Oil Cleanup Boat
Authors: Jeffrey Lu, Nikki Hunter, Miles Phillips
Faculty Supervisor: Hao Jiang
Department: Engineering
This project aims to create an economically viable aid for cleaning up oil spills using a scalable centrifugal separator system installed on remote or manually operated boats or ships. Oil-water separation occurs by imparting a centrifugal force on the mixture, forcing the heavier fluid, water, against the outer-most surface of the device while the lighter fluid, oil, becomes trapped in a series of thirteen conical plates. A quantity of oil that remains in the mixture after the thirteenth plate encounters the final primary separation plate that leads it to the oil outlet. Meanwhile, the water flowing along the outer-most surface is led to the water outlet. An assembly of tanks, pumps, valves, sensors, and computer comprises a feedback control system that enables multiple passes of contaminated water through the device before a fresh batch can enter the separation system. It is anticipated that the quantity of oil in the mixture decreases in predictable amounts after each pass through the separation system, but it is likely that no fewer than three passes will result in an oil concentration of 5% by volume.