Apparatus for Vacuuming Pollution from a Body of Water

Abstract

A floatable-material harvester is disclosed, including a vacuum source, transport hose, and a floatable-material receiver. In one embodiment, the transport hose has at least one air inductor / intake along its length, which allows air to enter the transport hose to accelerate its contents, by negative pressure air induction. In another embodiment, a transport hose has at least one floatable-material thruster along its length, comprised of at least one nozzle, which provides pressurized fluid (e.g., air or water) in the direction of the flow of the harvested floatable material by positive pressure induction. A method is disclosed whereby the floatable material harvester is used to harvest an absorbent material (e.g., wood chips, straw, perlite, zeolite, polypropylene mesh, titanate nanofibres) that has absorbed a pollutant (e.g., oil, solvent, radioactive isotopes) from a beach or in water.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION DATA[0001]This application claims the benefit of Canadian Patent Application No. CA 2805925, filed on Feb. 6, 2013.[0002]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 786,452, filed Mar. 15, 2013.[0003]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 817,267, filed Apr. 29, 2013[0004]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 838,336, filed Jun. 23, 2013.[0005]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61 / 845,349, filed 11 Jul. 2013.[0006]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61 / 878,028, filed 15 Sep. 2013.[0007]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application No. 61 / 879,646, filed 18 Sep. 2013.[0008]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application No. 61 / 887,421, filed Oct. 6, 2013.[0009]This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a method and apparatus for processing seaweed. The invention includes an air inductor with an air control valve to regulate the flow of air, which helps to bring air into the transport hose. The seaweed is then dried and processed using a mesh belt dryer or a rotary dryer, which helps to lower its rate of decomposition. The invention also includes a seaweed washer with a refrigeration unit or a sterilizing agent to further improve the quality and shelf life of the seaweed. Overall, this patent describes a process for producing high-quality seaweed that is suitable for various applications such as food, agriculture, and energy production.

Problems solved by technology

The amounts are sometimes staggering, leading to mass rotting and often the generation of hydrogen sulphide gas, which has been known to kill both humans and animals, as well as the direct release of methane into the atmosphere through anaerobic decomposition, where methane is commonly known to have 72 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) over 20 years than carbon dioxide.

Furthermore, although some of the seaweed provides beneficial decomposing matter as food for insects and worms that feed other species, the amounts of seaweed often far outweighs the benefit of the ecosystem, as it amounts to incredible masses of rotting vegetation similar to a massive landfill.

Eutrophication is also for certain leading to the starvation and destruction of coral reef systems that are overwhelmed and suffocated by algae.

In fresh water environments, eutrophication is starving fish of oxygen and ultimately destroying their natural habitat by overwhelming the habitat with biomass.

While overgrown or invasive, aquatic plants can be a nuisance as well as a hazard to the environment, those plants at the same time can present commercial opportunity.

The large amounts of seaweed can be a nuisance when it washes up on shore and begins to decay, causing a stench, releasing methane and hydrogen sulfide gases, and leaving the beach looking filthy.

However, conventional methods do not address the difficulty of harvesting seaweed from shores where land access is unavailable.

Furthermore, in sensitive beach environments, they can disturb the ground, causing the sea grass to die and the beach to erode, as well as promoting the destruction of clams and fish eggs by the use of tracked vehicles to access such beach areas.

However, the waters near many shores have shallow areas where access would not be possible during low tide, as the barge would contact the ground and possibly damage clam beds and other sea life or ecology.

All of them have a limitation of rate and speed of pick up.

Petroleum spills cause more damage to the environment the longer the oil spill is present.

Images