Kevin Costner's oil centrifuge.

[drm604]

I see people on DU practically cheering this centrifuge thing that's being supported by Kevin Costner and I see news articles touting it, some saying that it may be the only feasible solution. It seems like everyone thinks that we may have found the answer or that it's at least worth trying.

Am I missing something? Am I the only one who thinks that it's completely obvious that this thing is a waste of time and resources? Of course you can separate oil and water with a centrifuge, but that's not the point.

This thing can supposedly pump 200 gallons a minute. Isn't that the proverbial drop in a bucket? Even if it could clean off the surface oil, which is what it seems to be designed for, what about the even bigger volume that's suspended all up and down the water column all the way from the bottom to the surface. Are they going to run all of that, for thousands of square miles, through a centrifuge?

What about the oil that's been dispersed? What about the apparently toxic dispersant? Can those be gotten also?

Is this desperate people grabbing at straws, or am I missing something?

[TZ]

1. And somehow I think that would go hard on the fish and other aquatics in the water.

But if a celebrity endorses it, it MUST work. The cult of personality on this board is so disgusting.

[drm604]

2. What really gets me is that BP is allowing them to try it.

That decision has to be nothing but PR.

[mr blur]

4. BP is desperate enough to try anything

They'll be calling Oprah in next.

[realisticphish]

3. shh

might get locked

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Things are worth trying

This is a big problem, and a variety of solutions are worth attempting. From what I can tell, this isn't an invention Costner has come up with just now, but something that a company, in which he was formerly involved, has had available for a few years.

The actor licensed the technology and then worked with technicians to build an eight-foot high machine dubbed a ‘Kevin’. He tested the washing machine-like drum on polluted rivers in South America, where it produced 99% clean water.

He wanted to sell the technology to the US Navy and cruise lines so they could clean water from ship bilges before discharging it into the sea, but in the end, disheartened by lack of interest from the oil industry, he sold the company to John Houghtaling.

They continued to work together on a range of machines, the largest of which is now called the V20. There are other similar devices around, whose inventors claim they too are ignored by the oil business, but Costner’s star power has proved irresistible.

Last week Ocean Therapy Solutions (OTS) flew engineers from the University of California, Los Angeles, to Venice, Louisiana, to help prepare up to thirty “vacuum cleaners” for the Gulf. They are borrowing some older models back from other owners.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7133821.ece

Yeah, there's publicity because of Costner's name. But that doesn't mean it's "a waste of time and resources". It can be part of the activities to clean up. Perhaps it will only clean surface waters. But they still need to be cleaned.