Oil-battling inflatable scoops prize
- 27th February 2012
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Turbulent waters are no obstacle for Current Buster 6, an oil clean-up system developed by the Norwegian group NOFI. The forked boom, which won a second place prize of $300,000 at the X Prize Cleanup Challenge last month, can remove an average of 10,266 litres of oil per minute. The video opens with an aerial view of the boom clearing the tank, followed by a close-up during a test run with simulated waves.
The device was tested at Ohmsett in New Jersey, the world’s largest tank for oil spill response testing. The facility simulates currents in the open sea that make manual clean-up difficult.
Ten teams were invited to test their devices over the course of the summer. NOFI’s device recovered 83 per cent of the chocolate sludge while Elastec, the winning team, captured 89 per cent of oil at a rate of 17,678 litres per minute.
Source: www.newscientist.com
