BP Purchases 32 of Kevin Costner's Oil-Water Separation Machines

[FLPanhandle]

http://gizmodo.com/5565816/bp-purchases-32-of-kevin-costners-oil+water-separation-machines

Laugh you may have when you heard that Kevin Costner was stepping into BP's oil spill disaster with a potential solution, but BP has now snapped up 32 of the centrifuge machines to help separate the oil from the water.

The technology was created by Costner's brother, with the actor pumping in $20m over 15 years. While 40,000 barrels worth of oil is leaking into the gulf of Mexico each day, the V20 machine can clean up 200 gallons of water a minute.




Think about that. $20M to develop this. Think if the industry/government for years had been investing a couple of billion in cleanup technology knowing that one day there was bound to be another disaster. We wouldn't be working with 1970's equipment right now. Imagine what we could have had at our disposal.

[Wickerman]

1. I will forgive Costner for Waterworld if his machines clean up the ocean.

:woohoo:

[maddezmom]

3. I was thinking the same thing

:evilgrin: Hope they make a difference.

[Soylent Brice]

6. +1

[FLPanhandle]

7. LOL

I haven't liked any of his movies really, but this makes up for the hours spent watching them.

[xchrom]

2. here's hoping that it works really well

cause that job is going to be enormous.

[kestrel91316]

4. I always did like that guy, and not just for his good looks.

[Johonny]

5. screw that

think about what if the Government was investing in alternative technology. The only truly effective cleanup technology is preventing it in the first place.

[FLPanhandle]

8. True. but production alternative energy technology will be expensive

It should be done anyway. I would like to see a "Manhattan Project" mentality applied to alternative energy.

However, safety and cleanup technology could have been developed really cheap. So cheap that even a Hollywood actor can afford to do it. It's almost criminal it wasn't done.

[Kablooie]

9. Hey, sitting around with grips at Raleigh studio can pay off one day.

[lostnfound]

10. 200 gallons / minute = 6,857 barrels of oil/water per day per machine

x 32 machines = 219,429 barrels per day capacity if 24 hour operation (obviously not possible)

If operated productively for 8 hours per day, and if the oil/water mix that is processed is 10% oil/90% water, it would be 7,314 barrels per day of oil removed. If they find concentrations of 30%, that number would be over 20,000 barrels per day.
Which would be a pretty significant contribution if it works. Good on the Costners.