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Cloth Successfully Separates Oil From Gulf Water

Posted by kdawson on from the now-to-try-it-on-cats-and-dogs dept.

Chinobi writes "Di Gao, an assistant professor at the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, has developed a method of separating oil from water within just seconds using a cotton cloth coated in a chemical polymer that makes it both hydrophilic (it bonds with the hydrogen atoms in water) and oleophobic (oil-repelling), making it absolutely perfect for blocking oil and letting water pass through. Gao tested his filter successfully on Gulf Oil water and oil and has an impressive video to demonstrate the results." This is a laboratory demonstration; the technology hasn't been tested at scale.

5 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Bigger? by warchildx · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I wouldn't want to pour the entire gulf of mexico worth of water through that small glass jar. reminds me of those pur water filters, where you pour some water in, and have to wait for it to *seep* through the filter material before you can put more in.

    Maybe something more along the lines of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W8_GpMz9nI

  2. So, if the floating oil is considered salvage... by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Then theoretically, any enterprising shrimp boat captain with this filter and a floating storage tank could sop up the stuff and sell it at spot price to a competitor of BP (Insert evil grin here).

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  3. Re:Great for filtering, but - by wonkavader · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's a very unpleasant answer:

    Shrimp, fish, squid, etc -- If they were in the oily water, they were dead anyway. They "breath" by pulling that water through gills or similar arrangements. Such surfaces will be clogged with oil and the animals will die.

    Mammals and birds have a better chance, and it seems like a skimmer like this gets them into the boat and gives rescuers a chance to wash them. They're probably better off in the boat than out of it.

  4. Market solution by z4ce · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder why BP doesn't offer a bounty for the leaking oil. $500/bbl. My guess if you did that, you'd see an awful lot of creative ways to retrieve that oil.

  5. Re:Well, just you just keep on driving by SystemicPlural · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wrong. They would be drilling in both.