• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.208-215
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• 2017

When persistent oil, such as crude oil or Bunker C oil, is spilled at sea, viscosity increases through the weathering process. Equipment that can collect this oil when mixed with floating marine debris is very limited. In this study, devices that can be attached to the outside of existing oil skimmers have been applied to the inside of the main body, to develop an unmanned conveyor belt type floating marine debris and high viscosity oil recovery skimmer, which is composed of a conveyor belt, a sweeper with a forced inflow device, and a collection tank equipped with a buoyant body. The resulting skimmer was operated at a speed of 1.2 knots at a distance of 30 m in a sea area test. It was stable when moving laterally in any direction. An oil recovery performance test was conducted using a portable storage tank, and oil was recovered from a minimum of $7.8k{\ell}/h$ to a maximum of $23.3k{\ell}/h$. Moreover, recovery of $7.7k{\ell}/h$ was obtained in a wave water tank test with floating marine debris such as PET bottles and oil mixed. If the equipment developed in this study was used in the field for oil pollution accidents, it could be expected to contribute to improved response capability. We believe our equipment could be used in further studies to improvement the performance of existing portable oil skimmers.