|
BioBoom for oil spill boom clean up
 BIO-BOOM® is the product of choice for quick containment of actual and anticipated oil and fuel spills on water. Kept near potential spill areas, BIO-BOOM® can be a ready response when a hydrocarbon spill occurs. Also, Placed in a strategic locations, BIO-BOOM® can restrict the spread of an expected spill.
Many products contain a spill, though that's where BIO-BOOM® is different! In addition to quickly containing a hydrocarbon spill, this boom will also biodegrade the contaminant, then biodegrade itself. Because no secondary contaminants are left, your disposal costs are reduced or eliminated.
When a spill happens in open water, containment is key! BioBooms can contain a spreading spill while the PRP inside consumes the pollution.
Whether the spill is in open water, marinas, holding ponds or lagoons, BioBooms hold the spill in place while the PRP works. When the oil is gone, the PRP degrades itself leaving only empty fabric. There's no toxic waste requiring tedious expensive disposal.
Each BioBoom is a sleeve of white fabric measuring three inches in diameter. Each boom is custom made in lengths up to 10 feet and it weighs eight pounds. One BioBoom can immediately absorb from 12 to 16 pounds of contaminant, but can degrade much more over time.
|
 |
| Read more about BioBoom (PDF File) |
December 16, 2005
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Universal Remediation Inc.
1405 Parkway View Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15205
David Higginbotham,
Pittsburgh Voyager is a nonprofit environmental education organization operating three vessels on the three rivers in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Voyager (PV) offers a wide range of river-based educational programs. One of its primary goals is to educate the public, especially school children, on the health of the river. In keeping with the goal, PV has launched a campaign to become "green" through the new construction of one of the first green passenger vessels in the word. In the campaign, PV is in the process of "greening" our current facilities in an environmentally responsible manner.
As PV moved forward with this “greening” program, we needed to revaluate some of our maintenance processes and make necessary changes. One of the most complex problems in the boating industry is the management of bilge contamination, spills, associated waste and waster disposal. Also, the cost implications of managing these items properly can potentially be huge.
Recently, PV was introduced to a product called PRP through its manufacturer, Universal Remediation Inc. (UniRemInc) Pittsburgh Voyager had been looking for a material that is environmentally friendly, maintenance free, and that would facilitate the clean up of oil and fuel spills. PRP stimulates naturally occurring microbes that biodegrade hydrocarbons into CO2 and water --- it also is oleophilic and hydrophobic (encapsulates hydrocarbons and floats).
So, our first step was to look at ways in which we could implement the PRP product into our current maintenance and operation procedures. UniRemInc first supplied PV with its BioSok and BioBoom products – essentially polypropylene socks filled with PRP. The sok is designed to absorb and remediate oil and fuel in the bilge and the BioBoom is best used in containing oil or fuel spills in the river or other open waters.
PV installed 8 BioSoks in the beginning of September in the engine room bilges on two of its vessels. The crew secured the BioSoks in place in the bilge sections using some cloth lines and finishing nails. A crewmember inspected the BioSok weekly to see if the PRP material was depleted. This process took only a few minutes and cut down on weekly man-hours of handling and disposing of waste (more on that below). When the socks are depleted, the crew only has to deal with the disposal of the polypropylene sleeve.
Prior to using BioSok, Pittsburgh Voyager used a cotton, flat, sheet material called a diaper to help remove oil and petroleum out of the bilge. As a part of regular maintenance, a crewmember removed and changed out these diapers once a week from the bilge. This whole process was quite cumbersome and difficult to manage. Diapers in the bilge also caused an awful odor as well as incurring additional costs for disposal to a special landfill. PV decided to place a BioBoom in the water near one of the vessel’s generator exhausts. This engine has a wet exhaust and on occasion at startup produces a carbon black soot output. The boom was totally depleted of PRP after three weeks. All that was left was the polypropylene sock. This product cleaned up the waste from the engine, the black film buildup on the docks, and probably unassociated pollution from the river as well!
PV took this PRP product a step further --- we figured that if this product had the capability of cutting down waste, why not try and eliminate the use of diapers in the drip pans under the main ship generators. Universal Remediation designed a pad that could be used underneath these components in place of the diapers. The crew checked and moistened the pads daily with a spray bottle of water to keep the microbes active when the engine was operating.
The overall outcome of implementing the use of these products has been a reduction in total costs for Pittsburgh Voyager Waste Management Program and environmental benefits to the river. The products have been beneficial to the ultimate end users --- the maintenance staff of PV! They no longer have to deal with the mess and odor caused by the diapers. PV now has an effective way of dealing with oil and fuel spill and managing the waste.
As Pittsburgh Voyager moves forward with its "greening" program, it plans to find additional ways to implement the use of PRP products further. Over the winter, PV is planning to use a PRP product called OilBuster on oil and fuel spills on the deck.
These innovative products from Universal Remediation Inc. will enable PV to educate others in more environmentally friendly practices and products. UniRemInc has become a true partner with the Pittsburgh Voyager in "greening" their operations and providing a cleaner environment!
Thank You,
Kimberly Ann Porr
Boat Operations Manager
Pittsburgh Voyager
1501 Reedsdale Street
Suite 2001
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
|
| |
|
|
