Oilwhale has been developed and prototyped in Finland for several years.
Oil Whale is a unique oil spill recovery system with higher capacity and efficiency. The oil containment system consists of a barge like container which can be attached alongside a vessel or incorporated into a purpose-built ship.
The Oil Whale system, unlike other oil containment systems, doesn't require any mechanical contact with the oil during the recovery process, and thus prevents emulsion with water. The barge like system has gates in the front, which takes in the oil in the same form as it is in water. This means that the oil-water form is left unperturbed as much as possible to use water as a carrier for oil and to keep the flow as much laminar as possible. Thus, emersion and dispersion of water is totally prevented.
The Oil Whale system works in such a way that the oil and water levels are maintained inside the system, which allows the system to remove the water using the doors provided in the hull of the system. The collected oil can be transferred either to another ship or to a barge while the main module still collects the oil. None of the factors like the viscosity, stiffness, or the temperature of the oil can affect the process of Oil Whale system.
