The invention concerns a device for collecting a mass in a body of water. More specifically, the invention concerns a device comprising a storage device anchored within the body of water, and wherein the storage device is structured in a manner allowing it to release a collecting body which, by means of a buoyant body, floats up to the surface of the body of water for collecting said mass. The invention also concerns a method for collecting a mass in a body of water.

Hereinafter, the mass will be exemplified by a hydrocarbon-containing liquid, for example crude oil, and the collecting body will be exemplified by an oil boom, although the device according to the present invention is not restricted to collection of an oil spill, but it also pertains to random masses structured in a manner allowing them to float at the surface of a body of water. For example, the invention may be used at an industrial plant or similar located proximate to a coast where a risk of environmentally damaging spills exists.

It is common knowledge that exploration for and recovery of oil is associated with a risk of environmentally damaging spills. The remaining oil deposits are becoming increasingly more inaccessible. Oil is explored for and recovered in more remote areas, oftentimes under difficult climatic conditions, and increasingly more demanding technological solutions are being used for exploration and recovery. The risk of environmentally damaging spills is increasing.

Oil leaking out into a body of water, for example from a well, from a platform or an installation, or from a pipeline, will not be dissolved in the body of water, but it will float up to the surface of the body of water and will, at least initially, stick together as a sheet (slick). It is therefore common to use booms to collect oil spills. The disadvantage thereof is that booms usually are stored onshore and generally away from the drilling areas, whereby much time may be required to bring the booms out to the particular spill area. Oftentimes an oil slick may thus have spread out over large areas before the collection may commence. For example, the oil slick may have reached land so as to damage marine animals and birds. Transport of booms is time- consuming, costly and is also subject to weather conditions.

A device for collecting a mass at the surface of a body of water is known from patent publication US 5051029 A. The device comprises a collecting body and a storage device structured in a manner allowing it to hold on to the collecting body.

Patent publication US 3664504 A describes a device and a method for distribution of an oil boom by means of a container capable of being elevated and lowered.

Patent publication JP 52150233 U discloses an oil boom placed on a seabed in a longitudinal receptacle, which is capable of ascending to the surface upon supplying air.

A remote-controlled oil boom capable of being elevated and lowered by means of pressurized air is known from patent publication JP 2011094362 A.

The object of the invention is to remedy or to reduce at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the prior art.

The object is achieved by virtue of features disclosed in the following description and in the subsequent claims.

In a first aspect, the invention concerns a device for collecting a mass at a surface of a body of water, wherein the device comprises: a collecting body; and a storage device structured in a manner allowing it to hold on to the collecting body, and wherein the storage device is adjustable between a locked position and an open position, wherein the collecting body, when in the open position, is released at least partially from the storage device, characterized in that:

- the storage device is provided with anchoring means structured in a manner allowing it to anchor the storage device within the body of water; and

- wherein the collecting body is provided with a first buoyant body structured in a manner allowing it to bring the collecting body to a surface position within the body of water when the storage device is adjusted to the open position thereof.

For example, the first buoyant may be a buoy or similar adapted for use in a submerged state in a body of water and attached to the collecting device, or the buoyant body may be an integrated part of the collecting device. In an embodiment, the collecting body may be connected to an air accumulator which fills, at least partially, the collecting body with air when in the body of water. In one embodiment, the storage device may be disposed on a seabed. For example, it may be located on the seabed around a drilling platform or a production vessel, such as a so-called FPSO-unit (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading unit). In context of an oil spill, this will have the effect of one or more collecting bodies, which for example may be one or more oil booms, being provided quickly to the spill site by virtue of opening the storage device. The storage device may be anchored by virtue of attaching it to a heavy body of a type known per se, or the storage device may function as its own anchoring means by virtue of its weight and geometric shape.

In an alternative embodiment, the storage device may be attached to a lengthy body, which for example may be a hawser, a chain or similar, further being anchored to a seabed in a manner known per se. This will prove appropriate at great ocean depths, for example at, but not limited to, depths greater than 300 m, insofar as the storage device will be able to float within the body of water and closer to the surface, thereby reducing the time required for the collecting body to ascend from the storage device to the surface of the body of water.

In a preferred embodiment, the device further comprises a control device structured in a manner allowing it to adjust the storage device from the locked position to the open position.

