Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02853981 2014-06-11
TITLE
[0001] Liquid Containment System
FIELD
[0002] There is described a liquid containment system, this system was
developed for use
in the oil industry for holding large volumes of water required for a process
known as
"fracing", but it will be appreciated it could be used for other applications.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Canadian Patent Application 2,756,305 (Hindbo) entitled "Modular
Enclosure
System" describes an enclosure that can be rapidly deployed at remote sites.
In the oil
industry, liners are supported by the walls of the enclosure for liquid
containment. There will
now be described an alternative liquid containment system.
SUMMARY
[0004] There is provided a liquid containment system which includes at
least one flexible
balloon bladder having a holding capacity of at least 300 gallons of liquid.
The at least one
bladder has at least one opening through which liquids are pumped into or out
of the at least
one bladder. A support structure surrounds and provides lateral support to the
bladder.
[0005] Consideration was given to the use of large bladders for liquid
containment and, at
first, it appeared that the idea was unworkable. The reason for this is that
as a height of a
bladder increases the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid column increases and
the bladder
becomes increasingly unstable. The liquid containment system, described above,
overcomes
the inherent instability of the large bladders by providing a surrounding
support structure.
The term "large" can be a relative term. In the context of the types of
applications intended,
the bladder should be considered "large" when it has a holding capacity of at
least 300 gallons
of liquid. To provide a better indication as to actual size, the liquid
containment system
currently under construction has a circular support structure with a diameter
of 72 feet, a
height of 12 feet and a holding capacity of 792,500 gallons. It will be
appreciated that the
support structure need not be circular and could be made multi-sided, most
likely square or
rectangular.
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[0006] Once the basic concept of the liquid containment system was
developed, problems
of transport to remote sites had to be addressed. For transport, a plurality
of panels are
transported in a disassembled state and then assembled on site to form the
support structure
and the bladder is transportable in a folded state on a skid. It is preferred
that the skid have
sidewalls which enclose the skid to form a shipping container for transport.
The sidewalls are
movable or removable on site to facilitate access to the bladder. Preferably,
the sidewalls are
hinged to the skid and can simply be folded down flat.
[0007] A second problem that had to be addressed was ease of access to
the contents of
the bladder. For this purpose, at least one conduit extends externally of the
support structure
for making a fluid flow connection with the bladder. With the skid being used
to transport the
bladder, it was realized that the at least one conduit could be incorporated
into the skid.
According to this aspect of the preferred embodiment, the skid has a first
portion and a second
portion. Then at least one conduit extends through the skid with a first
connection at a first
end of the at least one conduit positioned in the first portion and a second
connection at a
second end of the at least one conduit positioned in the second portion.
During installation,
the skid is positioned underlying at least one of the plurality of panels of
the support structure
with the first portion of the skid positioned within the enclosure and the
second portion of the
skid positioned outside the enclosure. This enables the bladder to be
connected to the first
connection with the second connection being positioned externally of the
support structure for
making a fluid connection with the bladder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] These and other features will become more apparent from the
following
description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings
are for the
purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting,
wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the liquid containment system.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a transparent perspective view of the liquid containment
system of FIG.
1.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of a skid structure of the
liquid containment
system of FIG. 1, with sidewalls lowered.
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[0012] FIG. 4 is
a transparent perspective view of the liquid containment system of FIG.
3.
[0013] FIG. 5 is
a perspective view of the liquid containment system of FIG. 3, with
sidewalls raised.
[0014] FIG. 6a through 6h is a series of top plan views showing sequential
folding of a
bladder to fit onto the skid illustrated in FIG. 3 through FIG. 5.
[0015] FIG. 7 is
a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of liquid containment
system.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the liquid containment system of FIG.
7.
[0017] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of panels of the liquid containment
system of FIG. 7,
prepared for transport.
[0018] FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of a panel of the liquid
containment system of
FIG. 7, to which a bladder is adhered for the purpose of ease of transport and
ease of
deployment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] A liquid
containment system generally identified by reference numeral 10, will
now be described with reference to FIG. 1 through 6h. An alternative
embodiment, generally
identified by reference numeral 100, will be described with respect to FIG. 7
through FIG.
