Abstract |
Efforts are being directed to develop effective countermeasures against floating oil slicks. Mechanical recovery methods, which do not cause additional environmental insult, are most attractive. Such a concept, a hydraulic skimmer, was investigated. Floating headers, providing a linear water spray pattern on the water surface, are attached to an open sea workboat. Sea water is pumped through spray nozzles mounted on the headers to move an oil slick toward the boat. Side mounted chambers are positioned to collect the concentrated floating oil. Recovered fluid is pumped to an onboard separation system from which the oil is transferred to floating tanks or barges and the water is recycled to the spray system. Experimental work was directed toward component development and evaluation of a large system model in a simulated environment. Model experiment results showed, for light oils, 80 to 100 percent effectiveness and oil recovery rates of 6600 to 8700 gph. Results with Bunker fuel were not as good, being on the order of 1300 to 1800 gph and 12 to 30 percent effective in recovering oil from the water surface. (Author) |