The tip of a suction hose is supported by a floating support mechanism so that the suction port is maintained at a prescribed distance above the water surface and the base end of said suction hose is connected to the suction port of a turbofan. By the suction force of the turbofan, the oil film floating on the water surface is sucked along with the air above the water surface and the surface water through the suction hose from the suction port. The mixed fluid of air, oil and water that is delivered from the delivery port of the turbofan is sent to an oil-water separation device. The air is released into the atmosphere, and the oil and water are separated. For the turbofan, the rotational force of a separately disposed motor is transmitted by a belt transmission mechanism and rotates an impeller.

A method of recovering crude oil from crude oil drenched adsorbent and simultaneously regenerating the adsorbent to render it suitable for re-use in crude oil adsorption. The method includes contacting crude oil drenched adsorbent, in the form of solid nanofibrous expanded polystyrene drenched with adsorbed crude oil, with a non-polar solvent, thereby obtaining regenerated crude oil lean adsorbent and crude oil rich solvent.

An oil containment system aboard a vessel includes a pneumatic system to provide power to a winch and reel assembly containing boom whereby the pneumatic supply is capable of simultaneously powering the winch-reel assembly for boom deployment through inflatable gas fed to a pneumatic motor while also inflating the boom. The inflation of the boom is accomplished by diverting, all or any portion thereof, the inflatable gas from a pneumatic supply through a hose that runs concurrently on the outside of the boom. The pneumatic supply originates from a single pneumatic system powering both the winch and reel assembly as well as associated brake and feeding inflatable gas pressure to the inflation hose running concurrently with the boom. The system can be utilized to confine a discharge of a floating material such as hydrocarbons floating on the surface from a vessel or structure.

An oil skimmer apparatus and method for removing oil from the surface of water, comprising a platform having left and right side walls, a rear wall, a front opening, a floor, and a bottom, one or more ballasts which adjust the platform floor relative to a level of oil on the water surface, wherein the oil flows from the front opening across the floor to the rear wall, a rear location near the rear wall to collect the oil from the platform floor; and a pump connected to the rear location that removes the oil from the rear location to a storage area. The skimmer vessel can work stationary in the water, and does not require a propellor means, as the oil will continue to flow into the skimmer as the oil is pumped out of the rear by the gravity flow to the rear of the vessel.

A remote-controlled underwater vehicle may be used to extract oil from an underside of a closed ice cover. Further, a system for extracting oil from an underside of a closed ice cover may comprise such a remote-controlled underwater vehicle and a submarine that can receive the remote-controlled underwater vehicle and store oil retrieved by the remote-controlled underwater vehicle. Finally, a method can be employed to extract oil from an underside of a closed ice cover.

Provided are spilled oil collecting apparatus and method. The spilled oil collecting apparatus includes: a filter portion made of a porous substrate with hydrophilicity and having an open upper portion so as to collect oil; a frame portion provided at an upper end of the filter portion to support the filter portion; and a handle portion connected to the frame portion. According to the spilled oil collecting apparatus and method, it is possible to collect, separate, and store simultaneously spilled oil spilled from rivers or seas by using a porous substrate having hydrophilicity and optimize immediate collection of spilled oil by maximizing oil collection efficiency and minimizing labour force in an oil collecting process.

Disclosed are a hydraulic control system for boom floating of an excavator and a control method thereof. In the hydraulic circuit, a main pump supplies oil to the boom cylinder through a boom reversing valve, and two working ports of the boom reversing valve are connected to a rod cavity and a rodless cavity of the boom cylinder respectively. A rod cavity floating valve and a rodless cavity floating valve are connected to an oil circuit between the rod cavity of the boom cylinder and the boom reversing valve and an oil circuit between the rodless cavity of the boom cylinder and the boom reversing valve respectively. A pilot oil pump and a handle pilot valve are arranged on the pilot oil circuit, an oil inlet of the handle pilot valve is connected to the pilot oil pump.

A composite silt fence configured for capturing pollutants in one embodiment comprises a silt fence fabric including i) a polymeric geotextile fabric particulate filtering layer defining the hydraulic flow capacity for the silt fence, ii) a pollutant capturing layer coupled to the polymeric geotextile fabric particulate filtering layer and configured to capture some select pollutants in water from flow that has passed through the polymeric geotextile fabric particulate filtering layer, and iii) a backing layer coupled to the pollutant capturing layer; and a plurality of stakes secured to the silt fence fabric at spaced locations. The silt fence fabric yields higher hydraulic flow than existing fence constructions with greater sediment retention and pollutant containment features.

Apparatus and methods for collecting debris from a body of water onto a waterborne vessel include at least one wave dampener and/or gate configured to limit inflow from the body of water into at least a first cargo compartment on the vessel to water and debris disposed at or near the surface of the body of water.

A device and method for dispersing oil on water comprises a rig structure for being mounted in a vessel, the rig structure including a front transverse structure with at least one nozzle for flushing with pressurized water supplied from a pressure facility located on the vessel.