1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method for controlling and recovering oil spills from bodies of water and, in particular, for preventing oil contamination of shorelines.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
The increasing demand of the industrial countries for energy sources has resulted in greatly accelerated shipments of imported oil and the increasing concern to protect the environment has greatly intensified the search for safe and efficient oil transportation. The threat of oil spills cannot be eliminated so long as industrial countries remain dependent on oil as an energy source, and this threat will be present for the foreseeable future. Sound management may minimize the frequency of the occurrences of oil spills, but will never completely eliminate them. An effective method of containment and recovery of oil spills from bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and seas is thus in urgent need.
Various techniques have been proposed for protection of coastlines from oil contamination resulting from spills of oil from tanker vessels. The current practice is to contain the oil with floating barricades. These techniques utilize floating booms which are interconnected to form a barricade against movement of the oil. Some techniques have been provided to skim the surface of the water to recover the oil. All of these techniques are not very effective. The surface of the water is usually too turbulent for efficient recovery and skimming operations and the oil slick often breaks through the various containment barriers which are erected. The oil emulsifies with the water, its volatile constituents evaporate, and a thick oily residue is formed on the water surface which defies recovery with conventional handling techniques and equipment. When that residue reaches a shoreline, it forms a tacky coating on all solid surfaces it contacts, and that coating is extremely difficult to remove. Following a major oil spill, which usually occurs near a shoreline, there is an unavoidable contamination of the coast with oil, at substantial peril to marine and aquatic life and requiring costly and labor intensive efforts for its removal.
Various materials have been suggested as absorbent for an oil slick. The best and most widely used absorbent is straw, and the news media has shown heroic efforts being made in attempts to absorb oil with straw. The results have been pitiful. Heretofore, no material has been provided which has the desirable, or even necessary, characteristics for this application. The materials which have been suggested do not absorb the oil and do not provide a non-sticky or dry adsorbate. Additionally, the materials are often of greater density than oil or water and will immediately sink away from the surface and the oil slick.