Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02781670 2012-05-23
[DESCRIPTION]
[Invention Title]
Air Jet for Removing Polluting Oil
[Technical Field]
The present invention relates to an air jet for
removing pollutant oil, and more particularly to an air jet
capable of removing oil deposited on a small mud flat, sand
or sedimentary soil in a coastal or inland area by injecting
compressed air to float the oil on the water surface together
with gas discharge.
(Background Art]
In general, the sinking of a ship in the sea or oil
spilled from the ship damages not only the marine ecosystem
but also the mud flat or natural ecosystem of the coast
adjacent to the area in which the oil spill occurred.
This oil spill has a significant problem that pollutes
the seawater itself, and in addition, the spilled oil spreads
to the coast by a tide to pollute the coast. Particularly,
at low tide, the spilled oil remains on the tidal flat, and
as a result, it pollutes the areas surrounding the coast and
causes a serious problem leading to natural disasters.
In the case of an oil spill as described above, the
area and amount of damage varies depending on the initial
response to the oil spill, but in the case of an oil spill on
the sea, an operation for preventing the oil floating on the
sea from spreading is mainly carried out, and the oil
entering the coast is left to a defenseless state, thus
causing a great deal of damage.
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However, in the prior art, there was no equipment
either for effectively separating and removing oil, which
entered the coast after the above-described oil spill and
deposited on the mud flat or sand on the coast, or for
effectively separating and removing only the oil. Thus, a
great deal of time, labor and cost were required to remove
the oil.
Also, in the process of removing the deposited oil in
the areas surrounding the coast as described above, the oil
that penetrated into the sand or mud flat of the areas is
more difficult to remove, and thus it gradually penetrates
deeper and leads to a more serious natural disaster, so that
it remains as a natural disaster over several tens of years.
Meanwhile, in the case of the oil spill in Taean (the
west coast of Korea) in December, 2007, many marine spill
response companies participated in removing the spilled oil,
but most of the companies mainly used water pumps and high-
pressure pumps to clean up the oil spill. Also, these
companies had no experience in removing oil entering the
coast, and they attempted to remove the oil deposited on the
mud flat or sand using water pumps or high-pressure pumps.
However, the amount of oil floating on the water surface was
small, and in most cases, the floated oil precipitated again
due to its properties.
Namely, in the initial stage of oil spill, low-boiling-
point fractions such as methane, ethane, propane and butane
first evaporate from the spilled oil.
Then, the remaining oil fractions float on the seawater
surface and pollute the surrounding environment, and the
highly volatile light oil fractions gradually evaporate to
the atmosphere, so that the specific gravity of the oil on
the seawater surface gradually increases.
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Moreover, heavy oil fractions such as Bunker-C oil and
asphalt, which have a specific gravity higher than that of
water, gradually precipitate from water or are deposited on
sand, mud flats or sedimentary soil, and thus are difficult
to remove naturally. In addition, the deposited oil releases
toxic substances over a long period of time to cause an
environmental pollution. However, there has not yet been a
system capable of effectively removing the above-described
deposited oil.
[Disclosure]
[Technical Problem]
The present invention has been made in order to solve
the above-described problems occurring in the prior art, and
it is an object of the present invention to provide an air
jet for removing pollutant oil, in which the air jet has a
compressed air-injection nozzle provided in an air pipe,
whereby it can environmentally friendly remove oil deposited
on a small mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil in an inland or
coastal area, can shorten the number of working days, and can
reduce the cost for removing the oil.
[Technical Solution]
To achieve the above object, the present invention
provides an air jet for removing pollutant air, comprising:
a hollow cylindrical air pipe open at both ends, the
air pipe serving as a channel through which injected
compressed air moves;
a communication pipe having a diameter smaller than
that of the air pipe and penetrating the air pipe to
communicate the inside and outside of the air pipe, the
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outside of the air pipe being connected with an air hose for
supplying compressed air; and
an injection nozzle coupled with the communication pipe
inside the air pipe, the injection nozzle serving to
accelerate compressed air supplied to the communication pipe
and to rapidly inject the compressed air through the air pipe
to an area polluted with oil.
