Wong, Cabello, Lutsch, Rutherford & Brucculeri, L.L.P.
Apparatus for removal of oil from ice
An apparatus for removing oil from sea ice comprises modular crusher units which may be pivotally mounted on a barge or other vessel. A rotating, toothed drum crushes the ice against a grating and mixes it with warmed, recycled water to form an ice/water slurry which is conveyed by means of an auger to one or more melting units. The liquid phase output of the melting units is first conveyed to a surge tank and then to a separator unit which separates the oil from the water. The oil is conveyed to a storage tank for subsequent offloading and disposal and the water is returned in a recycle line to sprayers mounted in the crusher unit(s) for deicing the intake section of the crusher and mixing with the crushed sea ice to form an ice/water slurry for subsequent, on-board treatment. The modular design of the apparatus permits a plurality of units to be mounted on a vessel in a side-by-side array such that substantially the entire beam of the vessel at the stern (or bow) may be covered and used for ice intake.
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James Clifford
Lewis