Arrangement for disposing of fluid floating matter

Claim 1

An arrangement for disposing of floating matter in a body of water comprising: (a) a vessel which can float; (b) a recovery-separation tank (2) in said vessel with a surface lower than that of the outside water; (c) inlet means (1) at the front of the recoveryseparation recovery-separation for drawing in floating matter such as oil floating on the surface of the water outside, said inlet (1) leading to the recovery-separation tank (2); (d) anti-emulsion plate means (5, 5a) extending from below the inlet means (1) downwardly into the recovery-separation tank, said anti-emulsion plate having many tiny holes so as to run through the water in the direction of thickness thereof and flow floating matter along the surface thereof. (e) a water chamger (17) at the rear of the recovery-separation tank (2) for storing the water running the lower portion of the recovery-separation tank (2) through a water entrance opened at the lower part of the water chamber; (f) floating matter reservoir (7) adjacent to the recovery-separation tank (2) for storing the floating matter overflowing therefrom; (g) drain pump means which discharges the water out of the water chamber; (h) suction pump means which removes the floating matter out of the floating matter reservoir; (i) vertical plate travel path defining means for separating the floating matter and the water into layers, said vertical plate defining a quiescent region under the layer of floating matter, a lower elongated travel path and an upper shorter path so as to elongate the flow path of the water running in the lower portion of the recovery-separation tank to said drain pump and shortening the flow path of the floating matter to said floating matter reservoir maintaining a quiescent region therebetween, said travel path defining means including a plurality of vertical baffle plates connected to the bottom of said recovery-separation tank but spaced above the bottom of said tank and so interrelated between said inlet means (1) at the one end of said tank and said storage water chamber (17) and the floating matter reservoir (7) for separated fractions at the other end of said tank as to cause a vertical zig-zag flow through said tank.