초록 ▼

Large bulk liquid cargo tankers are a common sight on the world's oceans and waterways. Petroleum needs worldwide have risen sharply and in order to fulfill those needs cheaply and efficiently, shipbuilders have increased the size of tankers carrying the crude oil to the point where the modern super

Large bulk liquid cargo tankers are a common sight on the world's oceans and waterways. Petroleum needs worldwide have risen sharply and in order to fulfill those needs cheaply and efficiently, shipbuilders have increased the size of tankers carrying the crude oil to the point where the modern supertanker is capable of carrying millions of barrels of oil in a single trip. Such efficiency has not come without a price in that a single tank rupture can be an ecological and financial disaster. In order to minimize and even the eliminate such a disastrous event, an apparatus has been designed to be deployed inside a bulk liquid cargo tank. Should a tank be ruptured, a large expandable bladder pre-positioned within the tank would expand as oil from within the tank would pe pumped into its internal volume. The expandable bladder serves a dual purpose to act as a seal against the portion of the tank that has been ruptured eliminating the flow of oil out of the tank and seawater into the tank. The present invention is such an expandable recovery bladder with a novel bladder arrangement and a novel fiber optic sensing and control system.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An Emergency Bulk Liquid Cargo Spill Prevention System for a bulk liquid cargo tank for use with a bulk liquid cargo tankers having hull sidewalls and a bottom hull, said system comprised of:a bulk liquid cargo tank, said bulk liquid cargo tank positioned on said tanker i

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An Emergency Bulk Liquid Cargo Spill Prevention System for a bulk liquid cargo tank for use with a bulk liquid cargo tankers having hull sidewalls and a bottom hull, said system comprised of:a bulk liquid cargo tank, said bulk liquid cargo tank positioned on said tanker in such a manner that bulk liquid in said tank is in hydrostatic lock should a rupture in said tank occur along with buoyancy and stability considerations;an expandable bladder assembly, said expandable bladder assembly consisting of an expandable, liquid tight bladder having an interior volume for receiving liquid cargo from a ruptured bulk liquid cargo tank;a bulk liquid cargo tank rupture sensing means, said tank rupture sensing means adapted to line lining an outboard sidewall of said tank also serving as said tanker's hull sidewalls, and a bottom wall of said tank also serving as said tanker's bottom hull and designed to sense a distortion in said walls of said tank indicating a rupture of said tank;an emergency expandable bladder power and control system, said power and control system designed to receive indicia of a tank rupture from said tank rupture sensing means and automatically deploy said emergency expandable bladder assembly;means to rapidly move liquid cargo from a ruptured bulk liquid cargo tank into the interior volume of said expandable bladder, said means designed to receive indicia of a tank rupture from said emergency bladder control system and automatically and rapidly move bulk liquid from a ruptured bulk liquid cargo tank into the interior volume of said expandable bladder; andmeans to remove said liquid cargo from said emergency expandable bladder and put it back into said liquid cargo tank and retract said bladder back into a stowed configuration after a rupture in said tank has been repaired.