WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester Polytechnic Institute will test, in real life conditions with the Coast Guard in Alabama this coming week, a new technology that could revolutionize cleanup of ocean oil spills. A WPI research team developed the “Flame Refluxer” from a $1 million award from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. It has performed well indoors at WPI’s fire lab. Ali Rangwala, an associate professor of Fire Protection Engineering at WPI, and the team will conduct “wind” test variable with the Coast Guard at its Joint Maritime Test Facility (JMTF) on Little Sand Island at the mouth of the Mobile (Ala.) River. The Flame Refluxer works by making oil burning – a means of removing oil from water and environmentally safer. (Source: Worchester [Mass.] Telegram 03/11/17) Gulf Coast Note: The JMTF in Mobile is a partnership between the CG Research and Development Center and the Naval Research Laboratory. It is the only national federal testing facility for maritime fire protection research and includes the ex-USS Shadwell. Little Sand Island also has a refurbished test tank for large-scale oil burn testing and research.
UPDATED LINK http://www.npr.org/2017/03/21/520861834/researchers-test-hotter-faster-and-cleaner-way-to-fight-oil-spills
Shipbuilding and maritime related news from the Central Gulf Coast region
