A compact, highly expandable sorbent made from polymeric materials is contemplated. The resulting sorbent can absorb more than 20 times its original volume owing to an internal foam-like structure having micron-level voids bisected by internal struts which themselves have nano-level pores. Further, this sorbent can be compressed and reused multiple times, thereby making it an ideal substance to facilitate separation of disparate fluids, such as oils floating on or within an aqueous solution.

A foreign matter collecting device provided at a ship propulsion device that is configured to apply a propulsive force to a ship, the foreign matter collecting device includes an anti-ventilation plate extending in a horizontal direction and a collecting part provided in the anti-ventilation plate. A flow path extending from a water intake port to a water discharge port is provided in the anti-ventilation plate. A filter configured to collect fine-grained foreign matters from a water flow in the flow path is provided in the collecting part.

The invention relates to a water-repellent and lipophilic composite needle-punched nonwoven fabric and a preparation method thereof. The method comprises the following steps: blending a PET fiber and a polyolefin-based fiber in a mass ratio of 3:1-1:3, and performing needle punching to obtain a composite needle-punched nonwoven fabric; carrying out hot-drying treatment on the composite needle-punched nonwoven fabric at 110-160° C. for 40-90 min; and carrying out water-repellent finishing on the hot-dried fabric using 50-70 mL/L of an aqueous solution of a modified resin-based fluorine-free waterproofing agent, and drying to obtain the water-repellent and lipophilic composite needle-punched nonwoven fabric, wherein the water-repellent finishing is dip rolling, the air pressure is 1.8 kPa and the liquid carrying rate is 160-230%. The preparation method of the invention is simple, and the prepared composite needle-punched nonwoven fabric has significantly improved water repellency, lipophilicity and tensile strength compared with the fabric before treatment.

Oil-collection system and oil-collecting barge. The system comprises a towing vessel and a transport barge, which has a catamaran structure, so that there are oil collectors in its pontoons. Guide booms are attached to the sides of the barge, with a structure that is tubular frame around a wall, in which the air space or volume of the lowest tube corresponds to the boom's own weight. When using a larger capacity in collection, the additional booms on the deck are filled with air and simultaneously pulled into operating condition with the aid of auxiliary boats, when towable booms are formed. With the aid of the invention, transport barge with a rapidly moveable structure, equipped with oil collectors is obtained, which can be attached to a towing vessel, and which in maritime conditions is stable and operable when towed. Thus a highly steerable unit is obtained for operative oil-spill-response tasks, in which the necessary hydraulics and other energy requirements of the equipment are connected from the towing vessel. In the case of an accident, the unit on operational stand-by departs for the accident site, where collection operation is started by rotating the barge's booms to the operating position.

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.

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.

A method for cleaning up oil spills using multi-layered carbon fiber-based absorbents is disclosed. The method for cleaning up oil spills requires an oil-contaminated area including a quantity of oil, a first storage vessel, an oil extraction machine, a heating element, and a multi-layered carbon fiber absorbent. The multi-layered modified carbon fiber absorbent is distributed to the oil-contaminated area, where the multi-layered modified carbon fiber absorbent is configured to extract the quantity of oil from the oil-contaminated area while maintaining hydrophobic. The quantity of oil is extracted and separated from the multi-layered modified carbon fiber absorbent using the oil extraction machine. The extracted quantity of oil is collected into the first storage vessel. The extract quantity of oil is then transferred over to a second storage vessel for later refinement.

Provided is a toothed drum type oil recovery device, which includes: a recovery drum having a center coupled to a rotary shaft and having a plurality of tooth units formed around an outer circumference thereof, wherein one side of the recovery drum is disposed in the water to which oil is spilled so that the oil is recovered by the tooth unit at one side of the recovery drum according to the rotation; and a separation unit containing an oil separating liquid and disposed at the other side of the recovery drum, wherein when the tooth unit moves onto the oil separating liquid at the other side of the recovery drum according to the rotation of the recovery drum, the oil separating liquid is introduced into a space between the tooth units adjacent to each other by means of a capillary action to separate the oil from the tooth unit.

The present disclosure is directed to providing an oil-water separation filter structure including a base guide having a separated water outlet hole through which a fluid separated from a mixed fluid including an impurity exits, an oil-water separation filter disposed on the base guide to separate the impurity and the fluid included in the mixed liquid, and a top guide disposed on the oil-water separation filter, having at least one mixed fluid inlet hole through which the mixed fluid enters, and coupled to the base guide. According to the present disclosure, the oil-water separation filter structure includes a hydrophilic material to separate water and oil, and as opposed to the existing nonwoven fabric type filters, can be continuously used, thereby preventing environmental pollution problems.

A composite material of polyurethane foam having a layer of reduced graphene oxide and polystyrene is described. This composite material may be made by contacting a polyurethane foam with a suspension of reduced graphene oxide, drying, and then irradiating in the presence of styrene vapor. The composite material has a hydrophobic surface that may be exploited for separating a nonpolar phase, such as oil, from an aqueous solution.