intermixing said ozone and said pressurized water and creating a first oxygenated water mixture; injecting said first oxygenated water mixture at a location within the tunnel proximate the intake; and super-saturating said portion of said water in said diversionary path. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a flow direction in said upstream first portion is not opposite to the flow direction of said water moving through said tunnel and said downstream second portion defines a reverse flow channel, wherein a flow direction in the reverse flow channel is opposite to the flow direction of said water moving through said tunnel. 4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the step of super-saturating includes providing a source of ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas, intermixing said ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and said pressurized water and creating a second oxygenated water mixture, and injecting said second oxygenated water mixture into said diversionary path. 5. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the step of super-saturating includes providing a source of ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas, intermixing said ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and said pressurized water and creating a second oxygenated water mixture, and injecting said second oxygenated water mixture into said diversionary path. 6. A method as claimed in claim 5 including creating turbulence in the water moving through said tunnel downstream of the injection of said first oxygenated water mixture.

7. A method as claimed in claim 2 including creating turbulence in the water moving through said tunnel downstream of the injection of said first oxygenated water mixture. 8. A method of oxygenating and decontaminating water surrounding water in a body of water with a waterborne vessel, said waterborne vessel having an underwater tunnel with an intake and an output, the method comprising : said tunnel having a longitudinal axis and a closed perimeter wall surrounding the longitudinal axis of the tunnel, said tunnel and perimeter wall further including a diversion channel therein; moving water through said tunnel; diverting a portion of said water into said diversion channel defining a diversionary path from said tunnel; providing a source of ozone and a source of pressurized water; intermixing said ozone and said pressurized water and 5 creating a first oxygenated water mixture; injecting said first oxygenated water mixture at a location within the tunnel proximate the intake; providing a source of ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas; intermixing said ozone plus hydroxyl radical gas and said pressurized water and creating a second oxygenated water mixture; and injecting said second oxygenated water mixture into said diversionary path. 9. A method as claimed in claim 8 including creating turbulence in the water moving through said tunnel downstream of the injection of said first oxygenated water mixture.

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