I've been looking into this monster skimmer ship. Sounds like it hasn't been proven. Pictures I've seen makes me wonder how this thing is going to work. The slits seem to be above the water line. Maybe it takes on ballast to get into skimming mode which lowers the ship.
This may be a case where having the Coast Guard check it out for effectiveness might keep BP from spending funds that should go to those impacted. I'll wait and see on this one.
My earlier posting in one of the threads assumed this was proven technology. I stand corrected.
On Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:42:19 -0500, "Martin H. Eastburn" topposted something.
slits seem to be
which lowers the
Yes, and can you say "bow wave from forward movement"? I knew you could.
-- It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now, with its aches and its pleasures, is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. -- Pema Chodron
I didn't see her Plimsol lines, but the red part is her water line. In the photo I saw, she's light (VERY light) and riding high. In operation, she will flood ballast tanks to bring her down "on her lines", and the slots will be at, or near, the sea surface.
I watched a news bit a few hours ago where it was said that the idea is to flood ballast and try to align the slots with the surface of the ocean. Right now the gulf is rather choppy so preliminary testing isn't doing so well. I suspect the idea is to use this ship where there are big pools of oil, likely sent there by air craft or satellite reconnaissance.
The furthest out to sea on a boat in the Ocean was the Staten Island Ferry. My trips charter fishing on the Great lakes generally were with waves of less than 1-2 feet. We won't talk about the time uncle shouldn't have gone out and I shouldn't have gone with him. When there are whitecaps in the harbor at Frankfort MI, well, we really shouldn't have gone out. Expecially with the boat he had at the time.
Since you ocean sail and I believe you live in the gulf area, what would the wave action be in terms of height, on a normal day? The reason I'm asking, is to swag an idea of how much wave action is going to affect just skimming it off the surface.
I'd like to know what concentration of oil they think this thing need to be effective. It is a big ship but if they are planning to just pump it into tanks, I wonder how long it takes to get the oil to settle to the top. I wonder if they suck up oil and water, then stop and wait for density and gravity to work wonders. Pump off the oil, dump the water and do it again.
I really hope this isn't pie in the sky stuff. From what I can tell, this is the ships first trial.
I thought this was one of the fleet that the Saudis used when they had their great oops. Was supposed to have saved the whole ecology of the region, from what all the newsies were saying. No description as to the inner workings, though. Decanting might work in the lab, but out on the ocean with dispersant-contaminated oil, lots of luck!
I do wonder how the centrifuge-equipped barges are doing. Haven't heard.
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:33:22 -0400, Gerald Miller wrote the following:
New at Wally World: "BP's Calorie-Free Dark Whipped Topping!"
-- It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now, with its aches and its pleasures, is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. -- Pema Chodron
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