Solar energy is cleaning up after the damage caused by fossil fuels in many different ways.
Aside from its major role in reducing electricity generation related emissions and even helping to power vehicles, solar energy can play a direct role in mopping up after the many oil spills and contamination that occur throughout the world every day.
Abanaki Corporation recently announced it has incorporated a Solar Powered Groundwater Remediation System to their range of oil skimmers. The company says the system is particularly suited for use on contaminated wells in remote areas where mains electricity is not available.
The solar power oil skimming system consists of Abanaki’s etroXtractor belt oil skimmer equipped with a 12-volt DC motor, solar panel, timer, deep cycle battery, battery box, and control components.
The company says the PetroXtractor can remove up to 45 litres of oil per hour from water and can be installed in well casings with as narrow as 50 mm inside diameter.
The oil skimmer uses an elevator approach to bring skimmed oil from depths of 30 metres or more. Wiper blades scrape the oil from the belt and then it’s pumped into an Oil Concentrator, a small gravity separator that removes any trace water from the skimmed oil.
The waste oil flows out of the Concentrator into a collection container that includes a float switch. Once the container is full, the float switch automatically turns off the oil skimmer.
Utilising solar power for oil cleanups could be used in much larger areas and incidents as well. Last year we reported on the SeaSwarm concept - solar powered craft using a conveyor belt covered with a thin nanowire mesh to absorb oil. MIT researchers believe a fleet of 5,000 Seaswarm robots would be able to clean a spill the size of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in as little as a few weeks.
