Alaska…..beauty and money

Hello everyone,
Welcome back to The ROC Blog, we at Murrenhil hope everyone reading this, is enjoying the beginning of summer. In central Ontario, Canada, we are enjoying a heat wave, three days so far of high 20s Celsius or 90s Fahrenheit.

I want to talk about Alaska, did you know the ice is just off now, just in the last couple of weeks. Imagine how happy Alaskans must be right now, open water, finally. Their season has begun, time to get ready for tourists. a great deal of money is generated through tourism, and why not, it is such a beautiful place.

Most residents can hardly wait for the warm season, not just because of the long COLD winter, but because the warmth brings visitors, who spend money, and awaken the economy, giving back jobs to those in the tourism business.

Oil on the other hand, is a business that doesn’t stop in Alaska. It runs 24/7 365 days a year, the industry is huge, employing many a man, woman and families. Pulling from the Earth, a dark gooey substance we have come to rely on so heavily. We all know the pros and cons of the oil industry.

More and more care goes into the extracting and moving of the oils, but SHIT happens. Whether it is human error, or Mother Nature, accidents occur. Remember the Exxon Valdez, who doesn’t. The devastation is still present on the beaches today, so many years later.

Contingency planning is crucial, everyone involved in the oil industry is looking at new technologies, and products that will help in the event of a spill. We at Murrenhil Corporation have introduced Alaska to the ROC Barrier, hoping to help if an instance occurs.

Together we can keep Alaska beautiful, and its industries running smoothly, together we can ROC Alaska.

Has The ROC Barrier™ been used yet?

HELLO all you bloggers/readers

Just a few more goodies regarding The ROC Barrier™.  Everyone asks, where has it been used, and has the ROC Barrier™ been used in an actual spill?  Our answers were always the same; it’s brand new (almost a year now) and it has not been used yet, outside of testing.

WELL, that all changed when a yacht went down just outside of Marina Del Rey.  It appears the USCG auxiliary (we had donated a ROC Barrier to the auxiliary) was on the water, at the very moment a yacht encountered problems and began to sink. Personnel quickly reacted to the situation, realizing they had the World’s fastest spill containment system on board; they corralled the area of the sinking vessel.

As the yacht sank, oils and fuel began to surface, however nothing escaped the ROC Barrier™.  All of the hydrocarbons were corralled and kept in place until additional remediation efforts arrived and the spill was cleaned up. Had the MARINA or the ENVIRONMENT been contaminated, the clean up costs could have sky rocketed.

Imagine in a marina, the time consuming cleaning of oils from vessel hulls, piers, docks, and inevitably the shoreline.  The time, costs, not to mention the harm to the environment.  KEEP YOUR COSTS DOWN…..KEEP ROCs ON YOUR DOCKS (and on your boats).

So now we can answer the questions, where and by whom, was the ROC Barrier™ used?

Here are some of our most frequently asked questions:

1. What is the ROC Barrier™ dispenser made from?
The ROC Barrier™ dispenser is rotational moulded, and made from polyethylene. 

2. What is the film laminate made from?
The film laminate is made from a special blend of polyethylene.  

3. How many feet of barrier are inside a dispenser?
Each ROC Barrier™ dispenser contains 1000 feet of barrier.  

4. Does the film laminate come in other lengths?
At this time we only offer 1000 foot rolls of laminate film. We are in the
development stages at this time and hope to offer a choice of lengths in the near future. 

5. Why are there perforations in the film laminate?
The film laminated is 10.5 inches in width and sealed on one side to create a tube. Perforations in the film laminate are located every square inch. The oil migrates through the holes, coating the tube creating even more buoyancy which is essential for rough waters. The film laminate acts like an ion to oil. 

6. What is the weight of the ROC Barrier™?
The ROC Barrier™ comes loaded with 1000’ feet of sorbent barrier. Together, the unit and cartridge weigh approximately 8 pounds. 

7. How fast can the ROC Barrier™ be activated?
It takes 10-20 seconds to activate the ROC Barrier™. Simply remove the plug from the end of the dispenser, pulling out 5 to10 feet of sorbent barrier then tossing it onto the water. The friction of the water holds the barrier in place as the watercraft circles the spill. 

