Improved mechanical oil spill recovery using an optimized geometry for the skimmer surface

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Petroleum Engineering

Background:

• Mechanical oil spill response equipment efficiency is critical for environmental protection.
• Oleophilic skimmers are a key technology, but their recovery efficiency can be limited.
• Optimizing the recovery surface geometry is a potential area for significant improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the efficiency of mechanical oil spill response equipment.
• To optimize the geometry of the oleophilic skimmer recovery surface.
• To investigate the relationship between operational variables and oil spill recovery efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Comparison of novel and conventional oleophilic drum skimmer configurations.
• Full-scale oil spill recovery testing to evaluate performance.
• Analysis of the effect of surface pattern dimensions on recovery efficiency.

Main Results:

• A novel surface pattern increased skimmer oil recovery efficiency up to three times.
• The improved surface pattern demonstrated effectiveness with oils of varying viscosities.
• Successful recovery of challenging low-viscosity oils, such as diesel, was achieved.

Conclusions:

• Optimized oleophilic skimmer surface geometry significantly enhances oil recovery efficiency.
• The developed surface pattern is versatile, performing well across a range of oil viscosities.
• Guidelines for designing efficient skimmer surface geometries tailored to oil properties were established.