A New Weir Skimmer Test for an Oil Recovery Vessel Dr.Kaiyo

An advanced weir skimmer for spilled oil recovery has been developed by Kinki Regional Bureau, Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport Japan. The new skimmer has an oil/water separation mechanism embedded in it and succeeds in a high concentration oil recovery from the sea surface. It has been installed in a new oil recovery vessel Dr. Kaiyo in March 2007. Prior to its installation, the skimmer's oil recovery performance was closely evaluated by port and airport research institute (PARI) in a real scale oil spill test tank. The tank test has confirmed that the oil skimmer has excellent oil recovery performance, especially a high oil water ratio more than 80% even in severe sea condition. This paper gives mechanical description of the skimmer and detailed results of the full scale tank tests conducted by PARI as well as an overview of the vessel Dr.Kaiyo.