OIL SPILL PREVENTION BY EARLY DETECTION OF OIL ON WATER

An oil-on-water monitoring instrument is described in detail. Field trial results are discussed. The oil-on- water detector provides a reliable way to detect oil spillage before it reaches unmanageable proportions. The instrument, which floats on the water surface, detects minute traces of floating oil barely visible to the human eye as a sheen. An important feature of the detector is its ability to "see" surface oil equally well day or night, rain or shine, even in fog. The system consists of a detector unit and remote control unit which can be installed up to one mile from the detector. The housing above the ambient light baffle and pontoons contains a photoelectric system whereby a light source is transmitted through a window to the water surface. The reflected light is detected and its signal is conditioned to provide an alarm whenever light intensity is above a predetermined setpoint. The instrument is intended primarily for usage in on-stream control applications and therefore is not intended to correlate directly with Standard Methods of Water and Wastewater analysis techniques. A brief discussion of present regulations as related to oil-on-water detection is provided. Data in graphical form are appended.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Int Semin and Expo on Water Resour Instrum, Proceeding, V1: Meas and Sensing Methods, V2: Data Acquis and Anal, Chicago, Ill., June 4-6, 1974. Published for Int Water Resour Ass, Champaign, Ill.
• Corporate Authors:

  Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Incorporated

  230 Collingwood, P.O. Box 1425
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48106
• Authors:
  • Grillo, P H
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 536-552

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Detectors; Oil spill cleanup; Oil spills; Water quality management
• Old TRIS Terms: Oil spill detection
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00129778
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 10 1976 12:00AM