10.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
[0020] Referring
to FIG. 1, liquid containment system 10 includes a flexible balloon
bladder 12. This is a "large" bladder that has a holding capacity of at least
300 gallons of
liquid. Bladder 12 has four openings through which liquids are pumped into or
out of bladder
12. The four opening are not shown in this view and will be hereinafter
described. Referring
to FIG. 1, a support structure, generally indicated by reference numeral 16,
surrounds and
provides lateral support to bladder 12. Support structure 16 has a diameter of
72 feet, a
height of 12 feet and a holding capacity of 792,500 gallons.
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[0021] Referring to FIG. 2, support structure 16 was developed with a
view to moving
liquid containment system 10 to remote sites. For transport, a plurality of
panels 18 are
transported in a disassembled state and then assembled on site to form support
structure 16.
The manner of securing panels 18 together to form an enclosure is known and
will, therefore,
not be further described. Referring to FIG. 6h, bladder 12 is transportable in
a folded state on
a skid 20. Referring to FIG. 5, it is preferred that skid 20 have sidewalls 22
which enclose
skid 20 to form a shipping container for transport. Referring to FIG. 3 and
FIG. 6g, it is also
preferred that sidewalls 22 be movable or removable on site to facilitate
access to bladder 12.
In the illustrated embodiment, sidewalls 22 are hinged to skid 20 and can
simply be folded
down flat.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 2, conduit 24, 26, 20, and 30 extend externally
of support
structure 16 for the purpose of making a fluid flow connection with bladder
12. Referring to
FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, with skid 20 being used to transport bladder 12, it was
realized that
conduit 24, 26, 28 and 30 could be incorporated into skid 20. Although skid 20
is illustrated in
FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 without bladder 12 being shown, it must be understood that
it is intended
that bladder be secured with adhesive to skid 20, so it is not removable.
Referring to FIG. 4,
skid 20 has a first portion 32 to which a portion of bladder 12 is secured and
a second portion
34 which does not have any portion of bladder 12 secured to it. Each of
conduit 24, 26, 28,
and 30 has a first end 24a, 26a, 28a and 30a and a second end 24b, 26b, 28b
and 30b. Each of
conduit 24, 26, 28 and 30 extend through skid 20. Bladder 12 has four openings
through
which fluids can pass, identified by first connection box 36, second
connection box 38, third
connection box 40 and fourth connection box 42. First connection box 38
connects first end
24a of conduit 24 with bladder 12 and has a first extension line 44 that
extends into bladder
12. Second connection box 40 connects first end 26a of conduit 26 with bladder
12 and has a
second extension line 46 that extends into bladder 12. Third connection box 42
connects first
end 28a of conduit 28 with bladder 12. Fourth connection box 42 connects first
end 30a of
conduit 30 with bladder 12. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, each of second
ends 24b, 26b,
28b, and 30b of conduit 24, 26, 28, and 30 are attached to connection
manifolds 24c, 26c, 28c,
and 30c, respectively. Referring to FIG. 4, first end 24a, 26a, 28a, and 30a
of each conduit
24, 26, 28, and 30 are positioned in first portion 32 of skid 20. Second end
24b, 26b, 28b, and
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30b of each conduit 24, 26, 28, and 30 are positioned in second portion 34 of
skid 20.
Referring to FIG. 2, during installation, skid 20 is positioned underlying one
of panels 18 of
support structure 16 with first portion 32 of skid 20 positioned within the
enclosure defined
by support structure 16 and second portion 34 of skid 20 positioned outside
enclosure defined
5 by support structure 16. This enables bladder 12 to be connected to
connection boxes 38, 40,
42, and 44 with connection manifolds 24c, 26c, 28c, and 30c being positioned
externally of
support structure 16 to facilitate making fluid connections with bladder 12.
Operation:
[0023] The manner of installation and operation of liquid containment
system 10 will
now be described. Referring to FIG. 6h, skid 20 is transported to a remote
site with bladder
12 secured in position and folded. During transport, sidewalls 22 of skid 20
are up as shown
in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6g, sidewalls 22 are lowered to provide access to
bladder 12 for
the purpose of unfolding it, as shown in FIG. 3. First extension line 44 is
connected to first
connection box 38 and second extension line 46 is connected to second
connection box 40.
