OIL SPILL RESPONSE
EQUIPMENT
Oil Spill Response
 Why do we care about oil spill response equipment?
 How does this equipment affect us?
 Ship Escort/Response Vessel System (SERVS)
Methods for cleaning up oil
spills
 Mechanical
 Burning
 Chemical
 Shoreline clean-up
 Biological
Mechanical
Containment
Booms and Skimmers
Booms
 When are they used?
 How do they work?
 Where do they have problems?
Skimmers
 What types are there?
 How do they work?
 What problems are associated with skimmers?
Burning
Chemical Methods
Dispersants
Herders
Solidifiers
Dispersants
Solidifiers
Other Methods
Shoreline Cleanup
Bioremediation
Shoreline Cleanup
Top: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd/PR/Exxon.htm
Right: © Ron Cogswell
Bioremediation
 Use of bacteria to eat oil
 Has to be used in moderation
Bacteria used to help clean-up
the Deepwater Horizon spill in
the Gulf of Mexico
(Image: Courtesy of Heimholtz Center
for Infection Research (HZI))