Abanaki Fuzzy2™ Oil Skimming Material Called into Fight against Gulf Oil
Spill
Abanaki Corporation's patent-pending Fuzzy2™ material is being put to work
off the coast of Louisiana on a disk skimmer cleaning up oil from the Gulf oil
spill disaster. The new Fuzzy2 material has triple the oil removal capacity of
standard disk skimming material, and this is the first time it has been used on
such a large scale project.
Video demonstration of Fuzzy2 oil skimming material
A disk skimmer uses a rotating disk to remove oil from water. Oleophilic (oil
attracting) material collects oil as the disk passes through the water, and
wiper blades scrape off the oil for collection. In this application, Abanaki's
Fuzzy2 material is attached to the surface of 56 30-inch diameter skimming
disks on a floating skimmer made by CRUCIAL
Inc. of Gretna, Louisiana. Outfitted with
Fuzzy2, the CRUCIAL ORD Disc Skimmer can remove up to 385 gallons of oil per
minute from the water's surface, more than three times its usual capacity.
Fuzzy2 material on a disk skimmer on the water in Louisiana
Close up view of Fuzzy2 material shows oil-grabbing hairs
Unlike other skim disk materials, Fuzzy2 has a hairy surface that greatly
increases its surface area. It is a more durable version of Abanaki's original
Fuzzy Belt® material, which is used with belt oil skimmers to capture diesel,
gasoline and other light oils in waste water pits and groundwater monitoring
wells. However, the Fuzzy2 skimming material also dramatically increases pick up
rates of less viscous oil like the crude oil now threatening the Louisiana
coastline.
The disk skimmer is under contract to a spill responder and is operated from
one of the scores of ships now deployed to skim oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The
leak is estimated to gush 5000 barrels of oil each day following the explosion
and sinking of an oil rig that killed 11 workers April 21, 2010.
