CONTAINMENT AND RECOVERY DEVICES FOR OIL SPILL CLEANUP OPERATIONS

The general requirements for responding to offshore oil spills are discussed, as well as the limitations on cleanup equipment resulting from environmental conditions. Current concepts to contain and recover oil, their stage of development, and the salient advantages and disadvantages of each concept are described. The types of containment equipment described includes multi-tube barriers, float-and-skirt barriers, and fence barriers, and the oil recovery systems discussed include sorbent systems, free vortex devices, and skimming weirs, among others.