[Advantageous Effects]
The air jet for removing pollutant oil according to the
present invention can environmentally friendly remove oil
deposited on a small mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil in an
inland or coastal area, can shorten the number of working
days, and can reduce the cost for removing the oil.
[Description of Drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air jet according to
a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the air jet
shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an air jet according to
a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a state in which the air jet shown in FIG.
1 is used.
FIG. 5 is a photograph showing removing oil using the
air jet of the present invention.
[Best Mode]
Hereinafter, the construction and operation of the
present invention will be described in detail with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air jet according to
a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows
the internal structure of the air jet shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, an air jet 10 comprises an air pipe
5 11, a communication pipe 12 and an injection nozzle 13.
Herein, the communication pipe has a diameter smaller
than that of the air pipe.
The air pipe 11 through which injected compressed air
moves has a hollow space 17 therein and is cylindrical in
shape and open at both ends.
The communication pipe 12 perpendicularly penetrates
the air pipe 11 to communicate the inside and outside of the
air pipe.
The communication pipe consists of a penetration pipe
14 perpendicularly penetrating the air pipe 11, a discharge
pipe 15 connected with the penetration pipe 14 inside the air
pipe 11, and an injection pipe 16 connected with the
penetration pipe 14 outside the air pipe 11.
The injection pipe 16 is connected with an air hose for
supplying compressed air, and an injection nozzle 13 is
coupled to the discharge tube 15. In operation, after
compressed air has been applied to the injection pipe 16, it
is accelerated through the injection nozzle 13 and injected
rapidly to the inside of the air pipe 11.
The air injected rapidly by the injection nozzle 13
moves fast along the space 17 of the air pipe 11 and is
strongly injected through both open ends of the air pipe 11
to a small mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil in a coastal or
inland area.
If the injection direction of the injection nozzle 13
is directed toward one or both open ends of the air pipe 11,
the compressed air can be injected directly to a small mud
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flat, sand or sedimentary soil at a high pressure.
By such a high injection pressure of compressed air,
water or sand or soil will rise, so that the oil deposited on
the mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil will float on the
water surface by the interaction between water, the
compressed air and sand or soil (sedimentary soil) while gas
will be separated therefrom.
The oil floating on the water surface may be adsorbed
with an adsorbent and collected in a collection vessel.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an air jet according to
a second embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 3, an air jet 20 comprises air pipes
21a and 21b, a communication pipe 22, injection nozzles 23a
and 23b and a coupling member 28.
Herein, the air pipes have a diameter smaller than that
of the communication pipes.
The air pipes have the respective hollow spaces 27a and
27b and are cylindrical in shape and open at both ends.
The air pipes 21a and 21b are fixedly coupled to each
other in parallel by the coupling member 28.
The communication pipe 22 perpendicularly penetrates
the air pipes 21a and 21b to communicate the inside and
outside of each of the air pipes 21a and 21b.
The communication pipe 22 consists of: penetration
pipes 24a and 24b, which perpendicularly penetrate the air
pipes 21a and 21b, respectively; discharge pipes 24a and 24b,
which are connected with the penetration pipes 24a and 24b
inside the air pipes 21a and 21b, respectively; and a T-
shaped manifold 29 which connects the penetration pipes 24a
and 24b outside the air pipes 21a and 21b with an injection
pipe 26.
The injection pipe 26 is connected to an air hose for
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supplying compressed air, and injection nozzles 23a and 23b
are connected to the discharge pipes 25a and 25b. In
operation, compressed air is supplied to the injection pipe
26, passed through the manifold 29, and then accelerated
through each of the injection nozzles 23a and 23b, and the
accelerated compressed nozzle is injected rapidly into the
inside of the air pipes 21a and 21b.
The air injected rapidly by the injection nozzles 23a
and 23b moves along the spaces 27a and 27b of the air pipes
21a and 21b and is strongly injected through both ends of the
air pipes to a mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil in a
coastal or inland area.
