David Prior Has done nothing /do not trust him

All the work was done by a team in The UAE

OBJECTIVES

The project is aimed at developing a new technology that would collect spilled oil from large volume water surface, while keeping out nearly 99% of the water. A full scale tanker will be manufactured with recycled plastic. The combination of the manufacturing design along with the oil spill recovery technique offers a unique combination that would create a line of low-cost all purpose boats that can be used for oil spill recovery upon demand.

INTRODUCTION

Oil spill has received worldwide attention in recent years. Even though oil spill was a common phenomena in the past, the disaster in Exxon Valdez, collapse of ENRON and the implosion of corporate culture has led to renewed interest in developing inexpensive techniques for cleaning up manmade mess. In this, the most vulnerable situation is that of the spill in the ocean. All existing techniques are so expensive that they are practically unusable. In addition, none of the existing techniques can be used to recover the spilled oil. Some 18 months ago, the research group of Chaalal (Ghannam and Chaalal, 2003) demonstrated that a simple technique can recover up to 99% pure oil spill. This technique subsequently received world wide acclaim. A popular science magazine wrote in early 2003,

“The idea sounds feasible and would certainly be welcomed by the oil industry, says Will Hendry, operations supervisor for Briggs Environmental Services, a counter-pollution specialist based in Aberdeen, Scotland. There are currently no methods for .recovering oil without also collecting water. "The basic principles haven't changed in the last 30 years," he says. Perhaps one reason for the lack of innovation is that only a few countries permit oil to be spilt deliberately to test out new technologies in realistic conditions, says Kare Jorgensen, an advisor on operations for the Norwegen oil spill recovery organisation NOFO.
The standard way of mopping up oil spills starts by containing the slick using large floating booms and then the salvage team uses skimming equipment to scoop up the oil. The effectiveness of the technique depends on the type of oil. "The lighter they are, the easier they are to recover," says Hendry. "But you always get a certain amount of water in." Recovered oil can be sent off to be refined again, but only if it is in good condition after being salvaged, Hendry adds. Often, it is destroyed and any oil left behind is dispersed with chemicals. Chaalal's tanker is now attracting interest from the oil industry. Jacque-Miguel Dujon, a French oil consultant also based in AI-Ain, is working with Chaalal and some oil companies to build a larger version of the tanker to test in open water.”

More recently interests have been shown by UN (in their project in Indian Ocean), Germany, and others. However, all companies are looking into expensive extension of the simple and brilliant idea conceived by Chaalal (Editorial, 2003). Only recently, yet another simple idea has been converted into a full-scale barge – the idea being wholly Canadian. With funding from NRC, a Canadian company has developed technology that would manufacture barges from recycled plastic materials. With this technology, both manufacturing and operating costs can be reduced to one quarter of the conventional vessels. Added to that is the prospect of cleaning up the environment as recycled plastics are molded into value-added material. The combination of these two technologies is the essence of this proposal.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

A simple and effective technique has been successfully demonstrated in a laboratory of the University of the United Arab Emirates at Al-Ain. A team led by Dr Omar Chaalal proved with a scaled model that it is feasible, by means of a relatively simple modification of conventional hull design, to skim the surface of an oil spill and, as the hull passes over the spill, take the oil up a chamber in which it displaces water that is heavier.

Such separation via Archimedes' Principle leapfrogs, at an opportunity cost = 0, all the complex and extravagant attempts up to now to effect oil-water separation by chemical methods.

The last remaining obstacle is: the design of a practical vessel that implements the technique. In Europe, Alstom has become involved in this quest. There have been reports of a scheme to spend up to €100 million developing a special dedicated-use vessel, first as a pilot-project at a shipyard in Nantes (France) and later as "the real thing".

Elsewhere, there are hull design technologies using recycled plastic that have emerged and are being demonstrated in the aquaculture sector. These use barges at least 13 m. in overall length. Such a vessel can port loads exceeding tens of tonnes with little or no stability problems, either in coastal or open ocean waters further offshore. The barge/tanker can be used for regular harbor maintenance, small-scale fishing, and even near-shore offshore platform maintenance. The market for these low-cost barges is being investigated for river transport in countries where significant loss of lives in boat capsize is a routine event.

This approach seriously challenges the need for capital-intensive "high technology" of the kind that currently predominates in shipbuilding throughout the developed world. That opens the door for something as effective but far more affordable that could be based anywhere, including anywhere in the developing world. In the developing countries, the need for marine oil spill cleanup technology has already achieved developed-world proportions. Barges of this lightweight material, complete with the hull design and oil-water displacement apparatus along the lines proven by the work of the Chaalal team, can be taken to a spill site, assembled on the spot and deployed. Indeed, it would become something in the interests of tanker operators and charterparties, both financially and as a matter of garnering favourable publicity, to arrange in advance with any coast guard authorities that exercise jurisdiction over zones likely to be navigated by their ships for prospective availability and deployment of such a spill-cleanup system, as the alternative to paying -- or fighting years in court against paying -- a stiff fine that cleans up none of the damage.

