Oil skimmer

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An oil skimmer is a device that is designed to remove oil floating on a liquid surface. They are commonly used to recover oil from oil spills in water, or in Industrial situations where waters are contaminated with oil. Oil skimmers are designed to remove free floating oil and are not water treatment devices.

The effectiveness of a skimmer deployed in open water or oil spill recovery is highly dependent on the roughness of the surrounding water that it is working on: the more choppy the surrounding wake and water, the more water the oil skimmer will take in along with the oil, rather than take in oil alone. Oil spill skimmers can be self-propelled, used from shore, or operated from vessels, with the best choice being dependent on the specifics for the job at hand.^[1]

Oil skimmers were used to great effect to assist in the remediation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

Oil skimmers are also used in a large number applications other than oil spills. Examples include as a part of oil removal in vehicle wash water, fuel storage sites and workshops. Industries that extensively use oil skimmers include manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, solvent extraction and food industries. Selecting the correct type to use depends on the nature of the intended application and the nature of the oil and water. Oil skimmers are frequently one component of oily water treatment systems.

Oil skimmers are different from swimming pool sanitation skimmers, which are designed for a similar but unrelated purpose.