Skimming Oil for Profit

[Jetexas]

In my opinion this either has to be either a joke or a scam, but it was posted on Craiglist and a couple other places this morning.

http://exigenteservice.com/2010/06/2...t-77-a-barrel/

[GordMay]

Shrimp boats are being used to skim surface oil.

[Jetexas]

I know that, but those booms absorb the oil and then are taken to a cleaning facility. I don't think you could just squeeze the oil out into an onboard centrifuge, barrel it and resell it.

[Sailmonkey]

there are adsorbent booms, then there are boom that simply direct the oil to a suction point.

[Jetexas]

Ok, I'll suspend my disbelief for a moment and make the assumption that this equipment could actually work ... why would you toss your barrels overboard as you can only bring a set amount of barrels with you anyway?

[Sailmonkey]

That's the part I found fishy too. I know that a shrimp boat can carry several dozen barells on deck, and in the fish hold, what self respecting vietnamese shrimper would just jettison his profit?!?!

[Hydra]

Here in Brittany, we have had crude oil spills from Torrey Canyon (1967) and Amoco Cadiz (1978). In my experience, the lightest and most valuable fraction of crude oil evaporates quickly. After a few days, only remains a thick goo without any commercial value, similar to what Erika (1999) carried.

Alain

[Dune]

[quote]The oil is then processed through our onboard filtration system and barreled as crude oil. The barrels are then dropped off to be retrieved later via GPS coordinates.[quote]

Not sure how long a barrel will remain at those coordinates. Does not sound like an officialy recognized skimmer...more like a fishoily scammer.

[anjou]

Pardon the pun, but skimming and collecting in barrels would just be a drop in the ocean compared to the size of the problem

[Lancerbye]

I am waiting for someone to come out with a small scale distillation column which could be used to convert the crude to useable diesel for your engine. This could be especially attractive to the large fuel burners we see going through the anchorages at full speed. I would suggest that they all move down to the oil infested waters and help in the cleanup for a return of free fuel. (TIC)

[Blue Stocking]

If you used telescoped barrels, which would stack closely one inside the other, you could get many more barrels on deck as empties. We need to think outside the box (barrel?), its obvious the big boys aren't.

[liberty16]

Originally Posted by Jetexas

In my opinion this either has to be either a joke or a scam, but it was posted on Craiglist and a couple other places this morning.

Convert a Shrimp Boat to Collect Oil, at 79$ a Barrel » Houston Services Blog

That photo is obviously photoshopped, in other words doctored. If people were really doing this they would post a real picture not a fake. It's a scam.

[stevensc]

There are lots of shrimp boats out there, from the pictures I have seen they don't seem to be very effective. I believe BP is putting them to work more as an attempt at creating some good will with the local population or simply to keep them quiet. They are paying very well from what I have heard. They are also renting fishing camps near the ports and paying very well for them a friend rents his three bedroom, two bath camp for 4 workers for 100.00 per bed per night, 6 month lease you can do the math. Owner responsible for clean up twice a week including change of towels and sheets
There all sorts of scams and crazy inventions being touted this seems like one of them. I agree the idea of the barrels floating around for pickup via GPS seems unlikely. Something more to worry about running into in the middle of the night!
Steve

[smokinjoe]

shrimp boats are being put to use thankfully,, there are around 600 vessels now (out of 1500 or so that are available) that are being used to skim surface oil,,, thankfully the jones act is being re-evaluated for the the whale skimmer to be used in the gulf 'A Whale' mega-skimmer arrives in Gulf of Mexico, testing begins

but as far as exigenteservice.com. this technology is available, and for the right price can be installed in a modern day shrimp boat, upon EPA's approval the boat will be able to launch


---but to clear things up,, i intentionally created the exigenteservice ad to mock the cleanup efforts and the government's reaction time on the situation


-gulf coast resident