PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Oil spills caused by minor or major naval accidents as well as the routine cleaning of tanker containers contribute to the pollution of the sea environment by adding thousands of tons of oil products. These cause ecological catastrophies and destroy shore based economic activities. In Greece, there is a high risk of oil spills, due to its geographic location at the crossroads of oil transportation sea routes. Hundreds of kilometres of bathing beaches in a large number of islands, tourist establishments as well as coastal fisheries are vulnerable to such potential tanker accidents as well as to routine oil releases. In addition, sea ports, especially those in the western Attica region near oil refineries and other oil loading sea docks and large shipyards, are at great potential risk from oil spills. In the past, many locations in the Peloponnese, Crete and Attica have suffered severe and extensive damage from oil spills.
OBJECTIVES
The project objective was the large scale application at open sea of a new technique for cleaning up waterborne oil spills. This technique is based on the magnetic separation method of two liquid phases (one water and the other oil), by using the recently discovered and patented oleophilic magnetic oil absorbing material CleanMag. The specific objectives of the project were the following: - large scale production of the material CleanMag; - design and construction of a prototype antipollution vessel equipped with a magnetic collection system; - checking the performance of the proposed technique by cleaning up experimental oil spills or residual oil pollution at several ports; - evaluation of the large scale recycling possibility of the material as well as its toxicity, and its separation from oil.
RESULTS
The project achieved its main objective which consisted of producing the innovative material CleanMag, its demonstration in open water and the optimisation of its performance criteria. A prototype anti-pollution boat was also constructed during the project, with a specially designed magnetic drum which is lowered into the water to collect the material CleanMag once it has absorbed the oil spill. The project did not manage to have more than one actual application at sea. This was mainly due to difficulties in the cooperation with the National Authorities. Much effort was put into dissemination, and this should serve to promote interest from a wider range of stakeholders for further application and use of the material and the vessel. The main environmental benefits associated with the project are the following: 1) Full recovery of oils from oil spill accidents without leaving any residual oil pollution 2) Development of an environmentally benign technology since the CleanMag material is non-toxic and can be recycled 3) An alternative to the use of chemical dispersants in related operations (which are toxic) 4) Application in other circumstances as well: for example, the material could be used to prevent oil spills from reaching and polluting the shore. Another application is the protection of wildlife and coastal areas after such accidents. After chemical analysis of the water samples taken from the area of the experiment, it was found out that the residual oil pollution, which was left into the sea after using the CleanMag technology, was only 2-8 ppb (2-8 micrograms per litre). This result is really outstanding, since there is no other technology available today, to our knowledge, that can collect oil from the sea at this level. In addition, the result is even more meaningful when compared with the MARPOL 73/78 regulated limits. MARPOL 73/78 states that in order for a boat's functional disposal water to be released into the sea, it has to contain no more than 15 ppm of oil. Thus, the result of 2-8 ppb residual pollution from the CleanMag technology is by far less than the 15 ppm limit (smaller at least by a factor of 1500). A follow-up ex-post evaluation was carried out by the LIFE external monitoring team in July 2004. It showed the following recent results: 1. Project partner, RAM-Europe (the makers of the belt and rotating drum used to pick up the material after it has absorbed the oil from the seawater) has finished another project aiming the use of CleanMag technology for protecting the shore line from potential nearby oil spills. This was funded by PAVET 2000 (Programme Anaptyxis Viomichanikis Erevnas or Programme for the Development of Industrial Research) of the Greek government. For more information, see the company’s website: www.rameurope.com; 2. The project leader has applied for a Registered Trademark for CleanMag from the Ministry of Commerce; 3. Investigation is underway regarding the establishment of a company to commercialise the material. In this case, 5% of the royalties would be given to the LIFE beneficiary; 4. The Union of Boatmen and Loaders of Santorini (a partner in this LIFE project) is looking to establish an environmental station on the Greek island of Santorini (Thira ) for the protection of oil spills, using the CleanMag technology and the prototype anti-pollution boat, “CleanMag 1-NANCY” I, due to the fact that this island in located in the central Aegean close to the international routes of oil tankers coming from the Black Sea region and that the Union participated in the demonstrated capabilities for oil spill clean up of the CleanMag technology. 5. After the presentation of the project results to the Management Committee for Marine Pollution of the EU, the Latvian authorities expressed interest in acquiring the technology. Similar interest has also been shown by authorities of Libya, Montenegro and Cyprus. See the project website, which remains open at: www.teipir.gr/cleanmag/.