Marine Electronics
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The oil spill continues to threaten the coastlines despite the enormous efforts to keep it corralled, stop its flow, and soak it up. Off the coast of Louisiana, the oil spill tentacles are readying for the strike. Worse yet, Google’s oil spill maps indicate that it will hit the shoreline in mass within 24 to 72 hours. All the while to the east, eddy currents threaten to bring the oil to the Florida coast and beyond.
Despite it all though, the amount of oil flowing and recovered appears to be going in the right direction. BP estimates that so far it has skimmed a total of 187,000 barrels (7.8 million gallons) of oily water off the surface. Additionally, as a result of BP’s recent riser fix, BP is collecting 3,000 barrels per day of oil and flaring 14 million standard cubic of feet per day of gas. The oil is now being pumped up and safely stored on Transocean’s drillship, Discoverer Enterprise.
Besides BP’s oil collection efforts, the company reports that over 1.9 million feet of booms (362 miles), including some 500,000 feet of oil absorbing booms are in place. The oil spill effort is currently being manned by over 19,000 workers and over 930 vessels, including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels; effectively turning the gulf into one giant boom-laying factory.
And now along comes CINC Industries, Inc., also known as Costner Industries Nevada Corporation, with centrifugal extractor technology. Although no formal announcement can be found, reports are that BP will test Costner’s product to clean up the gulf spill. Whether or not the extractor will pass BP’s testing, according to last reports, they are at least ready to go. All that is needed now is the green light from BP.
Also in New Orleans, Kevin Costner, famed Waterworld actor, has been on the news demonstrating the water-oil separator that he and his brother have been developing over two decades. According to Costner, the centrifugal devices not only have the capacity to purify oily water up to levels of 97 percent, but can be used with other purifying machines to make the water safe for drinking. Besides being able to get really oily water really clean, Costner’s machines also have the ability to clean oily water quickly. Costner’s bigger extractors can process 200 gallons per minute, or 288,000 gallons per day.
The logistics of setting up these machines throughout the gulf still has to be thought out; however, Costner has had experience. According to Time Magazine’s February 3, 1997 issue, Costner’s machines were used to clean up an oil spill in Japan.
Costner’s technology not only has its roots as Kevin Costner’s environmental and long term business concern, its also has roots at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, one of the major energy and technology research organizations in the United States. In addition to being reported on by Oak Ridge, Costner’s patented technology, as it has advanced, has also been central to research at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the water science community at large.
Besides all this, Costner Industries also sells its extraction centrifuges for a wide variety of other applications. The machines which range in size and particle extraction capabilities, according to the company’s web site, www.cincmfg.com, are used in chemical, pharmaceutical, industrial, flavors and fragrances, oil/water, biodiesel, and nuclear applications.
Offshore oil drilling areas such as those in the Gulf have always been noted for the extreme amounts of oil and chemicals in them. However, up to now there has not been an effective call for the government or oil companies to clean up this highly contaminated water.
If the Costner brothers’ solution and others like theirs prove to be cost-effective and efficient, the government may be forced to reconsider their oil spill response strategies. In this regard, the government will have to decide who will have to pay for oil spill response networks that work, the oil companies or the taxpayers.
