Oil spill absorbents for ports, harbours and waterways

Why oil-only on water

Polypropylene meltblown is oleophilic and hydrophobic: it attracts oils, fuels and other hydrocarbons and repels water. On a harbour or river that means the absorbent takes up the oil, not the water underneath it, and it keeps floating even when saturated, so it can be recovered from the surface. Our oil-only sorbents absorb up to 15 times their own weight in oil.

Universal absorbents are not the right choice on open water, because they also take up water. Keep them for spills on land.

Booms, sweeps and pads: what each does

• Booms ring a spill on water and absorb only the hydrocarbon. They are netted and sonic-welded, with end fittings so boom can be linked to boom to cover a longer line. Typical uses: harbours, ports, rivers and lakes, ringing vessels during bunkering, and protecting drains and outfalls.
• Sweeps are a continuous absorbent blanket on a welded rope tunnel, drawn across the surface to lift the trace oil and sheen that booms leave behind, in marinas, harbours, effluent ponds and stormwater channels.
• Pads and rolls: pick up oil on the water and on hard surfaces at the water's edge.
• Socks and pillows: drains, sumps and drip pans on land beside the water.

Why the netting matters

A boom only survives moving water if its skin holds it together, and only works if that skin stays out of the oil's way. Our knitted polyester netting carries the tow, lift and handling load along the whole boom and takes contact with rock, quay walls, hulls and decks, while the open mesh lets oil reach the absorbent core at full rate. Polyester filament keeps its strength when saturated and does not rot in long immersion. The knit opens over the fill and pulls back onto it, so one netting covers a range of fill densities.

If you make booms yourself, we supply the netting in white as standard or other colours to order, for 3, 5 and 8 inch booms or any diameter you need, as a continuous tube cut to your length. Cartons are labelled with your codes, batches and barcodes and palletised for export.

Supply for spill-response stock

Oil-only comes in white or blue as standard, and size, fill weight, print and packing are made to your specification. Booms, sweeps, pads, rolls and netting can be combined, 5–6 products in one 40'HQ container, so a distributor can stock finished booms and netting for local boom-making in the same shipment.