Jonathan Diller
Michael Cignarale
HAZMAT

Innovative Technology in Oil Spill Recovery
Elastec/American Marine, an Illinois based company has revolutionized the process of oil spill recovery. Elastec’s design consists of rows of grooved discs that spin as the device moves through oil-soaked water. Since oil is much more viscous than water, Wilson says, the oil sticks to the disc’s grooves but the water flings off. This amazing design can recover a staggering 4670 gallons of oil per minute, more than three times what existing technology can do. Its design was also extremely efficient: What it sucked up was 89.5 percent oil (and just 10.5 percent water). The design has won them $1 million: Elastec in 2011 was announced as the winner of the Oil Cleanup X Challenge. The competition challenged the 350 initial entrants to create rapidly deployable designs that could scoop up oil faster than 2500 gallons per minute, with at least a 70 percent efficiency. At the outset, Elastec was skeptical that these numbers were achievable. But the company’s design had an oil-removal rate that nearly doubled the rest of the competitors. Elastec/American now has over ten different designs, ranging from small stream cleanups, to open ocean oil spill recovery. These products are now being shipped worldwide and used by more than 20 different countries. The discs are capable of recovering all types of oil, from low viscosity to high viscosity making it an extremely versatile piece of equipment.