Oily Bilge Water Removal

[LKurelja]

I'm looking for any information on inline oil removal systems for bilges. Any experiences good or bad would be helpful.

Thanks

[Listinwickedbad]

This is something I found by accident when remodeling a house, the cellar had
filled with water a fair bit, after a prolonged easterly rain storm,that lasted a couple of days.The old fuel oil tank leaked a fair bit of oil and the slick I was faced with would have had DEP drooling about overtime pay, Well I thought to myself ?were am I gonna find the rags needed to clean this mess up,? thought to myself what can i spare in my wardrobe back home well MY polyester Disco suits were out of the Question cuz i know Disco is gonna make a return someday an I want to be ready for it. Well had a couple of rags laying around , Well my brothers sweatshirt, he had left , well that picked up 99% water 1/2% something undistinguishable and 1/2% fuel Oil ,,, Yep this was gonna be a mess, Well I had been doing some fiberglassing with the pink fiberglass batts and i didnt have anything else so i took a piece and Damn !!!! If that didnt soak up just the oil ,, the oil swam to it like a Salmon jumping a Dam to spawn, Capillary action at its finest.. I used the pink fiber-
glass but think yellow will work too.. Yep down and dirty oil removal
Heres another Tip from Listinwickedbad if someone is having a heart attack,
and you dont know CPR Get that person to Cough like the Doctor tells ya
when ya getting that 20 year physical your suppose to get every year, a friend of mine who is 3rd engineer in US merchant marines told me about this technique something they were told,, so comes from pretty good authority,
Well I really like this Site but i find myself staying on here reading bout boats when im suppose to be doing other stuff, anyway Peace Listinwickedbad

[Thunderhead19]

Don't go spreading old wive's tales! The cough method is NOT Reccomended!

[safewalrus]

CPR by coughing? You can see why they don't let engineers learn medical systems in the British Merchant Marine - only the Mates (Oil and Water DON'T mix). Never heard such a load of b*****Ks. thunderhead Is right!

As for the other problem, would suggest either a bucket of bilge clean (there are various chemicals on the market which emulsefy (is that the word?) the oil, or pump it through an seperator (expensive big ship stuff) or use a thing called 'Vermiculite' (sold in garden centres for hydroponics! - eats oil like mad)

[gonzo]

Discharging emulsions in inland waters or within the three mile limit is a Federal offense punishable with up to U$250,000 and up to 5 years in prision. Find out what the regulations are in your area.

[kmorin]

http://www.dawginc.com/spill-control...s-sorbents.asp
http://www.interstateproducts.com/absorbents/
http://www.newpig.com/en_US/spill-ab...rbent-pads.htm
Working in the oil field provided us with a simple example of a way to 'treat' an oily bilge. We lay these absorbent (18" sq) pads in the bilge - they will soak up and HOLD oil while floating in water. In a small inboard boat one or two sets will last the season. These will skim the bilgewater and leave the water free of oil, then by adding some detergent you can disperse the remaining oil and allow the pads to collect even smaller traces of petroleum.

Its not a "treatment" but it will keep you from pumping oil into a waterway. The soaked pads can be easily collected in a trash bag and disposed of. This is one of the main methods used in the clean-up of the Valdez spill in Prince William Sound in Alaska, the contractors laid out acres of these pads and they soaked up the oil then they were rolled up, raked up, and bagged.

Keeping them aboard isn't too much effort and they do clean up the bilge of oil, but they're not really a treatment 'system' and they're not really 'inline'.

On offshore oil and gas porduction platforms there are large reciprocating and rotary engines for pumps, power and compression. They used to have fairly exotic sump treatment equipment until these 'sorbent pads. Now the decks under the engines are lined with these and the wash down holding tanks have them floating on top and the overboard (bilge) water clean up is greatly simplified. They still filter extensively but the bulk removal is done by trapping and separating the oil from the water well before the treatment and filtering systems.

Cheers,
kmorin

[daveinak]

Liberty offers an in line filter for bilge waste. It is basicly a water filter. Or replace your fuel tanks one leaks

[MikeJohns]

There are various commercail products available. A few folks in this neck of the woods swear on sawdust packed in an old sock in the engine bilge as an oil absorber. Never tried it myself.

[Loren]

After much research and testing, I have found a product that I an told NOAA is using on their ships. The product is a all in one, professional quality marine product that will effectively eliminate cleaning every chemical being used on a boat - right down to a non-slip deck cleaner! The products surfactant - get this - is FDA approved!!! I have never seen a surfactant/detergent to be Food And Drug admin approved... not only that, the product is OSHA and WHMIS exempt... so no material safety data sheet needed on board.
We tested this product on a number of applications includung the bilge tanks and heads, uncloging toilet on land, interior and exterior cleaning and degreasing. Odor elimination... All I can say is that this is the eutopia of the KISS principal. Safe, simple, easy, effortless energy needed to make the thing work/use, and saves a ton of space on the boat - which is sparfce to begin with.

If anybody wants to know more feel free to contact me... I just love talking about this S__t!

[gonzo]

Can you post the brand name of the product?

[Loren]

On the bottom of the label the manufacturer is Earth Alive and they have a toll free number ... hum mm, need my glasses to read the small type.. ah ha.
1-888-511-3040.

Good Luck!