Organic slurry storage basin cover and method of constructing and deploying cover

Abstract

A lagoon basin cover that may be fabricated on site from a geotextile material that floats on the lagoon. The cover is assembled from sections joined to each other at seams, then provided with floatation, deployment ropes, and tethering ropes. The cover is deployed across the lagoon surface and the lagoon basin with the tethering ropes using a system of pulleys and a single segmented mandrel. After deployment, the cover is tethered at a variety of locations around the perimeter of the cover.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A cover for a lagoon within a lagoon basin, comprising: 
 a plurality of sections of geotextile fabric, the fabric having specific gravity less than one, the sections joined together into a single piece cover;    flotation attached to the cover;    deployment ropes, attached to the cover, having sufficient length for the cover to be stretched across the basin when the deployment ropes are threaded through pulleys and wound onto a single segmented mandrel at a central point; and    tethering ropes, attached to the cover, having sufficient length to tether the cover in place such that the cover floats atop the lagoon and entirely covers the lagoon basin.    
     
     
         2 . The cover of  claim 1 , in which the geotextile fabric has a grab tensile strength of at least 200 pounds.  
     
     
         2 . The cover of  claim 1 , in which the geotextile fabric has an apparent size opening equal to a 100 U.S. Sieve.  
     
     
         3 . The cover of  claim 1 , in which the geotextile fabric has a permittivity of 1.5 sec or less.  
     
     
         4 . A method of manufacturing a cover for a lagoon within a lagoon basin, comprising: 
 repeatedly joining together successive sections of geotextile fabric to form a single piece cover, the fabric having specific gravity less than one; and    attaching flotation, deployment ropes, and tethering ropes to the cover,    the deployment ropes being long enough to stretch the cover across the lagoon basin when the deployment ropes are threaded through pulleys onto a single segmented mandrel at a central point, and    the tethering ropes being long enough to tether the cover in place, such that the cover floats atop the lagoon and entirely covers the lagoon basin.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , in which the sections are repeatedly joined by seaming.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , in which the sections are repeatedly joined by fusing with heat.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , in which the sections are repeatedly joined by sewing with ultraviolet inhibiting thread.  
     
     
         8 . A process for deploying a cover onto a lagoon basin, comprising: 
 providing sections of geotextile fabric along a berm of a side of the basin selected for building the cover, the fabric having specific gravity less than one;    repeatedly joining sections of the fabric to each other to form a single piece cover shaped and sized to cover the lagoon basin;    attaching flotation, deployment ropes, and tethering ropes to the cover;    stretching the deployment ropes across the basin, then threading the deployment ropes through pulleys onto a single segmented mandrel at a central point;    winding the deployment ropes onto the mandrel to pull the cover across the basin; and    tethering the cover in place such that the cover floats atop the lagoon and entirely covers the lagoon basin.    
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 8 , in which the tethering is at a plurality of tethering points.  
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 9 , in which the tethering points are posts.  
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 9 , in which the tethering points are ground anchors.  
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 8 , in which the tethering comprises placing a margin of the cover in a trench with a vertical side wall above operational high water line, then back filling the trench.  
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 8 , in which the flotation, deployment ropes, and tethering ropes are attached without puncturing the geotextile material.