Development of a handy oil-skimmer

摘要

Recently marine pollution by high-viscosity oil leaked from wrecked ships has been becoming a remarkable problem in the world. Japan government is renewing old oil recovery vessels with new concept. The oil recovery vessels are available on the open sea, but unworkable in a narrow space. We have developed a handy oil recovery system which is portable and used for supplementing the weak point of the oil recovery vessel. The system consists of a water jet oil-skimmer and a gravity oil/water separator. The oil skimmer has a high-pressure water jet pump inside the suction mouth and a long shaft which is used as a conduit of the recovered fluid as well as a spring-hanging device which enables an operator to easily manipulate it from the deck of the ship. After 3-year research and experiments, we have completed the system successfully. The system will be soon installed on our oil recovery vessels.