4335308 Inspection of underwater structures

Volume 14/Number 3/March 1983

4335308 INSPECTION OF UNDERWATER STRUCTURES L R Caldecourt, G V Evans, T V Parsons, Faringdon, United Kingdom assigned to United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

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A radiation detector for use in an underwater environment, comprising a radiation detector tube having a metal case out of one end of which extends an output lead wherein the said end of the tube is encased in a resilient water-proof compound so as to prevent the ingress of water into the body of the radiation detector tube. Marine structures incorporating such radiation detectors also are described.

belt or conveyor carrying lateral rows of teeth longitudinally aligned that is immersed in the sea at one lower end and has the oil removed therefrom at the other end by a scraper arrangement. A set of rotatably mounted toothed discs, resiliently mounted with respect to the conveyor, are located adjacent the lower end to assist in breaking up viscid or weathered oil with the disc teeth longitudinally interleaved with the conveyor teeth. The set of toothed discs may be substituted by a plain roller, or a plain or corrugated conveyor may be employed with the toothed discs. The toothed conveyor and disc structure may be used for other scavenging, such as clearing seaweed, in which case the teeth need not be oleophilic.

4336843 EMERGENCY WELL-CONTROL VESSEL T D Petty, assigned to ODECO Engineers Inc

4336137 SCAVENGING

APPARATUS

E V Byers, Nottingham, United Kingdom 6

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PCT No. PCT/GB79/00085 Sec. 371 Date Jan. 26, 1980 Sec. 102(e) Date Jan. 24, 1980 PCT Filed May 25, 1979 PCT Pub. No. WO79/01135 PCT Pub. Date Dec. 27, 1979. Scavenging apparatus is disclosed in which a toothed structure has its teeth moved in a prescribed closed path to engage material being scavenged. The apparatus has particular application to removing oil from slicks at the surface of the sea in which case the teeth at least have oleophilic surfaces. In one form a plurality of spaced toothed discs are rotated partially immersed in the sea, and oil accreted to the toothed discs is removed by a scraper device for discharge in a vessel which may be the vessel carrying the discs. Another structure is an endless chain of teeth, which may also be used as a lifting pump, and a preferred structure is an endless

The emergency well-control vessel is capable of being moved above an offshore live oil or gas well, over which all normal controis have been lost. The vessel carries special purpose equipments and specially trained personnel for the purpose of bringing the erupted well under control, thereby stopping the pollution of the water body with the ejected formation fluids which form a socalled plume. Such equipment is adapted to allow the vessel to move over and continue to dispel the plume while simultaneously attempting to regain control of the well. In one aspect, control of the abandoned wellhead and blowout preventers is established with divers working from the vessel or from an auxiliary craft. After control of the blowout 117