If the injection direction of the injection nozzles 23a
and 23b is directed toward one or both open ends of the air
pipes2la and 21b, the compressed air can be injected directly
on a mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil at a high pressure.
By such a high injection pressure of compressed air,
water or sand or soil will rise, so that the oil deposited on
the mud flat, sand or sedimentary soil will float on the
water surface by the interaction between water, the
compressed air and sand or soil (sedimentary soil) while gas
will be separated therefrom.
The oil floating on the water surface may be adsorbed
with an adsorbent and collected in a collection vessel.
According to the above-described second embodiment,
compressed air can be injected to a mud flat, sand or
sedimentary soil in an area larger than the first embodiment,
and thus the time required for removal of oil can be reduced.
FIG. 4 shows a state in which the air jet shown in FIG.
1 is used.
As shown therein, an air compressor 30 for generating
and supplying compressed air is connected by an air hose 60
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to a pressure control tank 40 for controlling the pressure of
air supplied from the air compressor 30.
The pressure-increasing tank 40 comprises a setting
valve 44 for controlling pressure, a pressure meter 42, and a
plurality of supply valves 46 for supplying compressed air to
the air jet 10. The supply valves 46 are connected by the
air hose 60 to the communication pipe 12 of the air jet 10.
Compressed air whose pressure has been controlled to a
suitable pressure by the setting valve 44 of the pressure
control tank 40 is supplied to the communication pipe 12 by
the air hose 60.
The compressed air is injected through the injection
nozzle 13, and then moves fast along the inside of the air
pipe 11 and is strongly injected to an area polluted with oil.
By the jetting of the compressed air, water and sand or
soil rise, and the oil deposited on the mud flat, sand or
sedimentary soil floats on the water surface by the
interaction between water, the compressed air and sand or
soil (sedimentary soil) while gas is separated and injected
therefrom.
More specifically, oil contains carbon (84-87%) and
hydrogen (11-14%) as main components and also contains small
amounts of sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen. It is a liquid
having a peculiar odor and is a complex hydrocarbon compound.
The oil contains methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) in the
uppermost layer, propane (C3H8) and (C4Hlo) in the middle
layer, and kerosene, bunker-C oil and asphalt (residual oil)
in the lowest layer in that order according to specific
gravity.
Meanwhile, bubbles produced in liquid have a kind of
energy and remove contaminants from the laundry using kinetic
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energy caused by, for example, the production and separation
of air bubbles.
When an oil spill occurs, low-specific-gravity
components such as methane, ethane, propane and butane
evaporate into the atmosphere immediately after the oil spill,
but light oil fractions, such as kerosene and gasoline, and
heavy oil fractions, such as bunker-C oil and asphalts
(residual oil), float on the seawater surface or are settled
to the bottom of the sea. The carbon-hydrogen bond of the
oil floating on the seawater surface or settled to the bottom
is broken by the energy of compressed air, while the oil is
degassed. The degassed oil floats on the seawater surface.
At the same time as floating of the oil fractions,
microorganisms or oil-eating superbacteria (it is known that
about 20 kinds of such bacteria live in Korea, and among them,
about 10 kinds live in the Yellow Sea) also float from the
bottom of the sea and are highly activated. The floated
microorganisms and superbacteria facilitate the cleanup of
the oil spill and the recovery of the ecosystem.
Next, the oil floating on the water surface may be
adsorbed with, for example, an adsorbent, and collected in a
collection vessel.
FIG. 5 is a photograph showing removing oil using the
air jet of the present invention. As shown therein, the air
jet is introduced into water in an area polluted with oil,
and compressed air is supplied to the air jet and jetted from
the air jet.
As can be seen in FIG. 5, by the jetting of compressed
air, oil floats on the water surface while gas is discharged.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present
invention have been described for illustrative purposes,
those skilled in the art will appreciate that various
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modifications, additions and substitutions are possible,
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention
as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
