Alternative Oil Spill Cleanup Methods

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Does anyone know of any alternative ways to clean up oil spills? 

I am looking for methods other than dispersants, since it is still unclear whether they would work on the Arctic because the water is cold there. 

I have read about naturally occurring microbes in seawater which could break down the oil or super-absorbent materials. Does anyone have more detailed information on these? 

Which alternative oil spill cleanup methods do you know about? 

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11 Answers

  2. CETCO offers Organoclay, an adsorptive clay media capable of permanently adsorbing oily waste. 

  4. 02/15/2017

    GLOBE WATER, AB Sweden

    Executive Summary Discovery Process

    Mr. Pontus Schwalbe is a retired Swedish Air Force Officer, Scientist, Engineer and Entrepreneur, developed holder of 50+ Swedish Patents, Registered TM’s.

    Pontus Schwalbe is the originator; founder COB/President/CEO of Globe Water, AB Sweden.

    Globe Water, AB was founded in 1983 and bought by Mr Schwalbe in 1997.

    Globe Water, AB holds registered US, Canadian and Swedish patents, and registered TM’s-Trade Marks for its proprietary industrial cleansing processes

    Sorbus-

    • Industrial strength Remediation, Cleansing by filtering industrial waste water therefore stopping the waste water to pollute rivers and lakes.

    Ecosoil-

    • Industrial strength Remediation, Cleansing of polluted surface soils and subterranean stratified soils, dirt, mud, shale, from surface areas down to 50 meters in depth.

    Globe Water, AB of Sweden has developed multiple patents, TM processes, SORBUS, ECOSOIL designed to precisely, scientifically document, perform test samples, manage & cleanse large industrial waste sites such as massive amounts of industrially polluted soil, with subterranean plums.

    • Post-electric steam generation fly ash, containment, stabilizing, removing sulphur, acids, mercury and heavy metals from the massive fly ash post stream generation residue. We recommend “utilizing” cleansed Fly Ash as a proven binding agent in the mixture of cement for residential, commercial industrial highway uses
    • Broken subterranean pipelines carrying
    • Raw Sewerage, Chemicals
    • Crude oil, gas, from well heads to storage tanks and eventually refineries
    • The national subterranean US Fuel Refinery distribution systems pipelines grid to respective City, Town, Village Fuel Racks for commercial and residential distribution, consumption
    • Refined oil, gasoline, diesel fuels No 2 Heating Fuels, Kerosene, Jet Fuels, Naphtha
    • Chemicals distribution systems
    • Raw sewerage distribution systems

     

    Globe Water, AB on site Discovery Process Documents utilizing

    During the physical Discovery Phases:

    • Globewater, AB utilizes multiple technologies such as
    • Aerial UAV’s Carrying Hi-Speed Digital Infra-Red Cameras to map the contaminated areas footprint
    • SPOT Satellite Reconnaissance Photos, for the scientific creation of a PMO Baseline against which,
    • PMO-Plans & WIP-Work In Progress in Remediation's can be scientifically measured on a daily basis
    • GI-Ground Imaging,
    • GPR-Ground Penetrating Radar,
    • GPs to monitor precise Latitudinal & Longitudinal presence of industrial pollutants down 150.0'
    • Documenting in 256 color pallet
    • 3-D subterranean mapping of the extent, depth of the leaching process contaminating the Power Generating Industrial sites and the massive storage of fly ash.

    Globe Waters proven in-the-field proprietary methods, procedures ECOSOIL, SORBUS, are utilized in the Discovery Process Phase to

    • ID, document, measure, contain,
    • Cleanse, measure daily residual levels of industrial toxins such as:
    • Sulphur, Mercury, Acids, Heavy Metals, Micro Particulates, Polymers, Industrial Paint Chips, Crude Oil, Raw Sewerage

