Tenting-Over a Deepwater Oil Discharge, Tents for Deepwater Oil Containment and Off-the-Shelf Quick-Response Kits

Abstract

Large-volume oil containment tents and other flexible structures are provided, especially using an oil-impermeable, water-permeable material. A relatively light-weight flexible structure can be arrayed at sea surface, and dispatched downwards to deepwater such as by adding weighting pellets in hollow region(s). An off-the-shelf oil containment product for tenting-over a deepwater, high-pressure oil emergency is provided. When a deepwater oil emergency occurs, the off-the-shelf, relatively light-weight containment product can be transported immediately to the surface coordinates above the emergency, and deployed rapidly by emergency responders who have been able to previously practice using the containment product.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . The tent product of  claim 7 , comprising an open-based containment structure. 
     
     
         3 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the tent product is off-the-shelf and stored in advance of the high-pressure oil discharge emergency at the underwater location. 
     
     
         4 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the tent product is transportable from a storage location to a sea surface location (x, y) above the location (x, y, z) within less than 24 hours after an onset of the (x, y, z) oil discharge problem. 
     
     
         5 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the tent product is deployable from a storage location to the underwater location (x, y, z) within 48 hours of an onset of the (x, y, z) oil discharge problem. 
     
     
         6 . The tent product of  claim 7 , including a material which is water-permeable and oil-impermeable. 
     
     
         7 . An oil containment tent product, wherein the tent product, in a deployed condition, contains a quantity of oil being discharged at high-pressure occurring at an underwater location (x, y, z) where (x, y) are longitude and latitude coordinates that are at-sea and “z” represents a vertical distance which is at, or within a relatively short distance above, a seabed; 
       the tent product including at least one hollow section comprising a hollow shaft and into which may be received weighting pellets or other masses. 
     
     
         8 . The tent product of  claim 7 , comprising weighting pellets or other masses disposed in the at least one hollow section. 
     
     
         9 . The tent product of  claim 7 , comprising at least one port that is connectible to tubing or piping through which oily water exits and/or connectible to an underwater oil containment bag that receives oily water. 
     
     
         10 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein in use the product contains a containment volume of oil of at least a million gallons. 
     
     
         11 . A method of containing an underwater, high-pressure oil discharge at a location (x, y, z) where (x, y) are longitude and latitude coordinates that are at-sea and “z” represents a vertical distance which is at, or within a relatively short distance above, a seabed, comprising:
 deploying an oil containment tent product that includes at least one hollow section into which may be received weighting pellets or other masses; 
 tenting-over the high-pressure oil discharge at the location (x, y, z); 
 containing, performed by the deployed tent product, a quantity of oil that was discharged at high-pressure from the underwater location (x, y, z), including stopping oil molecules which are liquid or solid yards or dozens of yards away from the discharge. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the tenting-over step comprises positioning a tent product comprising an oil impermeable, water-permeable material, the material being kept beyond and outside of a zone near the high-pressure discharge in which the oil would exert pressure on the material in a range too high for the material. 
     
     
         13 . An underwater oil containment kit to be used for containing oil discharge at an underwater location (x, y, z) which is in deepwater,
 wherein no component in pre-deployment, storage form is singly too heavy to be transported by helicopter to a sea surface (x, y) above the underwater location (x, y, z).   
     
     
         14 . The kit of  claim 13 , comprising:
 a tent product; and   weighting pellets insertible into the tent product, the weighting pellets being separable into loads for transportation from storage to (x, y) or (x, y, z).   
     
     
         15 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the hollow shaft is disposed height-wise. 
     
     
         16 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the hollow shaft at a bottom end includes a shaft floor so that weighting pellets accumulate in the shaft. 
     
     
         17 . The tent product of  claim 7 , wherein the hollow shaft at a bottom end has a shaft bottom opening so that weighting pellets pass into a hollow skirt and accumulate in the skirt. 
     
     
         18 . The tent product of  claim 7 , including a hollow total volume sufficient to receive enough mass for the product to generally transport itself downwards, when weight has been delivered into the product, to the depth underwater at which the product is to be used for containment of the discharge.