Tuesday, July 13
July 13, 2010Ellis Warren Jr.
July 15, 2010Port Fourchon got a taste of Hollywood last Wednesday, but it was Kevin Costner’s company’s invention that carried the day.
With the help of Edison Chouest Offshore, the movie star unveiled a technological marvel – a skimming device that can skim almost 25,000 barrels of oily water a day and work in 10-foot seas.
“I hope that this machiene represents a good right hand in the fight,” Costner said to more than 100 oil and gas workers. “We’re kind of at our best when we’re fighting. We’re good at it, as Americans, and I’m so proud to be a part of it with you.”
The “Ella G,” the first of three Edison Chouest Offshore boats equipped with this technology, set sail immediately following the press conference.
“We’ll be deploying this very near where the well is, because that’s where we have the most impact,” said Doug Suttles, BP COO of Exploration and Production.
The 280-foot boat went from conceptualization to deployment ready in 10 days, and its J-formation skimmer can funnel oil from an area of 125 meters on the surface of the water.
In the near future, a U-formation skimmer will be added, giving the vessel the capability of skimming a 700-meter range
“We’re very confident this will make a big difference, not only to the fight now, but our capabilities should a spill happen again,” said Suttles.
The vessels will extract oily water and attempt to separate crude from the water by spinning it in a centrifuge, which will force lighter fluid to the center.
Oil would be pumped into a storage container while the clean water is set free, allowing the vessel to capture a greater percentage of oil.
The Chouest vessels can hold 6,000 barrels of oil at a time, and Suttles said this innovation could change the way BP fights the spill.
“We only use dispersants when we can’t fight the oil with something else, so capability like this should allow us to reduce the amount of dispersant being used,” said Suttles.
Before the “Ella G” set sail, Costner assured those in attendance it will fight the oil wherever it goes.
“The rest of the country really thinks about you,” he said. “I know a lot of times your heart is on the ground, but the machine I dreamed would be here one day was designed for just this moment. It was designed to fight for you. It was designed to fight for an ecosystem that cannot fight for itself.”