There are no limits to sources of recyclable plastic. The aquaculture barge project just mentioned uses waste material collected across a zone approximately 135,000 km2 in area but overwhelmingly empty as well as rural, with a population density averaging less than 9 people per km2 outside its five largest cities and averaging less than 165 persons per km2 inside them. The supply generated on this miniscule base is nevertheless sufficient to sustain a single small processing plant. One example serves to illustrate the developing world in no way lags behind: the bottom of the Buriganda River in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, is covered in a layer of plastic waste some 7 m. thick.

There remains more research to complete regarding the particulars of the optimum design for specific conditions of tides, types of oil spills etc., but most if not all of this can be accomplished with technical means already in place or otherwise widely available in both the developing world and the developed world.

What does it portend for our future on this planet when it becomes conceivable to wed the Chaalal separation method to lightweight vessel construction using what amounts to garbage raw material to solve and eliminate at affordable cost a problem that the richest and most resourceful oil companies on the planet have spent billions of dollars not to address for the last several generations? It means that the time has arrived for solutions that are technically innovative, economically attractive, environmentally appealing and socially responsible. Even if we assume that we will come to our senses and would not produce plastic waste, this technology offers the beginning of a revolution in the areas of converting waste into value-added material, applied in environmental clean-up and recovery of products. Future tasks would include the amalgamation of bioplastic with the proposed technology, which in itself can be characterized as a revolution in material science.

FUTURE RESEARCH TASKS

1. Scaling up of laboratory experiments: Experiments to should be conducted to determine how scale plays a role in the Chaalal separation unit. This should involve the effect of tube diameter and correlation of results with scaling laws.

2. Experiments on separation of oil and water: After extraction of oil, separations can be further enhanced by several procedures. Recently, EEC research group has developed a number of techniques, all considered to be environmentally appealing and economically attractive Khan, 2003; Mills, 2004).

3. Durability test on new materials of boat: Even though some of the recycled materials have been commercially tested, tests, namely TGA and DSC should be performed for new materials. In particular, bioplastics have to be tested prior to recommending commercial development. This task will be conducted at UAE University, under the supervision of Chaalal.

MANUFACTURING OF THE MULTI-PURPOSE BARGE

David Prior, a boatbuilder in St Stephen, NB, proposes to build a prototype barge incorporating the oil-spill recovery technology proposed by Chaalal. The barge will measure 10m x 3.25m which will allow it to be transported by road without the need of complex permits. It will be constructed with recycled plastic lumber using techniques recently developed by David Prior in conjunction with the NRC. It will be equipped with a wheelhouse and a 60 hp High-Thrust Yamaha outboard motor.

To provide flotation, a conventional barge built this way utilizes custom-cut foam blocks placed between the transverse frames (usually spaced 60 cm apart). This oil-recovery barge will substitute some of the blocks with welded polypropylene tanks. The tanks placed fwd will have openings in the bottom to allow the ingress of oil; the tanks aft will be storage tanks for recovered oil, and seawater ballast tanks for trimming purposes. The tanks will incorporate a small, vertical “well” of translucent plastic to facilitate viewing from the deck of the oil level within each tank. All tanks will be interconnected by a piping system incorporating a high-volume pump that will be used to pre-fill the accumulator tanks with seawater, transfer accumulated oil to storage tanks, offload recovered oil to the shore or another vessel, and add or subtract seawater ballast.

The fwd tank will be equipped with a removable bottom in order to exchange bottom panels which incorporate different perforation designs such as round holes of varying numbers and diameters, slits of varying lengths, widths and numbers etc. These will be designed for easy replacement by a diver. It will therefore be possible to test the efficiency of oil entrapment and recovery of different opening patterns.

David Prior will build this barge as described above and deliver it to a mainland, NS location of Dalhousie’s choosing. Launching costs, vessel insurance and berthing costs will be the responsibility of the project, although David Prior, in his capacity as project consultant, will administer these issues. David Prior will operate the vessel during trials and experiments and/or train Dalhousie personnel/students to do so.

COSTS


Research (Dalhousie University students) $20,000
UAE University (Dr. Chaalal) $20,000
Barge, FOB NS $40,000
Engine $11,000
Pumps system and tanks $14,000
David Prior- consulting $15,000

Total $120,000 + HST

Additional work will be charged at cost.


REFERENCES


Editorial, 2003, EEC Innovation, vol. 1, no. 2.

Ghannam, M.T., and Chaalal, O., 2003, “Oil Spill Cleanup Using Vacuum Technique”, Fuel, vol. 82, pp. 789-801.

Khan, M.M., MASc thesis, Dalhousie University, 2003.

Mills, A.R., MASc thesis, Dalhousie University, 2004.

UAE University develops solution to avert onshore oil spills
10-11-03 A team of scientists at the UAE University (UAEU) has been developing an efficient solution to avert a potential ecological disaster in the event of a major onshore oil spill in the country.
The multi-phased project, sponsored by the Scientific Research Affairs Sector of the university, is an exceptional endeavour as most of the earlier studies were focused on offshore oil spills.

