Marine Electronics
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SkimOil, Inc, a specialty manufacturer and distributor of industrial pollution control equipment and systems, has announced the availability of its GulfSTOP system. The new system, specifically designed for cleaning up oil close to the shoreline, is expected to help those that have oil damaged coastline property.
The system, with a liquid processing rate of over 50 gallons per minute (about 5.2 million gallons a day), could play a significant role in repairing much of the gulf’s oil damaged property. And that’s not only because of the high-speed design, but also because the design is about as easy to use as a vacuum cleaner.
The lightweight, plastic skimmer head, which measures about 2 feet by2 feet, readily attaches to a hose and an extendable control arm. Once attached, the oil can be vacuumed off the top of the water surface simply by positioning the skimmer on the floating oil patch, oil stained grassy marsh or any other debris, such as algae or feathers, that float on the surface.
With the control wand on the sweeper’s arm the skimmer has even more power. The control wand lets the operator match the skim depth to the oil patch. Through a simple repositioning of the wand, the operator can quickly and precisely change the skim depth anywhere from a quarter inch to two inches. Add to this a variable oil skim rate that can go as high as 400 gallons per minute, the skimmer has a measure of control that, according to the company, allows for surgical level precision cleaning of oil spills.
SkimOil, a well-known company in the marine world with hundreds of customers, shows off its device and how to operate it in a video at its web site. There, SkimOil president Roscoe McWilliams, next to his open marsh with ducks quacking, attaches the skimmer to a hose and pump, and then starts vacuuming oil off the pond. Making it all look as simple and as typical as mowing your lawn, McWilliams comments that “one man working on a small boat with an extension pole can guide the skimmer directly into the shallows and remove the oil fast.”
However there is a little more to it than the motorless skimmer head. And that’s because there is a lot of oily water to store and process. Explaining the details of that process in the video is McWilliams again, but this time back in SkimOil’s equipment laden design shop. Apparently, although you can use your own pumps and oil barrels, it may be a better idea to use SkimOil’s diesel fired specialty diaphragm pump and its marine oil water separator and extractor system, a United States Coast Guard approved system.
The advantage of using SkimOil’s system is that, like the skimwitch it works with, it has been designed for ease of use and for maximum efficiency. In a complete SkimOil configuration, a pump feeds the separator, a tank that stands about seven feet high and three feet wide, oily water that is collected by the skimwitch. Within the tank, as the oil separates from the water, an oil sensor detects and then directs oil and water through separate pipes, one leading to oil storage and the other back to the original water source.
SkimOil expects that its efforts to clean up the oil will work because its system will place easy to use oil skimming equipment in the hands of those that need it most, property owners, fishermen and coastline-based businesses and cities. According to McWilliams, “We can and will put together training videos and can conduct on the ground training sessions that would enable local workboats to get in close to shore and make HUGE oil recovery possible NOW.”