In a further preferred embodiment, the control device may be remote-controlled. This will have the effect of allowing the control device of the storage device to be activated and adjusted from, for example, a platform or a vessel, thereby allowing the release of the collecting body to take place immediately after an undesirable spill. Preferably, the control device may be in wireless communication with the storage device, which for example may be held in its locked position by means of an electromagnetic locking device structured in a manner allowing it to be opened by means of the control device.

In one embodiment, the storage device may comprise a cover provided with a second buoyant body. The advantage thereof is that the cover may be lifted by virtue of the buoyancy of the buoyant body, thereby not requiring further power supply to lift the cover upon having adjusted the storage device to the open position thereof.

In one embodiment, the storage device may be a container. Among other things, the advantage thereof is that the collecting body is allowed to be transported and lifted by means of an existing, standardized infrastructure. Preferably, the container may be filled with water when being disposed in a body of water. For example, this may be carried out by forming a bottom portion of the container with one or more sluices structured to admit water, whereas the cover of the container may be formed with screens, valve devices or similar structured to discharge air. Further, and preferably, the bottom portion of the container will be provided with a heavy body, for example made of concrete, which together with the water in the container may function as ballast and as an anchoring means.

In a preferred embodiment, the collecting body may be provided with a valve arrangement filling the body automatically with air when the body engages air at the surface of the body of water. The valve arrangement may be of a type known per se. Among other things, the advantage thereof is that the collecting body is allowed to assume less space within or on the storage device when being held in a locked position.

In a further preferred embodiment, the collecting body may be attached to the storage device with one or more lengthy bodies, which for example may be hawsers, chains, lines or similar. In this manner, the collecting body is still allowed to be anchored to the storage device, thereby keeping the collecting body substantially at rest within the body of water when being used at the surface of the body of water so as not to drift away with winds or oceanic currents.

In a second aspect, the invention concerns a method for collecting a mass at a surface of a body of water, wherein the method makes use of a device comprising a collecting body and a storage device structured in a manner allowing it to hold on to the collecting body, wherein the storage device is adjustable between a locked position and an open position, and wherein the collecting body, when in the open position, is released at least partially from the storage device, wherein the method is characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

- anchoring the device within the body of water by means of anchoring means; and

- providing the collecting body with a first buoyant body structured in a manner allowing it to bring the collecting body to a surface position within the body of water when adjusting the storage device to the open position thereof.

The method may further comprise the steps of:

- anchoring one or more storage devices within the body of water, and in a predefined arrangement;

- releasing, at least partially, one or more collecting bodies by adjusting one or more storage devices to the open position thereof. For example, one or more devices according to the invention may be anchored on the seabed within the safety zone of a drilling platform, an FSPO-unit or similar.

In one embodiment, the method may further comprise connecting together one or more collecting bodies at the surface of the body of water. This may be carried out by connecting together end portions of the collecting bodies (or the collecting body). By so doing, the collecting bodies are allowed to be connected together in order, for example, to secure an area around a drilling platform. Alternatively, one or more collecting bodies may be used to secure a portion of a fjord, a bay or a cove, or a circular fish farm or similar, in order to protect particularly vulnerable and exposed areas.

A use of a container for storing booms on a seabed is also described.

Hereinafter, an example of a non-limiting, preferred embodiment is described and is depicted on the accompanying drawings, where:

Figure 1 shows, in perspective, a device according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows, as viewed from above and in larger scale than that of figure 1, a device according to the invention;

Figure 3 shows, as viewed from a long side and in the same scale as that of Figure

2, a device according to the invention;

Figure 4 shows, as viewed from an end and in the same scale as that of Figure 3, a device according to the invention;

Figure 5 shows, as viewed from the side and in small scale, several devices according to the invention disposed on a seabed around an oil platform;

Figure 6 shows, as viewed from above and in small scale, several collecting bodies according to the invention when connected together around an oil platform;

Figure 7 shows, as viewed in perspective and in the same scale as that of Figure 1, a device according to the invention, wherein a collecting body is floating up in the direction of the surface of the body of water by means of a first buoyant body; and

