Oil Spill Containment Booms Stop The Spread Of Hydrocarbons.

Any Dog can tell you what happens when they make a mess on your floor, but in a waterway? You’ll end up in the Dawg pound for sure! Oil Spill Containment Booms for Spill Containment provide proper containment and clean-up of oil spills in rivers, streams, ponds, oceans and other environmentally sensitive waterways.

The most important characteristic of a oil spill containment boom is its oil containment or deflection capability, determined by its behavior in relation to water movement. The oil boom should be flexible enough to conform to wave motion yet sufficiently rigid to retain as much oil as possible.

Most oil spill containment booms are not capable of containing oil in currents greater than 0.7 knot (0.35 meter/second) that flow at right angles to the boom, irrespective of boom size or skirt depth. This factor limits the speed at which booms can be towed to less than 0.5 knots (0.26 m/s). The success of containment booming is dependent on currents, wind, and waves. Even minor currents can draw oil under the oil boom; waves may cause splash-over, and wind and currents may cause the oil spill containment boom to sink or plane. Oil patches or water turbulence appearing on the down-current side indicates that the oil boom is failing. New open ocean boom designs capable of containing oil as tow speeds greater than 3 knots (15.4 m/s) are becoming commercially available.

In Arctic conditions even very low concentrations of ice can seriously affect the performance of most oil containment booms. Containment booms will quickly collect ice and subsequently lose oil as flotation chambers are submerged or lifted out of the water.

Other important oil spill containment boom characteristics are strength, ease and speed of deployment, reliability, weight and cost. It is essential that a oil boom be sufficiently robust for its intended purpose and tolerate inexpert handling, since trained personnel are not always available. Strength is required to withstand the forces of water and wind when being towed. Ease and speed of deployment combined with reliability are very important in a rapidly changing situation and may strongly influence the selection of equipment. Practical limitations of strength, water drag and weight mean that generally only relatively short lengths (tens to a few hundred meters) can be deployed and maintained in a working configuration.

Towing containment booms at sea in “U” or ”J” configurations, is a difficult task requiring specialized vessels. Because of the difficulties of operating multi-ship towed boom systems, specialized ships have been built which incorporate sweeping arms, skimming devices and on board oil storage. The limitations posed by sea conditions still also apply to larger versions of these vessels of which are unable to work in shallow inshore waters. The efficiency of a specialized vessel is mainly determined by the built-in oil recovery system or skimmer which is deployed. Because of the relatively narrow sweep width, these specialized vessels are best suited to recovering oil in ribbons or windrows. Following containment of the oil, the next step in the cleanup operation is physical recovery of the oil from the water’s surface. You can find oil absorbent products by clicking here.

When selecting the right type of Oil Spill Containment Boom there are many choices to select from. First there is Oil Spill Boom that just contains oil spills without absorbing any oil. Second there is Absorbing Oil Spill Boom that absorbs oil spills on waterways. Call us today to help you select the right Oil Spill Containment Boom at 1-800-YEL-DAWG® (935-3294).

Oil Spill Containment Boom Factors To Consider When Selecting an Oil Spill Boom

DAWG® Absorbent Oil Booms

DAWG® Oil Spill Containment Booms

The DAWG® Guarantee on Oil Spill Containment Oil Booms and Absorbent Booms