On-board re-inflatable containment boom and control system

Abstract

An on-board re-inflatable containment boom for a waterborne vessel that lies substantially flat and capable of being spooled when deflated and floats in the proper orientation when inflated, that has re-inflatable float sections which are sequentially inflated during deployment and sequentially deflated during recovery, that can be repeatedly deployed and recovered for the purposes of training and testing, and that can be deployed immediately upon occurrence of an oil spill from a waterborne vessel because of its on-board location and its rapid deployment, and a control system for proper inflation and deflation of re-inflatable containment boom during deployment and recovery.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . An on-board re-inflatable containment boom having a plurality of inflatable float sections, an incorporated air hose into which positive and negative air pressures are fed by a pneumatic control pathway having sensors, filling valves and emptying valves in each of the inflatable float sections for controlling pressures from a compressed air source and a vacuum source, the incorporated air hose extending along entire length of the boom and connected to all said filling valves and all said emptying valves of said inflatable float sections; and
 a containment skirt formed by a lower portion of the boom below the air hose and below said inflatable float sections, and wherein the containment boom is deployed and recovered on the mountable spool of deflated boom driven by a spool motor, and wherein an interior of the air hose is maintained at a pre-determined positive air pressure of between 1 p.s.i. and 3 p.s.i. while the boom and the air hose are wound on the spool before deployment of the boom.   
     
     
         12 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . (canceled)