Posted on 06/05/2010 7:25:51 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
Texas Tech researcher Seshadri Ramkumar has his fingers crossed.
Fibertect, his super-absorbent layered cotton product that recently gained national attention as a military decontamination wipe, could play a vital role in sopping up the oil blanketing miles of beaches along the Gulf Coast.
The Environmental Protection Agency approved the technology last week as a viable, eco-friendly way to trap oil from the ocean's water.
Every gram of the multi-layer cotton wipe, Ramukumar said, can absorb up to 20-grams of the sticky black crude choking the life out of the treasured wetlands. Fibertect can also catch the noxious fumes wafting from the spill - the same airborne pollutants suspected of making cleanup crews ill.
Now all Ramkumar needs is a green light from British Petroleum, the embattled energy company charged with cleaning the largest environmental disaster in American history.
Along with the EPA approval, the researcher from Tech's Institute of Environmental and Human Health has sent a product sample and proposal to the company.
"Everything is in place," Ramkumar said Friday. "Things are moving fast."
After six weeks of exasperated attempts to stem the flow from the well, BP has yet to successfully stop - or at least reduce - the thousands of gallons of oil oozing into the Gulf every day.
But Ramkumar knows the company must eventually turn its full attention to corralling and cleaning the contaminated water.
And he hopes his phone will be the one ringing.
So does Fibertect's manufacturer, Waco-based Hobbs Bonded Fibers.
Larry Hobbs, the company's vice president of manufacturing, said the plant has the capacity to immediately begin churning out 10 million pounds of the material, potentially enough to absorb hundreds of millions of pounds of oil.
Whatever shape or form is needed - from boom-compatible bunches to wildlife cleaning mitts to versatile wiping pads - the company is ready to spring into full-blown production, he said. The first batches of Fibertect could be headed to the coast within two days.
Even a long chain of raw material suppliers are on high alert.
"We've been in touch with suppliers, and they're all aware of the media coverage and the sense of urgency," Hobbs said. "They're on standby."
http://today.ttu.edu/2010/05/cotton-could-serve-as-cleanup-medium-for-oil-spill/
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
Check out this video. I believe its just as good if not a better idea as they use hay/grass which doesn’t sink and can be burned afterwards. its perfect! Its cheap, in ready supply and will be easy to clean up!
American inginuity at its finest!
Stephen Baldwin called Rush last week and said that Kevin Costner had something to clean up the oil and was ready to go. Have not heard anything more on this, does anyone know?
...But, what about the CO2 released?
< / sarc >
It took gov’t six weeks to approve this possible solution.....
Yes, and this stuff should be in place ahead of time, and ready for such a contingency, like the fire boom.
The EPA budget is only $10 billion plus.....
Does anyone know why the oil eating microbes process is not being used?
Where is the cotton coming from??
Mother nature has plenty of microbes at work.
Usually yes, but everyone in the government wants to be able to take credit for someone solving the problem and to be perfectly frank, if we were prepared for these things, then we wouldn’t need the government. But like a controlling parent, the government will keep sabotaging the people in order to be needed.
Didn’t they use Pampers in cleaning up the Exxon Valdez?
Living in Ohio the only oil spill I've seen is under my pickup truck. I think it would be cool to drive down and spend a day or two cleaning up oil, for no more reason than to say it's something I've never done before. Perhaps a vacation package could be organized by a travel agency to provide others with the very memorable experience of cleaning a beach or even removing oil from a pelican. Tourism could flourish and Hotels would fill to capacity so long as they changed the oily sheets.
Clinton underwear.
Looks like the wipie has a carbon core....would that be charcoal??
Looks like this has been around. And it never was approved for such a situation...why???
“Where is the cotton coming from??”
They probably have all they need right in Texas. Tech is located in a 16-county area that produces more short-staple cotton than any other part of the US, and a by-product is millions of pounds of below-grade cotton and “moats”...the stuff surrounding the seeds...typically used as filling in pillows, blankets and upholstery. (Ever tear open a padded mailing envelope? Those are moats.) If Texas runs out, there’s tons more sitting in the Mid-South, so there’d be no need to import (assuming the fed pinheads don’t demand they use “organic”, which they just might).
Yes, fibrous activated charcoal. Another look here:
http://www.firstlinetech.com/products/decon/dry-decon/fibertect-mitt/fibertect-for-oil-spills/
How about everyone take their pillow and go sop up some stuff and turn in the soaked pillow for a gallon of gas at your local BP station or a chance to throw a dart at a BP sign.
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