Abstract
ABSTRACT Pumps are an integral part of all oil spill recovery operations. Skimmers and booms are of little or no practical use if the recovered spill cannot be transferred to permanent installations for further treatment, storage, or disposal. The recovered oil may be weathered, emulsified, debris-filled, or simply highly viscous. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the importance of this often over-simplified operation and performed tests at its Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT) to document the performance of a variety of pumps commonly used at spills and pumps less commonly used for this specific purpose. The tests were designed to provide performance curves for each pump and to document the abilities of the pumps in four specific situations. While the same tests were applied to each pump to produce these performance curves, because of the different designs and inherent characteristics of each of the pumps (an internal and external gear, progressive cavity, centrifugal, and diaphragm type), comparisons were not intended and would be counterproductive. The results of the tests on each pump stand on their own merits. The first tests run with each pump were conducted to measure the suction-head and discharge-head abilities of each unit using clean oils. Four oils were chosen to cover a range of viscosities from less than 10 centipoise to several thousand centipoise depending on ambient conditions. The next set of tests documented the pumping characteristics when oil and water were introduced to the pump as non-mixed fluids for concurrent pumping and, more importantly, measured the tendency of the pump to emulsify the oil and water. The third set of tests measured the same relationship as the oil tests using pre-emulsified oil of a high apparent viscosity as a non-Newtonian test fluid. The fourth set of tests simply measured debris-handling abilities of the pumps. This paper presents the initial results for the types of pumps chosen from the OHMSETT inventory.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
