Lifts up to 1 ton of oil products per hour: "Vodolaz" air probe for fuel oil collection tested in Anapa

Scientists from Tomsk, together with divers from the Marine Rescue Service, have tested new equipment for lifting oil and oil products called "Vodolaz." The device will automate the process of collecting fuel oil and reduce the load on divers.

Divers collect fuel oil with shovels, which is extremely difficult to do at the bottom, practically in zero gravity. This is especially important in conditions of increasing water temperature, when the pollutant becomes mobile, which makes it difficult to collect it manually at the bottom of the sea.

Andrey Trifonov, engineer of the Department of Ichthyology and Hydrobiology of the Biological Institute of TSU

The new "Vodolaz" installation is a bottom dome with many nozzles through which a water-air mixture is supplied. This apparatus is capable of lifting up to a ton of oil products per hour to the surface and maintains its performance even in warm weather, when the fluidity of fuel oil increases, which makes manual cleaning extremely difficult.

When designing "Vodolaz," we discussed the details of the device with divers from the Marine Rescue Service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, who are well aware of the specifics of working at the bottom and the "pitfalls" that need to be taken into account.

Danil Vorobyov, Director of the Biological Institute of TSU

Tests in Anapa showed that the underwater apparatus effectively separates highly viscous oil products from the bottom. Currently, active work is underway to technically adjust "Vodolaz" taking into account the recommendations of the Marine Rescue Service. After optimization, the installation will be used to eliminate the consequences of emergency situations in coastal areas.

Earlier www1.ru reported that the "Air Probe" will be modernized at TSU to clean the Black Sea from fuel oil.