14-11-06

US scientists say they have developed a new technology for cleaning oil spills on oceans, lakes and other waterways.
Victoria Broje and Arturo Keller of the University of California-Santa Barbara say they have constructed and successfully field tested an improved version of the mechanical skimmer -- the mainstay device for recovering oil spilled on water. Relatively unchanged for decades, the typical skimmer consists of a revolving steamroller-like drum that picks up a film of oil on the drum's surface. A scraper then removes the oil, which drops into a collector.

The new mechanical skimmer uses a grooved surface. With a larger surface area, the grooves scoop up more oil than the smooth-surfaced traditional skimmer. The scraper is machined to precisely match the groove geometry, removing nearly 100 % of the adhered oil with each rotation.
The grooves also are coated with an improved oil-adhering polymer and field tests show the new skimmer is up to three times more efficient than traditional skimmers, the scientists report.

The technology is detailed in a report scheduled for the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.