Ravi
Diamond Member
This is excellent, imo.
Local Crews Design Prototype Oil Skimmer - Most Popular News Story - WDSU New OrleansOne of those ideas -- involving a shallow draft barge converted into a prototype oil skimmer -- has come to life in St. Tammany Parish.Designer C.W. Parker conceived the project. Convinced it would work, the Louisiana native called on people he trusted to help him make it happen."What we tried to do is build something we thought would work and we didn't try to make contact with these folks. We didn't try to aggravate anybody until we got something we thought was workable," said Bill Killian with K&K Construction and Disaster Services.The U.S. Coast Guard has approved the skimmer, and BP has signed them up to go to work.
Those who created it say it could skim 3,500 barrels of oil a day."We'll have two boats out front with boom attached to them, 250 on this side and 250 foot on this side, attached to the front of the vessel here. The oil will be funneled right in," said Bobby Thillens with K&K Construction.The pumps on board pull the oil from the ocean surface and separate it from the water. The adjustable depth of the skim allows suction as deep as it goes.
The oil is pumped into an adjoining barge, and the water goes back into the Gulf.Parker said the water is between 95 and 99 percent clean.He and his crew spent around $1 million designing and building the skimmer from scratch.The prototype is headed out to the Gulf of Mexico this week to get to work.