    Globe Water, AB Jute Materials Cleansing Processes

    • To remove the industrial toxins, wastes from Fly Ash fields, Globewater, AB has entered into a JV with an Indian Firm that Specialises in containing and cleansing large Fly Ash Dump sites located around each coal fired steam power electric generating stations globally, whose by product is electricity & Fly Ash.
    • Th e by product of Coal Fly Ash is a cacogenic talcum powder like dust which causes lung cancer amongst the power plant workers and those exposed to the ever shifting winds carrying the toxic, talcum powder like fly ash, by products airborne for many, many miles from each steam powered power plant facility.
    • The low tech, yet extremely efficient Indian solutions to cleansing Fly Ash and Raw Sewerage pouring into rivers, streams, water ways, where local inhabitants bathe and draw water for their livelihood, animals,
    • is to utilize large, long bolts of jute material to cover the riverbanks to reduce natural erosion and
    • then planting of jut chutes through holes cut into the jute materials both
    • lining the river banks and water ways
    • acres of Fly Ash powder
    • The jute plant grown to full maturity in 6 months with an intricate root system going down 6.0’ or more, and growing to a height of 6.0’. The Jute Plants can be harvested twice a year, and sold to be woven into jute materials
    • The rapid sub-terranian, growth rate, expansion of the Jute Root Systems naturally filters, cleanses the subterranean grounds of the raw sewerage, toxins, and Coal Fly Ash Heavy Metals, Mercury Toxins, Cryogens from the river banks, Coal Fly Ash Dumps.
    • This is a natural, iterative process that does not require any fossil fuels. The by product is  the creation of pure Oxygen, the gradual cleansing of the polluted river banks, streams , waterways, from toxic Fly Ash Land Fill, Dumps for eventual human and agri-business uses for raising cattle, sheep, goats, planting crops eventual and eventually safe, human habitation.

     

    Globe Water, AB takes an

    • Measured, engineered, scientific, holistic approach, that is achieves quantifiable results
    • Immediate, short term, intermediate term and long term
    • Utilizing both pro-active, passive, short term and long term reclamation processes
    • Each designed to ID, leach out the harmful by products of a "witches brew of contaminates" that emerge as direct result of the seasonal impacts, of sun, snow, rain’s impacts on the acres of fly ash left out in the seasonal elements.
    • For additional information on Globe Water, SB proven industrial scale cleansing of ground surfaces and subterranean leaching into the soils down to 150.0' all recorded, documented utilizing
    • GI- Ground Imaging
    • GPR- Ground Penetrating Radar

  6. Please take a look at www.oileraser.com. It's a proprietary coating that can be applied to conventional materials -foam and fiber - to make them super oleophilic and hydrophobic enhancing the capacity up to 80X it's weight in petrochemicals.  It can also be applied to open cell foams and fibers for filtration etc. 

    The oil can then be released using a release agent to rebarrel or reprocess the accrued oil and extends the life of the product exponentially. 

  8. Bacteria also will not be so active in the snow.

    1) collect oil and snow and separate in a small separation unit after snow melted, or

    2) apply porous hydrophobic silica grains (like aerogel, silicagel) , they absorb only hydricarbons, collect them later

    Sorry I do not know details but you find more in the Internet.

  10. Hello Minja; There are several alternate methods of oil spill cleanup other than dispersants. There are multiple products readily available for industrial spills. They are called "spill pig booms"; they are large absorbent floating, tubular pillows which only absorb oil and chemicals, not water. There are also very newly developed oil adsorbent microfiber screens which can be applied like a sediment screen for water applications. This application can be deployed just like a large "fishing net" around the spill and absorb the oil/chemicals. Then the entire net is reeled in with the trapped spill material contained within. I wholly agree with not employing "dispersants". These chemicals do not disassociate the target constituent; rather these chemicals change the  viscosity and the relative mass of the target constituent. When these dispersants were used in the BP Deep Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil disappeared from the surface; only to coagulate underwater with bubbles of oil the size of VolksWagon's  beetle cars, in multiple submerged plumes  up to1,000 miles long and at various depth's all inevitably settling to the floor of the Gulf and covering the Benthos. Please feel free to contact me for more information at: Phone - 410-388-0898 / Email: irsd7@verizon.net