Hydroclean

What it does

Hydroclean is the solution for oil spills.The system comprises a spiral shaped coil configured to come in contact with the oil spill on the surface of the water body & trap the oil between a plurality of spiral loops of the spiral shaped coil.

Your inspiration

Exxon Valdez spill-1989_spilling over 11 million gallon of oil, Deep water Horizon spill-2010_ 134 million gallon of oil,Atlantic Empress-1979_287000 tonnes spilt and many more.Each having profound impact on the marine environment, killing over approximately 82000 birds of 102 species,approximately 6165 sea turtle,up to 25900 marine mammals, and a vast(but unknown)number of fish. It was not an inspiration but my personal responsibility for the environment.Instead of asking what we are doing, I just asked one simple question “What am I doing?”and I started my research to find a simple & economical solution for the problem.

How it works

The system comprises a spiral-shaped coil configured to come in contact with the oil spill on the surface of the water body and trap the oil between a plurality of spiral loops of the spiral-shaped coil.In an embodiment of the present invention, the spiral-shaped coil bound on the truss structure is partially submerged in the water with crude oil floating on its surface by employing a pair of floaters. As the spiral-shaped coil gets submerged in the water it creates a localized sinking effect that sucks the spill oil inside the spiral-shaped coil resulting in the trapping of spill oil inside the spiral loops of the spiral-shaped coil.Pressurized air from an air knife forces the oil trapped between the plurality of spiral loops to fall into an oil-collecting container. The drain pipe is connected to an air-operated double diaphragm pump to drain out the collected oil from the oil-collecting container.

Design process

Developing a mechanism that can solve oil spill problem has been my sole focus for the past three years. Most of the oil spill solutions are not very efficient while some are effective but are not practically economical and are constraint to lab testing only.So I have to design a mechanism that is very simple but effective & economically viable. I studied fluid properties of both the fluid and tried to figure out the differences that can be used to separate oil from water surface.After going through many research papers & ongoing research on oil spill solutions, I studied bubble absorption by a spring using telecentric imaging. So I came up with this idea to trap oil using spring.The spiral-shaped coil is made up of galvanized iron wire with a thickness of 1.2 mm, a diameter of 0.5 cm, and a pitch of 0.1 cm.The system further comprises a truss structure around which the spiral-shaped coil is bound. The truss structure is arranged to be rotated through a rotating mechanism such that it facilitates the spiral-shaped coil to come in contact with the oil spill on the surface of the water.

How it is different

The conventional cleaning methods have one or the other limitations. Thus there remains a need for an improved technique that is more efficient, environmentally friendly, and capable of handling various spill scenarios.Belt type oleophilic skimmers are the most widely used m/c tools for cleaning oil spill.The process relies on the absorption capacity of the material, which may become saturated over time, leading to diminished efficiency and necessitating frequent replacement or maintenance.In contrast present invention employs an active mechanism for oil collection.,notably a spiral-shaped coil that generates a localized sinking effect to dynamically engage & trap oil,which is fundamentally different from the passive absorption technique of conventional oil skimmers. As our mechanism operates over oil spill,a very thin layer of oil form over the spiral shaped coil which automatically makes it corrosion resistant.It can be operated in any direction.

Future plans

The next step is to make a prototype and test it in real time situation and to improve its oil recovery rate.I have already patented the mechanism under Intellectual Property Of India.(Patent Number:534584 , Date of grant:24/April/2024). I will also file a PCT international application or direct convention patent application in any specific foreign jurisdiction.

Awards