Collapsible High-Volume Oil Containment Device, and Deepwater Oil Containment Methods

Abstract

High-volume, collapsible oil containment devices are provided. The high volume collapsible oil containment devices are useable to mitigate seabed deepwater oil emergencies.

1 . A collapsible high-volume oil containment device without an integral floor, comprising:
 a top frame that forms a perimeter shape and has a hollow interior;   a bottom frame that forms a perimeter shape and has a hollow interior;   a high surface area part that is oil-containing, is attached to the top frame and defines a top surface;   a high surface area part that is oil-containing, is attached to the bottom frame and the top frame and defines a continuous sidewall surface;   
       wherein the device is collapsible and a most-collapsed state that is relatively flat and a most-open state that is a multi-story flexible structure. 
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the top frame is a first circular ring and the bottom frame is a second circular ring. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the first circular ring and the second circular ring are of about a same circumference. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the top frame and the bottom frame difference in circumference or width from each other. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the top surface is a bonnet. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , comprising a plurality of weights and/or a plurality of buoyancy devices, detachably attached to the top frame and/or the bottom frame. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein in the most-open state, the device at a smallest height dimension and at a smallest width dimension clears, by at least dozens of feet, a deepwater seabed structure that has failed or could fail. 
     
     
         8 . A deepwater oil containment device, comprising a collapsible structure. 
     
     
         9 . A method of mitigating a deepwater oil emergency in progress at coordinates (x, y, z), comprising:
 transporting, to a longitude and latitude which are about (x,y), a collapsible structure having a most-collapsed state and a most-open state;   deploying the transported collapsible structure in a vicinity of coordinates (x,y,z) in the most-open state.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , including containing oily water in a vicinity of (x,y,z) and preventing oil from (x,y,z) from moving further upwards towards a sea surface. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , including offloading oily water via at least one pipe attached to a surface of the structure and/or inserted under a bottom edge of the structure. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the offloading step includes simultaneously offloading oily water via multiple pipes. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein in the deploying step, the structure is kept clear, by at least dozens of feet, of a highest-pressure or highest-velocity point of oil movement.