Novel separator skimmer for oil spill cleanup and oily wastewater treatment: From conceptual system design to the first pilot-scale prototype development

Abstract

Abstract Frequent oil spill accidents, oily industrial wastewater and organic solvents discharge have caused alarming and serious environmental, health and economic issues. Therefore, the development of an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and efficient oil–water separation (OWS) technology is highly urgent. Although traditional methods have been demonstrated to be effective, they still suffer from numerous drawbacks. Herein, we report the concept, design, assembly, and testing of novel and advanced proof-of-concept pilot-scale OWSS prototype module for OWS. This system is built around a unique and innovative combination of hydrophobic–hydrophilic porous sorbent materials-based OWS bed and a vacuum-assisted oil collection system, which allows continuous and efficient removal of highly pure oily contaminants from water surface. The main goals of the present work are the development of a prototype design for a pilot-scale system and the fabrication of the prototype module. A detailed description of the design development, main system components, assembly and construction steps is reported herein, focusing predominantly on the main design choices adopted to comply with the challenging technical requirements. System specifications have been defined to obtain optimum prototype performance with simultaneous oil sorption and recovery as well as a high oil uptake rate and selectivity, which will provide a sustainable solution for industry with robust instrumentation. Initial economic analysis including the technical and economic feasibility of the prototype manufacturing and implementation has also been discussed. The first prototype is being manufactured in our facilities, and the operating tests during and after assembly showed excellent OWS performance, which demonstrates that the developed prototype has been constructed successfully. We believe that this simplified separation–collection system design allows its straightforward implementation for large-area oil spill cleanup and in industrial wastewater treatment plants.