I still don’t understand how a Supertanker skims oil. I hear that it is here. I hear that it is huge. I hear that it’s called A Whale. I understand it can hold a lot of oil. But how does the oil get from the surface to A Whale. Best I can find is this…
If approved, A Whale – which has a main stack decorated with a blue whale – would be used near the wellhead, where the oil is the thickest on the surface but where boat traffic is also the heaviest. It uses 12 large intakes to collect surface oil in its path.
Also from that article…
The A Whale, for its part, could collect more than 125 times the amount of the largest skimmer currently working the Gulf. It’s capable of slurping up 300,000 barrels of oil (21 million gallons) of oil in 10 hours, and offloading it to a companion vessel, A Elephant. Mr. Su is already readying two other retrofitted tankers, the B Whale and C Whale, for service in the Gulf.
It’s got a companion called, “A Elephant.”
Article: A Whale to the rescue: Can super-skimmer turn tide of Gulf oil spill? (Christian Science Monitor)
FYI- There are some legitimate concerns about the vessel. First, it’s not approved by ABS or another classification society. This brings up a wealth of issues like engine reliability, fire suppression systems, and basic marine safety. The other thing is, I’ve heard they just cut some holes in a tanker and there’s no real oil-water separation equipment on board. Just trying to use the media to make a quick buck. Pay attention to how it performs in the field. If it works, good, but if not, don’t say you weren’t warned…
Oh yeah, that’s also NOT to say that an FPSO-like ‘whale’-sized ship COULDN’T work. In fact, I could design a pretty decent one myself, if given a few hundred million and a few months. Just a little skeptical about this particular one.
Here’s a video “tour” of the vessel
http://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/2010/07/tour-of-oil-skimmer-whale.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6642HH20100705?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
A Whale is A Fail. Told ya so.
That article said it was inconclusive due to high seas.
No, I said it failed because I said so. Given a few more months and another $10 million, I have no doubt they could get it to work, but there’s no separation capacity and the oil collection part doesn’t have nearly enough surface area.
I’m an engineer. I can look at some things and tell right off the bat they’re not going to work and tell you what you need to do to make them work.
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.” – Richard Feynman
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/giant_oil_skimmer_a_whale_deem.html
“A Whale” officially A FAIL. Not a single drop of oil picked up.
Oh I stopped paying attention after you said it was.