Posted on 05/27/2010 10:32:58 PM PDT by smokingfrog
BP has agreed to test Ocean Therapy Solutions' centrifugal processing device that separates oil from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. John Houghtaling, CEO of Houghtaling and Williams (New Orleans, LA, USA), received word this afternoon after speaking with BP President Doug Suttles. Houghtaling partnered with movie star Kevin Costner and other local investors to promote the machines. Houghtaling and Costner formed Ocean Therapies in the wake of the Horizon oil spill in the Gulf.
"The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water and separate at unprecedented rates. They were developed from older centrifuge technology. Normal centrifuge machines are very slow and sensitive to different ratios of oil to water mixtures at intake," Houghtaling said. Costner has been funding a team of scientists for the last 15 years to develop a technology which could be used for massive oil spills.
British Petroleum viewed a demonstration of the device last Thursday afternoon.
The machines can be taken out into the spill area via barges, where they can separate the oil and water. The machines come in different sizes, the largest of which can clean water at a rate of 200 gallons per minute, more than 50 gallons faster than the well is leaking. One machine alone can clean up to 210,000 gallons of polluted water per day. Depending on the oil to water ratio, the machine has the ability to extract 2,000 barrels of oil a day from the Gulf. Once separation has occurred, the oil is stored in tanks. The water is then more than 99% clean of crude.
If this is the straight skinny, that’s impressive. Costner should be proud of his investment.
“”The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water and separate at unprecedented rates.”
Kind of like a cream separator, invented over a hundred years ago...
SO...
How is it that the O-HOLE and his cronies knew NOTHING of this technology?
I’ll wager they KNEW... BUT DID NOT CARE because they REQUIRE CRISES to AFFECT the SOCIALIST STATE they imagine America MUST be remade into.
Need more RANDOM uppercase words FOR full o.O EFFECT!
Why weren’t they using this earlier? Government permits / hold ups?
Heard about this earlier today on Rush. Sounds like BP is testing, but Govt needs to approve use of the devices. They have about 30 of them ready to go.
Maybe the delay is that this larger size has just recently been invented. There are no dates given in the article.
The first article about this showed up on May 14th. At that time it was said that BP was ignoring Costner and company. They said they were ready to go with their machines right then.
Good for Costner.
Kevin Costner: 'I've blown £20m (40 million dollars) on inventions to save the planet'
If it works a lot of FReepers on that thread need to pull up a chair and dig into a steaming plate of crow. lol
Kevin Costner hopes his solution to the BP oil crisis will become a reality
Is this the one the Saudis used?
BP approved commissioning the machines back on the 19th of May.
Their large machines were located on the west coast. BP saw a demonstration of the machines on the 18th and agreed to test them as soon as they got to the gulf. They’ve been traveling on barges ever since. So, what this announcement apparently means is that they finally arrived and BP has found some location where they can be tested.
The more-probable reason is that most of the people in this administration have never gotten their fingernails dirty doing an honest day’s work. They have no clue about how the real world works. Eleven people died during this tragic event. Eleven people who - though probably making very good money - kept American humming. But all this President and his cronies do is denigrate and demonize BP. We have thousands of rigs in the Gulf for about 40 years and this is the only accident? That is incredible.
BP approves test? I thought O was in full control?
Beats me. I don't see how using it could make things any worse. Give it a shot!
I have no idea how the Saudi system works, but would imagine it is probably something similar. Maybe larger and less efficient though.
Costner offered these machines to BP quite a while ago. I’m disappointed that they just now got around to testing and approving their use.
What the hell difference does it make if they are experimental. When you are in extremis, you try whatever might work as long as it can’t make the problem worse.
What did Big Polluter just get into the oil biz yesterday?
Come on, not enough people are bitch slapping Bad People!
Any pimp knows the girl won't change her attitude w/o the fist of justice.
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