Free floating endless belt oil skimmer

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1972

OSTI ID:6352599

Agnew, R W

A free floating endless belt oil skimmer was developed as a means of recovering spilled oil from surface waters. The skimmer uses a unique high efficiency conveyor wringer to power and wring the belt. The belt is designed to float on the water surface and responds rapidly to the shape of the waves, thereby maximizing oil-sorbent contact time. Evaluation of the skimmer was conducted in a 60 foot diameter annular test tank under the conditions of slightly progressive waves having an amplitude of two feet. One foot wide neoprene backed polyurethane foams were utilized as the sorbent material. The experimental results indicate that the oil pickup rates will vary with the belt speed, oil slick thickness and belt porosities. The recovered liquid contained approximately 50 to 70% oil at 0.10 inch slick thickness. A conceptual design of a five foot wide boat mounted skimmer capable of harvesting approximately 5 acres per hour of spilled oil is presented.

• Research Organization: Rex Chainbelt, Inc., Milwaukee, WI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6352599
• Report Number(s): PB-214103; EPA-R2-72-006
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ADSORBENTS
COLLOIDS
COMPUTER CODES
CONTAINMENT
DESIGN
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
FOAMS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL OILS
FUELS
LIQUID FUELS
MATERIALS
OIL POLLUTION CONTAINMENT
OIL SPILLS
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POLYAMIDES
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
POLYPROPYLENE
POLYURETHANES
RESIDUAL FUELS
SHIPS
SKIMMERS
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TESTING
WATER POLLUTION