Model and App of Hydrophobic Meshes Used in Oil Spill Recovery

O. Silva [1], E. Coene [1], J. Molinero [1], B. Shafei [1]
[1] Amphos 21 Consulting S.L., Barcelona, Spain
Published in 2016

Hydrophobic meshes are a new, promising technique for the recovery of spilled oil in the ocean. They allow to recover and store oil, while filtering it from the surrounding water. They are clean, efficient and can be used in continuously. These meshes have one drawback, however: if they are submerged too deep under the water level, the high pressure will cause presence of water in the recovered oil. This means the oil would have to be processed before usage, increasing the cost of the oil recovery. The app built with the Application Builder of COMSOL Multiphysics® software presented here was developed with the purpose of offering a fast, customizable and easy-to-use tool for hydrophobic mesh designers and users in case of an oil spill.