First, the system focuses on absorbing the oil using a gear that looks like a giant paint roller.
Except that, instead of distributing paint, the roller attracts the oil thats been released in the ocean.
The gel, however, allows them to attract the oil without the water.
Graphical illustration of the process at work.© University of Texas-Austin
To address this, Yu and his team thought of another new approach: heating it up.
The entire process is continuous, minimizing the time spent on the cleanup.
This two-step system achieved a 99% oil-water separation efficiency in lab experiments.
© Vicky Leta/Gizmodo
The team claims the method is almost 10 times faster than traditional oil skimmers used for ocean cleanup.
The cleanuptook yearsand restoration projects are ongoing.
[The oil skimmer] requires significant effort and is also very time consuming.
An illustration of the separation process. © University of Texas-Austin
So, we started thinking, what is the challenge?
As a father, the project was personal on a deeper level to Yu.
The consequences are more pronounced when they occur in sensitive environments, such as beaches and wetlands.
Oil spills can cause catastrophic and irreversible damage to ocean ecosystems.
At the moment, small and medium cleanups can take days or weeks.
In the case of large spills like Deepwater Horizon, it can even take years.
Most existing technologies struggle when cleaning up oils with high viscosities, which can be sticky and even immovable.
This reduced timeline and increased efficiency means environmental recovery can begin faster.
Theres also another upside: The oil they collect can be reused.
Whats next
Yu said the research has generated a lot of interest from oil companies.
However, its not ready to be deployed out on the sea just yet.
The UT-Austin professor is also limited by human resources.
Yan and Zhao are currently professors at Nanjing University and the Beijing Institute of Technology, respectively.
It also included professors Lijia Pan, Yongchang Jiang, and Yi Shi from Nanjing University in China.
UT engineering professor Kishore Mohanty helped the team procure raw viscous oil for their lab experiments.
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