The Ohmsett staff disconnected one of the two 500 HP DC drive motors that power the drive system that moves the bridges along the length of the tank. A crane lifted the motor on the east side of the tank off its mountings so that it could be transported to a local facility where it will receive much needed refurbishment.

How can sensing technology for surface water dispersant monitoring be practically implemented to measure droplet size distribution in the event of an accidental oil discharge? That’s the question this week’s tank test set out to answer. During the week-long research project, the Ohmsett staff assisted BSEE and NJIT scientists as they continue to test a variety of sensors to measure droplet size distribution, fluorescence, and determine which approaches are the most successful at evaluating the presence of oil droplets in the water column.

Continuing decades-long research on effective technologies for in-situ burn, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) developed the Flame Refluxer™ technology that could potentially burn off spilled oil quickly while lowering levels of harmful pollutants. It was evaluated at Ohmsett for buoyancy and behavior in waves.

In collaboration with TEAMER and the University College Cork, Ireland, Ohmsett conducted tank testing of OceanEnergy’s 1:15 scale floating oscillating water column wave energy converter. On the tank, the converter was studied for operational and structural performance.

During a hands-on oil spill response training class, students learn to operate various types of skimmers in an oil at the north end of the Ohmsett Test Tank.