Actor Kevin Costner has spent the past 15 years and more than $20 million of his own money to develop the oil separator machines, which during successful testing, left water 99 percent clean of crude. The devices, manufactured by Ocean Therapy Solutions, are carried to the spill area by barges before separating the oil and water. The largest of the machines, the V20, can clean water at a rate of 200 gallons a minute, according to the company’s website.
After actor Kevin Costner spent weeks calling attention to a high-tech oil cleanup device his company spent years developing, BP tested the machine and overnight released a statement saying that not only does the device work, officials are “excited” about its potential. “We were confident the technology would work but we needed to test it at the extremes. We’ve done that and are excited by the results,” said Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer. “We are very pleased with the results and today we have placed a significant order with OTS [Costner’s Ocean Therapy Solutions] and will be working with them to rapidly manufacture and deploy 32 of their machines.” – From ABCNews
British Petroleum signed a letter of intent with Ocean Therapy Solutions to deploy thirty-two centrifuge machines to assist in the cleanup of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. BP agreed to use the technology after testing machines during the past week.
In testimony yesterday before the House of Representatives’ Science and Technology committee, Ocean Therapy Solutions partner Kevin Costner told the panel about the challenges he faced bringing the technology into industrial use, including his own personal investment of over $20 million developing the technology. He urged committee members to legislate that oil rigs be required to have mitigation equipment onsite. ”We’ve legislated life preservers. We legislated fire extinguishers,” Costner said. ”We legislated lifeboats and first aid kits. It seems logical that as long as the oil industry profits from the sea, they have the legal obligation to protect it, except when they find themselves fighting for life and limb.”
Just one of the company’s V20 machines can clean up to 210,000 gallons of oily water per day. There are 3 V20 centrifuge machines currently operational in the Gulf. Ten more should become operational within weeks. ”Once production at our factory in Nevada ramps up in July, OTS will be able to produce 10 machines a month,” said Pat Smith, Chief Operating Officer for OTS. ”We are currently ramping up production of new machines with a goal toward deploying the machines along the entire coast,” he said.
”We have chosen teaming partners that are at ground zero and understand the challenges we face, including Edison Chouest Offshore, the largest offshore supply company in the Gulf of Mexico,” said John W. Houghtaling II, Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Therapy Solutions.
The centrifuge machines are sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water and separate oil at unprecedented rates. Costner has been funding a team of scientists for the last 15 years to develop a technology which could be used for massive oil spills.
The machines are taken out into the spill area via barges, where they can separate the oil and water. The machines come in different sizes, the largest of which, the V20, can clean water at a rate of 200 gallons per minute. Depending on the oil to water ratio, the machine has the ability to extract 2,000 barrels of oil a day from the Gulf. Once separation has occurred, the oil is stored in tanks. The water is then more than 99% clean of crude. – from here