Team+2+Final+Design

Group 2 December 13, 2010 Introduction to Engineering Design

Analysis of the Final Design The purpose of the invention is to provide a means of alternate oil clean up of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Our plan entails a conversion of a barge that will separate the oil using the theory that oil will float on top of the water and can be skimmed off. There is a pump suspended off the bow of the boat supported by a pipe that allows the water/oil to discharge into the filter. There will be a main filter that sits in the middle and fills up with the oil water, and continues to rise until it reaches the brim of a thin cylinder that sits at the top of the container. This will separate the oil and water from each other, with the oil sitting atop the water and slowly flowing into the cylinder, and the cleaned water flowing just under the cylinder. This creates two distinct sections, one of cleaned water and one of oil. The water moves on through the container then cascades over a wall and into a chamber where it seeps through a hole back into the Gulf. The oil however moves into that cylinder and then breaks to either side of the filter into two containment systems. This cycle continues on as the barge is pushed along by a tugboat and directed towards the more dense areas of oil. Our goal is to have multiple of these contraptions unleashed on the Gulf so we can get the oil cleaned up and preserve the environment and wildlife of the Gulf.



Jackson's Barge:

The purpose of the barge within our system is to hold up the containers, and provide a means for the system to be pushed around and pick up more oil. The hole you see at the back of the barge is so that when the clean water drains into the container in the back it then falls back into the Gulf. Having a barge this size also allows for people to accompany the system on board and monitor it's progress.





Nicole's Skimmer:

The purpose of the skimmer is to separate the oil from the water and to bring the oil into a separate compartment in our system. The slit on the side of the skimmer allows the oil that sits on top of the water to enter. On the bottom of the skimmer there are two slants that helps lead the oil into our side compartment boxes.





Nicole's Oil Compartments:

The purpose of the oil compartments is to hold the oil that our system collects and to prevent it from reentering into our waters. The slants of the oil skimmer help lead the oil into these oil compartments which then hold all of the oil. There are two oil compartment boxes on both sides of the skimmer and once they start to fill up and become full, the oil is pumped out. The size of these boxes is the size of a tractor trailer. The reason for this is so they hold a lot of oil and won't need to be pumped out often.



Jeremy's Filter:

My portion of the design is the compartment in which the oil is separated from the water. The container is made from a converted tractor trailer bed.The pipes and other components are made form an industrial grade plastic strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water in the tank. The tank has enough room in the compartment to allow the oil to rise to the top and flow into the skimmer. There is also a divider in the compartment that holds the clean water. The clean water drains by gravity through the compartment back into the ocean. The advantage to this design is that it uses an existing tractor trailer bed to save on costs.





Matt's Pump:

My piece of the barge is the pump. The mouth of the pump is dipped into the water about an inch or two, it sucks in the top layer of the water and then enters the filter through the cylinder on the pump.