Collection of Offshore Spilled Oil
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) announced on September 1 that a Korean small firm, Hans ENG Corporation, succeeded in developing an oil skimmer that can quickly collect offshore oil spills using nanotechnology. An oil skimmer is a device that removes oil from water surfaces with physical methods.
The newly developed oil skimmer was funded under the Nano Convergence 2020 project led by the MOTIE and the MSIP. The device used “nano micro mesh technology” developed by Professor Ko Jong-soo of Pusan National University. The nano micro mesh technology filters out only oil using a metal filter.
Experts, including Park Jong-ku, head of the Nano Convergence 2020 project, said, “Existing imported oil skimmers take away water and oil together so they needed a separate separation process. However, the new oil skimmer selectively and continuously removes only oil. Collected oil is also reusable without an additional process so the device can effectively control spilled oil.”