DIFIS Concept for the Removal of Oil from Ship Wrecks - Hydrodynamic scale model tests for operational, survival and offloading conditions and system deployment

DIFIS (Double Inverted Funnel for the Intervention on Ship wrecks) is a concept developed to recover hydrocarbons from ship wrecks, even in very large water depths. The main components of the DIFIS system are the Dome, the Riser Tube and the Buffer Bell. The system is made of flexible and light components, enabling easy installation. It is completely passive and requires no intervention, except for inspection and periodic offloading of the collected oil. The DIFIS system is expected to be more effective and cost efficient than existing methods. During the design of DIFIS, computer simulations and hydrodynamic scale model tests were carried out, investigating the system behaviour in operational and survival conditions, as well as during installation. An extensive series of model tests were carried out in MARIN's Offshore Basin, using unique modelling and measuring techniques. The results of these model tests are discussed in this paper.
More information on the DIFIS project can be found on the project web-site at http://www.difis.eu/.

This paper is copyrighted material and cannot be shared. Due to copyright policy MARIN is not allowed to reproduce and distribute papers written for and presented at the OTC (Offshore Technology Conference), ISOPE (International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference) and SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers). You can order these papers through
www.OnePetro.org.