Iceberg Reclamation Industry

Abstract

Iceberg Reclamation industry invention provides an economical method of adapting offshore marine structures for arctic waters into fresh water production plants. The key condition of the invention is that icebergs are not towed or transported, instead the processing plant systematically breaks down icebergs and processes the ice pieces, melts the ice, and enables the transport of fresh water to arid climates and other areas in need of water reserves augmentation. The invention also claims that by decreasing the ice melt into oceans from icebergs this method acts as a sea level rise countermeasure. The method can also be used to clean oceans of floating debris and process the waste economically.

1 . A method comprising
 at a reclamation structure that is stationary at a reclamation location in a body of seawater in which icebergs are moving, capturing icebergs as they move in the body of seawater,   at the structure, breaking down the icebergs into smaller pieces of ice, producing fresh water   distributing the water produced when the smaller pieces of ice melt at the structure, or both, to locations at which the ice or water or both are to be processed or used or both.   Resulting in the production of cheaper readily available fresh water by processing icebergs in their natural environment before transporting the produced water.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising fully melting the ice into water at the location of the structure. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  in which the icebergs are broken with a moveable shield, ice pieces captured in a corral formed by the annular void of the circular shaped moveable shield. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  in which the ice is transferred out of the body of the corral on a conveyor system
 where ice pieces are allowed to melt by the operation of heated auger system and heating fluid pumped within and throughout the hopper apparatus. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  in which the ice is held temporarily in a vessel that is partially submerged in the body of seawater for a period of time sufficient to permit the ice to melt. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  in which stationary location of the reclamation structure is in an iceberg flow zone. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  in which the ice or water or both are loaded onto shipping vessels for distribution. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  in which the ice or water or both are pumped into a pipeline or onto ships at the location for distribution. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  in which the reclamation structure is towed into position at the reclamation location and made stationary there. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus comprising
 a movable basin shaped shield to corral at a reclamation location to capture icebergs as they move through a body of seawater,   a breaking device to break the captured icebergs into smaller pieces of ice,   a holding structure to hold the smaller pieces of ice in proximity to seawater to permit melting of the smaller pieces of ice, and   distribution equipment to enable the distribution of the smaller pieces of ice or water from the melting, or both, to a land location.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of in which the corral comprises a movable portion with a gate to force the icebergs towards the conveyor device. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10  in which the holding structure comprises a tank to hold the smaller pieces of ice. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  in which the holding structure is arranged to receive heat from the auger and hopper device. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12  in which the holding structure is at least partially submerged. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 12  in which the distribution equipment comprises piping. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 12  in which the distribution equipment comprises a pump. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 1  which the method acts as sea level rise countermeasure method decreases the ice melt into the ocean in arctic waters. 
     
     
         18 . The method that can be used to clean oceans of floating debris and process the waste economically.