$1.4 million purse. Inspiring a new generation of oil cleanup technologies.

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Tobias Mason
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These teams tested their equipment individually over a 10-week period in the summer of 2011 at Ohmsett the National Oil Spill Response Research &

An experienced panel of judges oversaw the teams as they demonstrated their technology s ability to recover oil on the sea water surface.

Oil Recovery Efficiency (ORE) at least 70%. Second place will be awarded $300,000 and third place receives $100,000.

and environmental control products and equipment.

1 $1.4 million purse. Inspiring a new generation of oil cleanup technologies. From more than 350 pre-registered teams, the X PRIZE Foundation and its panel of judges pared the competition down to 10 qualified finalists. These teams tested their equipment individually over a 10-week period in the summer of 2011 at Ohmsett the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility in Leonardo, New Jersey, USA. An experienced panel of judges oversaw the teams as they demonstrated their technology s ability to recover oil on the sea water surface. A $1 million Grand Prize will be awarded to the team who displays the highest Oil Recovery Rate (ORR) above 2,500 Gallons Per Minute (GPM) with an Oil Recovery Efficiency (ORE) at least 70%. Second place will be awarded $300,000 and third place receives $100,000. CRUCIAL (Louisiana, USA) Teams Overview Started in 1991 by Wally Landry, CRUCIAL is a worldwide distributor and manufacturer of oil spill response and environmental control products and equipment. The Louisiana firm manufactures an absorbent coating material that can be applied to the company's drum or disc surface skimmers in minutes. The surface skimmers are then deployed within a V-boom configuration that acts to concentrate the oil. They entered this competition to share their new concept of containment and recovery of oil spills in order to prevent and/or control catastrophic events such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Elastec/American Marine (Illinois, USA) Led by Don Johnson, Elastec/American Marine is an oilfield service company with a

This Illinois-based team has created a unique grooved disc skimmer that has both active and passive features.

recovery equipment, such as the Victory Oil Sweeper.

2 Elastec/American Marine (Illinois, USA) Led by Don Johnson, Elastec/American Marine is an oilfield service company with a reputation for innovation in machinery design. This Illinois-based team has created a unique grooved disc skimmer that has both active and passive features. The company has previously designed oilcatching surfaces for skimmers that boosted oil recovery rates by up to 200 percent over conventional technology. Koseq (The Netherlands) For more than 30 years, Koseq, led by Tom Achterberg, has been designing and producing oil recovery equipment, such as the Victory Oil Sweeper. The V-shaped apparatus consists of two forward-angled rigid floating arms that channel surface oil into a skimmer mounted between them. The Sweeper can be pushed in front of a smaller vessel or pulled alongside a larger one. The angle of the arms can be adjusted so that they can cover as much surface area as possible by opening wide or fit into narrow waterways by closing up.

Lamor (Finland) Led by Jari Ahoranta, Lamor has been developing new concepts, technology methods and products

Lamor developed a new patented oleophilic brush technology with new features for all types of oils and scenarios.

and water, pumping the oil onto the host vessel.

NOFI's Current Buster Technology incorporates a flexible V-shaped surface boom that is towed between two vessels

3 Lamor (Finland) Led by Jari Ahoranta, Lamor has been developing new concepts, technology methods and products for efficient oil spill response in various environments since Lamor developed a new patented oleophilic brush technology with new features for all types of oils and scenarios. Deflection booms act to guide and concentrate surface oil into the brush skimmer, that then separates the oil and water, pumping the oil onto the host vessel. NOFI (Norway) NOFI is an oil spill control developer led by Dag Nilsen that specializes in oil boom technology. NOFI's Current Buster Technology incorporates a flexible V-shaped surface boom that is towed between two vessels or alongside one (via an overhead arm). Oil is corralled down to the end of the V where a separator removes it from the water. The company claims that its system can collect and separate oil at speeds of up to five knots.

OilShaver (Norway) Ingvar Huse leads team OilShaver, using technology based on knowledge of fishery trawl technologies.

them. The assembly sits at a 45- degree angle from the side of a moving vessel facing into oncoming oily water.

A weighted slit along the floor bottom allows the water to escape, while the oil is pumped onto the storage vessel.

The system could either be contained within a barge-like module pulled alongside (or pushed in front of) an existing vessel, or incorporated

4 OilShaver (Norway) Ingvar Huse leads team OilShaver, using technology based on knowledge of fishery trawl technologies. The device consists of a pair of floating pontoons, situated parallel to one another, with a neoprene/polyester "floor" running lengthwise between them. The assembly sits at a 45- degree angle from the side of a moving vessel facing into oncoming oily water. The floating oil, with a small amount of seawater, is "shaved" off the surface and trapped. A weighted slit along the floor bottom allows the water to escape, while the oil is pumped onto the storage vessel. OilWhale (Finland) Helmed by Markku Järvinen, team OilWhale has developed a system using their environmental innovation and invention expertise. The system could either be contained within a barge-like module pulled alongside (or pushed in front of) an existing vessel, or incorporated directly into a purpose-built ship. While the moving module/ship takes in surface oil and water via a ramp-like front gate into the containment reservoir, the oil floats on top of the collected water. The water is released into the ocean by opening gates in the hull bottom, leaving the oil in the reservoir.

PPR (Washington, USA) Richard Morgan, a member of the marine business community, leads team PPR.

The PPR system is based on net designs, materials and technology currently in use in other maritime applications.

The team is confident the system is extremely robust, scalable and capable of high recovery and continuous operation.

to develop a passive, environmentally safe system to remove hazardous particles, and now oil, from the ocean surface.

5 PPR (Washington, USA) Richard Morgan, a member of the marine business community, leads team PPR. Their open water skimming system, a long standing concept of PPR Co-Founder Kevin Kennedy, was built to respond to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The PPR system is based on net designs, materials and technology currently in use in other maritime applications. Nets are used to collect oil in the water and a two-stage vacuum pump transfers the oil to a holding tank. The team is confident the system is extremely robust, scalable and capable of high recovery and continuous operation. Vor-Tek Recovery Solutions (California/Nevada, USA) Originally intended to clean up the trash float in the Pacific Ocean, Vor-Tek was started by team leader Ashley Day to develop a passive, environmentally safe system to remove hazardous particles, and now oil, from the ocean surface. This California company's entry is known as the EEL, or Emergency Extraction Line. It consists of a series of floating joined horizontal modules that extend out from a support vessel or oil platform in a weir boom setup. A pipeline running through the modules is joined to a high-power pump on the vessel drawing both surface and subsurface oil (and water) through intakes on the side of each module. Once pumped aboard the vessel, the oil and water are fed through a separator.

The skimmed oil/water mixture is fed into the Separator, which spins it at high speed in a cylindrical chamber.

6 Voraxial (Florida, USA) Following the Valdez Oil Spill, Voraxial, led by Laura Di Bella, worked to develop more efficient oil spill recovery technologies. The Voraxial Separator is mounted on a vessel equipped with conventional oil-skimming equipment. The skimmed oil/water mixture is fed into the Separator, which spins it at high speed in a cylindrical chamber. The centrifugal force causes a column of oil to form down the middle of the chamber. A manifold at the end of the chamber returns water to the ocean, while oil stays on board.

Boiler. Fire tube Boiler:

Boiler. Fire tube Boiler: Boiler What is Boiler? A closed metallic vessel in which the water is heated beyond the boiling temperature by the application of heat by the combustion of fuels to convert it into steam. The function