Figure 8 shows an alternative embodiment of a device according to the invention, wherein the device is attached to a lengthy body anchored on a seabed. Hereinafter, reference numeral 1 denotes a device according to the invention. The device 1 comprises a collecting body 11 shown in the figures as an oil boom. Further, the device 1 comprises a storage device 12 shown, in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, as a container. The container 12 is formed with sufficient weight, preferably with a concrete body (not shown) in a bottom portion of the container 12, whereby it functions as its own anchoring means 123. In Figure 1, the collecting body 11 is shown attached to the storage device 12 by means of a lengthy body 111, whereby the collecting body

I I is anchored, by means of the storage device 12, also upon the collecting body 11 being operational at a surface 21 of a body of water 2. For example, the lengthy body

I II may be a hawser, a chain, a line or similar.

The container 12 is provided with a set of roll-over guards 124 pivotally attached to each long side of the container 12, as shown in Figure 2. During transport and storage of the device 1, the roll-over guards 124 will be retracted and attached by means of a locking bolt 127c extending through mounting brackets 127a, 127b located, respectively, on the long side of the container 12 and on the roll-over guards 124, see Figures 2 and 3. The possible motions of the roll-over guards 124 from the retracted position are indicated in Figure 2. Before deployment of the device 1 on a seabed 22, the locking bolts 127c are removed and the roll-over guards 124 are extended outwards, thereby allowing them to function as a stabilizing support for the container 12.

The container 12 is provided with a cover 13. The cover 13 is held in a locked position by means of a locking device (not shown), which typically will be of an electromagnetic type known per se. By means of a remote-controlled control device (not shown), the locking device may be opened and the cover 13 may be released. A buoyant body 131 in the cover (second buoyant body) allows the cover 13 to be lifted automatically upon release, as indicated in Figure 4. Upon opening the cover 13, a first buoyant body 112 will pull the collecting body 11 from the storage device 12, through the body of water 2 and up in the direction of the surface 21, as indicated in Figure 7, wherein the buoyant body 112 is shown as a buoy. Preferably, the collecting body 11 will be inflated automatically at the surface 21 of the sea, and by means of a valve arrangement (not shown) of a type known per se.

Figure 5 shows an example of use of devices 1 according to the invention, wherein the devices 1 are placed around a drilling platform 3. In context of an undesirable oil spill, one or more of the storage devices 12 may be opened in a remote-controlled manner, thereby allowing the collecting bodies 11, 11', 11",..., 11""', oil booms herein, to float up to the surface. Advantageously, the end portions of the various collecting bodies 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' may be connected together in order to provide a large, continuous collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' which, for example, may enclose a drilling platform 3, as shown in Figure 6. For example, the continuous collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' may be laid out so as to have an approximately circular shape A around the drilling platform 3. A continuous collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' having an alternative shape B is also shown in the same figure. In context of an oil spill in an area having strong oceanic currents, oil may reach the surface 21 of the body of water 2 at a large distance from a drilling platform 3 or a production vessel, whereby the oil slick is not enclosed by the circular shape A of the continuous collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""'. One or more end portions of one or more collecting bodies 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' may then be released, for example by means of a quick release coupling of a type known per se, in order to haul the continuous collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' into a more longitudinal shape B, for example by means of a vessel. One or more collecting bodies 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' may also be released from their storage devices 12 for the same purpose. Finally, the released end portions of the various collecting bodies 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' may be connected together into the new, desired shape which, for example, may be elliptical B. A further embodiment C of the assembled collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' is shown in the same figure, wherein the assembled collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' does not enclose the platform 3, but wherein two of the end portions of the assembled collecting body 11, 11', 11",..., 11""' are held in a distended state by vessels 4.

Figure 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the device 1. In the figure, the storage device 12 is shown as a reel onto which a collecting body 11 is wound. The reel 12 is not anchored on the seabed 22, but it floats within the body of water 2 whilst being attached to a lengthy body 121 which is anchored to the seabed 22 by means of a weight 123. The fastening of the lengthy body 121 to the weight 123 is shown to comprise a rotatable joint 126. By means of a remote-controlled control device (not shown), the collecting body 11 will be released, at least partially, from the reel 12 in response to the opening of a locking device (not shown) of a type known per se, and it will be pulled up in the direction of the surface 21 by means of a buoyant body 112, and in the same manner as described above.