The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 1991
Filed:
Apr. 09, 1990
Richard W Schweizer, Sugar Land, TX (US);
Kantilal P Patel, Houston, TX (US);
Philip Y Lau, Houston, TX (US);
ACS Industries, Inc., Woonsocket, RI (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for recovering oil from an oil spill on the surface of a body of water. The method is operative for recovering an oil having a viscosity in excess of 80 centipoise and it includes the steps of drawing an oil-water mixture from the surface of a body of water, adjusting the viscosity of the oil in the oil-water mixture to a level below approximately 80 centipoise and passing the resultant adjusted oil-water mixture through an oil-water coalescer to separate the oil in the adjusted oil-water mixture from the water therein. The viscosity of the oil in the feed oil-water mixture is preferably adjusted by adding a low viscosity hydrophobic hydrocarbon solvent to the oil-water mixture. The apparatus includes a skimmer for withdrawing feed oil-water mixture from the surface of a body of water, a solvent system for adding solvent to the oil in the feed oil-water mixture to reduce the viscosity of the oil in the feed oil-water mixture to below approximately 80 centipoise and an oil-water coalescer for separating the solvent and oil in the viscosity adjusted feed oil-water mixture to below approximately 80 centipoise.