The UAE has not yet suffered any major onshore spill, however, the country's commitment to environmental protection necessitates such a solution. The UAE is an important world producer of crude and refined oil products and experts had never ruled out the possibility of an environmental disaster.
"It is expected that some oil or oil derivative spillage occurs both inland and offshore," said the research team engaged in the search for a solution. The team includes Mohamed Abdulkarim and Abderrazag Zekri from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Dr Abdel Mohsen Mohammed from the Department of Civil Engineering, and Omar Chaalal from the General Requirements Unit of the UAEU.

The researchers said it is important to distinguish between oil spills inland and offshore since the nature of the damage, physical transport phenomena and remedial solutions can differ significantly and involve different technologies. Oil spilled on soil, according to the researchers, is much more difficult to recover as it is directly related to the nature of the soil and its permeation and absorption properties.
Untreated contaminated soil can release volatile organic compounds to the atmosphere and heavier fractions can seep into the soil. It can contaminate the underlying ground water as well.
"Heavy petroleum fractions can linger in the soil for decades. If the contaminated area is near farming land, the damage is even more serious," said the scientists, adding the climate and soil characteristics of the UAE make inland oil spills particularly dangerous.

Talking about the research project, Dr Abdel Mohsen Mohammed said a fresh engineering approach has been adopted to contribute to the solution of potential onshore oil spill. The first stage of this investigation involves characterisation of clean soil samples from different parts of the UAE known to have oil activities or storage. These places include Umm Al Nar, Al Towaya, Aassab oil field, Sahel oil field, in Abu Dhabi and Sajaa and Margham in Dubai.
The scientists have also designed a process, called Biopile, for laboratory analysis and tests. Initial experiments were also conducted to identify similarities or major differences in soils texture, chemical composition, and other characteristics.

In all UAE soil investigation, there was virtually no clay present and the soil samples collected belonged to any of the three categories such as sand, sandy loam or loamy sand. The chemical analysis showed some variations in silica and calcium contents. Soil in Dubai was found to contain more calcium than that in Abu Dhabi.
Dr Mohamed said it is an ongoingproject and the next stages will involve commissioning of the Biopile system. The actual bioremediation process will also start in this phase in which artificially prepared contaminated Sahel soil will be used.



Source: Gulf News

GIANT fuel tankers spewing oil into the sea are an all too familiar sight. But the damage caused by such disasters could be dramatically reduced if a recovery vessel could follow behind and mop up the slick.

For every thousand barrels of crude oil transported around the world, one is spilt in the sea, says Omar Chaalal, an engineer at the United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain. So he designed a tanker to recover the lost oil, which not only helps to reduce any environmental damage but also produces a sellable product.

On board the recovery ship is a large tank, which is completely filled with seawater before the ship leaves the dock. When the ship approaches an oil slick, it opens a series of holes in the bottom of the hull to connect the water in the tank to the water outside. Just like a pint glass full of water that is upturned in a filled sink, the water in the tank does not flood out as long as the holes remain submerged.

As the ship moves along, its specially designed hull shape forces any oil it encounters underneath the boat past the holes (see Graphic). Because oil is less dense than seawater, it rises up through the holes to the top of the tank. As the oil builds up in the tank, it gradually displaces the seawater until it contains nothing but oil. The holes are closed and the ship returns to dock to unload its catch.

Chaalal and his colleague Mamdouh Ghannam demonstrated the technique using a scale model 60 centimetres long in a tank containing a one-litre "slick" of crude oil. To simulate sea conditions, the team agitated the tank. In only a couple of minutes, the boat recovered 99 per cent of the oil (Fuel, vol 82, p 789).

The idea sounds feasible and would certainly be welcomed by the oil industry, says Will Hendry, operations supervisor for Briggs Environmental Services, a counter-pollution specialist based in Aberdeen, Scotland. There are currently no methods for recovering oil without also collecting water. "The basic principles haven't changed in the last 30 years," he says.

Perhaps one reason for the lack of innovation is that only a few countries permit oil to be spilt deliberately to test out new technologies in realistic conditions, says Kare Jorgensen, an advisor on operations for the Norwegen oil spill recovery organisation NOFO.

The standard way of mopping up oil spills starts by containing the slick using large floating booms and then the salvage team uses skimming equipment to scoop up the oil. The effectiveness of the technique depends on the type of oil. "The lighter they are, the easier they are to recover," says Hendry. "But you always get a certain amount of water in."

Recovered oil can be sent off to be refined again, but only if it is in good condition after being salvaged, Hendry adds. Often, it is destroyed and any oil left behind is dispersed with chemicals.

Chaalal's tanker is now attracting interest from the oil industry. Jacque-Miguel Dujon, a French oil consultant also based in Al-Ain, is working with Chaalal and some oil companies to build a larger version of the tanker to test in open water.