Sun Oil Company

James F Lea

An ice removal system to protect a drill string in an ice covered waterway from possible damage due to ice movement. The drill string extends down into the waterway from a vessel which has an ice melting system for melting ice coming into direct contact with it. If the ice is thicker than the draft of the vessel, the unmelted portion of the ice passing under the vessel is deflected downward by ice breaking ridges surrounding the drill string. The downward deflection causes the ice to fail in tension thereby breaking it up into a plurality of ice blocks. The ice blocks float up into a moon pool surrounding the drill string, and are then flushed out of the moon pool through a channel and into the surrounding waterway. A cylindrical protective plate surrounding the drill string prevents the ice blocks from coming into direct contact with the drill string and thereby possibly damaging it.

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Fayetteville, AR, United States of America

James F Lea