After witnessing the terrible effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Tessema Shifferaw, the inventor of the Bowflex exercise machine, invented SOOLPS, the Shifferaw Oil Ocean Leak Prevention System, and is looking to have it adopted by oil companies around the world to prevent terrible environmental damage such as what we are currently seeing after the Gulf Oil spill.
How SOOLPS works
Described as a “fire truck on reserve”, the SOOLPS equipment is only used in the event of an emergency, and is not part of the standard equipment used to drill or pump for oil. In the event there were a line break, or a leak from an underground oil reserve as there was in the Gulf, the SOOLPS equipment would be lowered into the water by a ship standing by, and would act as a funnel to capture, separate, and pump the oil to the surface of the water where it could be captured.
To see a video of how the SOOLPS system would work, click here.
The engineering behind SOOLPS
The bottom of the equipment is designed to be 35 feet wide, with the tube to the surface made from multiple pieces, each between 250 and 500 feet. At the surface, the tube will be approximately 8 feet wide, allowing for oil to be easily captured.
In theory, the tube will be held in place by four anchoring cables to secure the system, and multiple pieces of the tube will allow for the oil to be separated from the salt water. For further details on the engineering analysis of the SOOLPS system, click here.
Time for an Oil Spill Backup Plan
We need to look no further than the complete unpreparedness of the Gulf Oil spill to see the importance of planning for the worst. Although the SOOLPS system may not be the best solution, either for engineering or cost purposes, the oil industry needs to invest in some sort of backup plan in the event another disastrous oil spill takes place.
After paying their substantial fines for last year’s spill, BP should invest in a system like SOOLPS to ensure nothing like the Gulf Oil spill happens again.
