Giant Oil skimmer gets another test, but faces doubt (Taiwanese Giant Skimmer fails to impress)

Associated Press ^ | 07/09/2010

[SeekAndFind]

NEW ORLEANS — The giant Taiwanese oil skimmer known as 'A Whale' is getting another chance to prove its value in the Gulf of Mexico.

But the leader of the federal response, Thad Allen, doubts the effectiveness of the "A Whale."

The ship is supposed to suck up to 21 million gallons of oily water per day.

Allen said Thursday it seems more useful in a huge pool of oil than in thousands of smaller slicks.

Bob Grantham, spokesman for TMT Shipping, says the U.S. Coast Guard has approved another week of testing.

Grantham says the vessel has already made changes, including a new system for directing oily water from the ship's intake vents to its storage tanks.

[my small voice]

Who gives a crap about levels of effective?! It’s there now, let it go. If nothing else, it’ll boost morale.

[SeekAndFind]

MORE HERE :



The A Whale oil skimming vessel has gotten a lot of publicity over the past week or so since it has arrived in the Gulf of Mexico. During the past couple of test runs by the A Whale skimmer, the ship has not been able to capture oil effectively, which is causing some to think that the A Whale skimmer vessel is just not going to work out as planned.

One of the main causes for the A Whale oil skimmer not being able to skim and process oil from the gulf effectively is because the long, thin slots on the front are capturing the oil from the waters.

The A Whale vessel captures oil by skimming it from the water through thin slots on both sides of the front of the ship.

The problem is that the gulf waters are rough, and the water level is in constant flux, thus not allowing the skimmer ship to capture the oil through the fixed slots on the front.

[earlJam]

it seems more useful in a huge pool of oil than in thousands of smaller slicks.

in other words, it would have been more useful 80 days ago... before the spill started spreading all over the Gulf of Mexico.

[gulfcoast6]

If it would pick up just one gal. we would be satisfied, that is a lot more than the federal government is doing...

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Yep, that’s about the size of it...

[Psycho_Bunny]

Can’t say I’m surprised. When I first saw pictures of the slate system it was pretty obvious it wouldn’t be effective in anything other than a vast pool of oil.

I was amazed it was even built.

[Domangart]

You would have thought that they would have had long deep booms on each side. It’s not like the oil will come to you and hop into the pumps.

[FDNYRHEROES]

We’re gonna need a bigger boat...

[Conscience of a Conservative]

Problem is, the ship didn’t exist 80 days ago. Not as an oil skimmer, at least.

[marron]

Allen said Thursday it seems more useful in a huge pool of oil than in thousands of smaller slicks.

So, the massive amounts of dispersant is a mistake?

[marron]

In an earlier thread I mistook this vessel for being the super-tankers that Shell talked about using in the Persian Gulf.

Shell evidently was tasked with cleaning up a massive oil spill for the Saudis, and used a collection of supertankers to do it. They offered their advice and expertise early on and were rebuffed. It seems like no one is interested yet in what they had to offer.

[valkyry1]

It will more than this administration has that’s for sure so put it out there.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Might be useful this week end when they turn the well loose to replace the current cap with a bolt on unit...

Related thread:

BP Is Ready to Put Tighter Cap on Runaway Well (Deepwater Horizon oil spill )

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

I was wondering about that myself. Where is the A-Whale being tested? Near the cap or far from it?

It’s being given antoher qualification test [seven days], but in reality, it ought to be understood by now how it’s useful and on standby for contingencies.

Some oil spill events from Thursday, July 8, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-yfHJzPLDeBIhG5JDEF6VbaPR8QD9GR4FFO1

ANOTHER WHALE OF A TEST

The giant Taiwanese oil skimmer known as ‘A Whale’ is getting another chance to prove its value in the Gulf of Mexico. But the leader of the federal response, Thad Allen, doubts the effectiveness of the “A Whale.” Allen said Thursday it seems more useful in a huge pool of oil than in thousands of smaller slicks. Bob Grantham, spokesman for TMT Shipping, says the U.S. Coast Guard has approved another week of testing.