Referring to FIG. 6f, the unfolding of bladder 12 then commences as shown
sequentially in
FIG. 6e, FIG. 6d, FIG. 6c, FIG. 6b, and lastly, FIG. 6a. Referring to FIG. 2,
panels 18 are
assembled around bladder 12, with skid 20 positioned underlying one of panels
18 of support
structure 16 with first portion 32 of skid 20 to which bladder 12 is attached
positioned within
the enclosure defined by support structure 16 and second portion 34 of skid 20
positioned
outside enclosure defined by support structure 16. Connections are then made
to connection
manifolds 24c, 26c, 28c and 30c. Referring to FIG. 1, bladder 12 is then
expanded using air,
liquid or a combination of air and liquid. When filled with liquid, bladder is
supported by
support structure 16. When the need for liquid containment system 10 has
passed, a fluid is
removed from bladder 12. Panels 18 of support structure 16 are disassembled.
Bladder 12 is
then folded back onto skid 20 as shown in the sequential folding illustrated
in FIG. 6a, FIG.
6b, FIG. 6c, FIG. 6d, FIG. 6f, FIG. 6g, and lastly, FIG. 6h.
Variations:
[0024] The manner of installation and operation of liquid containment
system 10 will
now be described. Although the preferred shape for the support structure is
circular, it will be
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appreciated that the support structure need not be circular and could be made
multi-sided,
most likely square or rectangular. The critical factor is that the support
structure performs its
intended purpose of supporting the bladder. Although a single bladder is
illustrated within the
enclosure, it will be appreciated that there could be two or more bladders
that press against
each other and receive support from a common support structure. Although it is
envisage
that the support structure is a plurality of panels that can be disassembled
for transport,
support structure could be a fixed structure that is not intended to be moved.
In a fixed
installation, all or a portion of the support structure could be provided by
earth. This could
involve mounding up the earth, excavating into the earth or taking advantage
of naturally
occurring topographical features. Although four openings into the bladder have
been
illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that the number of openings
selected will be to
suit the intended application. The bladder can be made of any suitable
material that can be
expanded and is compatible with the liquid to be contained.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 7 through FIG. 10, containment system 100 is a
multi-sided body
110 consisting of a plurality of panels 112. Referring to FIG. 9, panels 112
are stacked for
transport, with one of panels 112, identified by reference numeral 118,
serving as a support
skid for bladder 116. Bladder 116 is secured by adhesive to skid 118 and is
transported in a
folded condition. Referring to FIG. 7 and HG. 8, when panels 112 are delivered
on site,
panels 112 are connected to form body 110. There are a plurality of connectors
known in the
art for connecting panels 112, so the panel connectors will not be described
in detail.
Referring to FIG. 9, the panel connectors illustrated are simply tongues 114
protruding from
one side of panel 112 and parallel plates 115 protruding from another side of
panel 112. Each
of tongues 114 are inserted between one of the pairs of parallel plates 115
and a bolt dropped
into aligned apertures to prevent tongues 114 from being withdrawn. The panel
connectors
do not need to be capable of retaining liquid, as bladder 116 will retain
liquid. However, this
size of bladder will be unstable in the absence of support, so body 110 plays
a critical role.
Referring to FIG. 10, one of panels 112 used to form body 110 is skid 118 to
which bladder
116 is secured. Bladder 116 is then unfolded in preparation for use. Once
substantially
unfolded, continued deployment can be assisted by gas (air or nitrogen) or by
liquids. There
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can be a single bladder 116 or two bladders confined by body 110 and each
other. It will be
appreciated that bladder 116 will have fittings of various kinds, such as hose
connection
fittings 120 to provide for hose connection and vent fittings 122 to provide
for venting. Other
fittings may be required, depending upon the installation.
[0026] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-
limiting sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned arc not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
there be one and only one of the elements.
[0027] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrated
embodiments set
forth as examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent
with a purposive
construction of the claims in view of the description as a whole.
