Floating dispersant paste

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9937474-B2
Application number	US-51886107-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2007
Priority date	Jan 30, 2007
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

An agent and a method for dispersing spilled oil, particularly on a body of water. The compound is a viscous dispersant liquid comprising a mixture of surfactants and a viscosifying agent that may be stored, shipped, mixed, and delivered on site using standard equipment and methods. The compound is released as a cohesive, persistent, visible, gel-like or paste-like liquid that floats on water. At least one method includes delivering the viscous dispersant liquid onto an oil spill in a body of water utilizing a jet airplane flying at over about 100 feet and spraying the liquid in large, pea-sized droplets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oil spill treatment agent comprising:
an opaque, viscous dispersant liquid comprising:
about 3-13 weight percent of sorbitan monooleate,
about 5-15 weight percent of polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate,
about 30-50 weight percent of polyoxyethylene sorbitan trioleate,
about 20-40 weight percent of an alkali metal salt of a dioctyl sulfosuccinate,
about 6-14 weight percent of hydrocarbon or alcohol solvent, and
about 1-3 weight percent of microballoons

wherein the viscous dispersant liquid is formulated to be applied directly to a surface of a body of water to disperse oil floating on the surface of the body of water and has a density between about 0.80 grams per milliliter (g/ml) and about 1.02 g/ml; and
further wherein the viscous dispersant liquid is in the form of droplets having diameter within the range from 0.5 cm to 1.0 cm.

2. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the opaque, viscous dispersant liquid further comprises one of gas bubbles and low density solids.

3. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the viscous dispersant liquid has a density between about 0.92 g/ml and about 0.96 g/ml.

4. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the viscous dispersant liquid has a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance between about 9.0 and about 12.0.

5. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the viscous dispersant liquid has a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance between about 10.5 and about 10.9.

6. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the viscous dispersant liquid has a viscosity between about 1,000 centipoise (cP) and about 10,000 cP.

7. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the viscous dispersant liquid has a viscosity between about 5,000 centipoise (cP) and about 6,000 cP.

8. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises isopropyl alcohol.

9. The oil spill treatment agent of claim 1 , wherein the microballoons have a particle size of about 25 micrometers to about 90 micrometers.

Assignees

• Nedwed Timothy J
• Canevari Gerard P
• Clark James R
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• Nedwed Timothy J
• Canevari Gerard P
• Clark James R

Classifications

• Y02A20/204

  Keeping clear the surface of open water from oil spills · CPC title

• C02F1/686

  Devices for dosing liquid additives · CPC title

• B01F17/0085 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• C09K3/32

  for absorbing liquids to remove pollution, e.g. oil, gasoline, fat · CPC title

• C02F1/682 Primary

  by addition of chemical compounds for dispersing an oily layer on water · CPC title