What Are the Different Types of Oil Skimmers?

Oil Rig

Oil skimmers are very effective at collecting thousands of gallons of crude oil. Although they are receiving a lot of press in such massive cleanup effort, the majority of them are efficiently and quietly doing their jobs across the globe. But the truth that everyone needs to know is that they are not really designed to be a response to a spill. But they are actually designed for the prevention of oil from entering the streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds.

If you have to clean up some oil on top of the water in the retention pond of in other bodies of water, like in a marina, then such skimmer would do a great job. There are different types of skimmers that are specifically designed for different situations.

Tube Oil Skimmer

Tube skimmers for oil spills could clean up a wide area of water and could actually be sent out to the oil sheen. This is possible by extending the tube further from the water. The area that it could clean is limited by the length of its tube.

But the problem when using a tube oil skimmer is that it could take up a lot of space. This also makes that water that the tube is floating on to be inaccessible to boats, swimmers, and other equipment.

Belt Skimmer

This type of skimmer makes use of a stainless or poly steel belt and functions best in smaller contained areas like small retention ponds and tanks where water could be brought to the skimmer. Thus, type of skimmer could not be expanded to have a wider pickup area like tube skimmers as the belt is vertical and can only collect oil under it.

Disk Skimmer

This one is compact and could pick up a lot of oil fast due to the large surface that it utilizes to pick up oil. Just like with a belt skimmer, a disk skimmer just picks up oil that is on the water near it. It should be brought to the oil or the water should be circulated so that the soil on the water could be picked up by the skimmer. In addition, this type of skimmer is best for clean-up effort.

Disc Type Oil Skimmer

Drum Oil Skimmer

This one looks like a drum that lays horizontally in the water. With this one, the oil sticks to the drum and is being scraped off and then pumped to a storage tank. Just like with a disk skimmer, this one should also be taken to the oil or you need to have the water moved to the drum. This type of skimmer works very well when cleaning up large oil spills on bodies of water.These are the different types of skimmers that play an important role in spill containment. Doing will be very beneficial for everyone. Be sure that you have one for your specific needs and knowing these different types will help you better decide which one you should get that will serve its purpose. Click here to find out more why you need to contain spills.

Continue Reading