• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.52-66
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• 2003

Generally we have difficulty in removing oil using mechanical devices because recovery rate and recovery efficiency decrease remarkably when operating in thin oil films or in oils of very high viscosity In the Present study a series of experiments were carried out to study the effect of operating conditions on the rate of recovery for the spilled oil using a drum type skimmer. For each set of experiments depth of immersion, oil film thickness and the circumferential speeds were varied systematically to find the effects on the recovery rate. The results shows that recovery rate is dependent on the contact angle for the depth of immersion and the highest rate of oil recovery shows in the case of a contact angle of 45°(h/d=0.15). For the removal of spilled oil the optimal circumferential speed can be found as the critical value to reach the saturated recovery rate for a given oil film thickness and depth of immersion. Even in thin oil thickness we have enough recovery rate and recovery efficiency within critical circumferential speed this way.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.457-464
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• 2010

Representative methods for removing spilled oil include mechanical skimming, chemical treatment, burning at the surface of the spilled oil, and microbiological degradation. Among these methods, mechanical skimmer is the most efficient. Mechanical skimming can be classified into the following categories: belt-type, disk-type, weir-type, drum-type. We designed models with a submerged orifice for use in our experiments, for an objective and systematic evaluation of the recovery efficiency of mechanical skimming. Basically, oil is lighter than seawater and hence tends to float on the surface of the latter if there is sufficient time for floating. The present skimmer is kind of wear-type with the submerged orifice for seawater to be squeezed through, minimizing water content in the tank. From the experimental results, we identify the parameters that influence the oil recovery rate and recovery efficiency. The recovery efficiency can be enhanced by increasing the thickness of the oil layer in the first oil accumulative tank.