8. Does the ROC Barrier™ work on all viscosities?
Yes 

9. Does the ROC Barrier™ work on all hydrocarbons?
Yes  

10. Does the ROC Barrier™ sink?
No – The ROC Barrier has good wave riding properties & conformities.

11. What is the breakage point of the film laminate?
The breakage point is up to 1 mile under its own weight.

 12. Will the ROC Barrier™ work in all climate conditions?
Yes

13. Can I refill the ROC Barrier™ dispenser?
Yes, each ROC Barrier refill cartridge contains 1000 feet of sorbent barrier.

 14. How many people are required to operate the ROC Barrier™?
Only one person is required to operate the ROC Barrier™. 

15. Can the ROC Barrier™ laminate film be re-used?
No, the ROC Barrier™ laminate film cannot be re-used. The used ROC Barrier™ film can be disposed with the reclaimed oil according to environmental laws, and existing remediation methods. A new ROC Barrier™ replacement cartridge can then be re-loaded into the dispenser.

16. What is the shelf life of the ROC Barrier™?
The ROC Barrier™ can be stored indefinitely, if stored in a cool dry place.

 

I hope this bit of information helps everyone understand that having the ROC on hand, provides you with the ability to corral a spill before it turns into a runaway slick and contaminates the ENVIRONMENT .
Please if anyone has questions that we have not covered, ASK and thou shall be answered.

Thank you for being concerned.

 

 

Testing the ROC Barrier™

Hello and welcome back everyone!

Moving on from our last post, we will continue on with TESTING on water. The testing was conducted at OHMSETT, located in New Jersey.  When viewing the video on the home page of our web site, you can see three rings of the sorbent material on the surface of the water which is tied to the bridge.  Located within each ring is a different viscosity of oil; heavy crude, medium, and diesel. Waves are created upwards of (2) two feet, and as you see in the video, no oil escapes the rings of sorbent barrier.  Waves are demonstrated simulating harbour chop, the three rings are cut loose from the bridge; they are washed from the center of the tank to the end, where you can see that no oils separate from the Barriers. The hydrocarbons and barrier remain together waiting for remediation. 

In a real time scenario, corralling a spill with the ROC Barrier™ avails you the time to get remediation efforts in place before its too late for the ENVIRONMENT and wildlife located in the spill’s path. Marina spills not corralled in time could mean hours and hours of cleaning piers, scrubbing hulls on vessels, not to mention the effects on the environment, marine and wildlife.

Other benefits of the ROC Barrier™ include keeping hydrocarbons away from vessels, beaches and marinas. The ROC Barrier™ can be deployed around vessels, so hydrocarbons in the water from boat traffic and fuelling stations do not come in contact with their vessel’s hull, keeping them clean and free from contamination.

In closing, we know the ROC Barrier’s™ ability as an EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONSE TOOL, but now we can also see the benefits of placing the ROC Barrier™ around a vessel, or protecting shorelines by keeping contamination away, SAVING MONEY and TIME.

Welcome to The ROC Barrier Blog

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Hello Everyone, 

Welcome to The ROC Barrier™ blog.

We will put forward every effort to keep you informed and abreast of all new s related to the cleanup of oil spills and related matters.

To start with I would like to invite all of you to visit our website www.murrenhil.com   The visit will help you to understand how The ROC Barrier™ is used and why it was developed.

The ROC Barrier™ (Rapid Oil Containment)

Firstly I will describe the deployable buoy (canister) which, by the way will contain 1000 feet of sorbent barrier.  The buoy is a heavy duty  rotational molded  polyethylene, re-usable container designed as a floating marker and deployment system for the ROC Barrier.  The buoy measures 22x8x8 inches or 56x22x22 centimeters, and weighs approximately 3 pounds,  it has a I inch or 2.5 centimeter exit  hole  located at the tapered end of the buoy. The buoy has (2) two handles, one to hold during deployment, and the second is a retrieval  loop, to retrieve the buoy, from the water.  The  lid of the buoy is held in place by (4) four fasteners.  When the lid is removed you will see our sorbent material (cartridge) attached to the inside of the lid by a stainless steel threaded rod and wing nuts.  The 1000 foot roll (cartridges) is easily replaced in minutes.  Once you have used the initial 1000 feet, simply install a new cartridge, and your set for another use.  If the buoy becomes contaminated with oil,  wash with soap and water, and use again.

OK, now let us talk about the sorbent material.  It is an oilophilic (oil attracting) olefin-type substrate, very much like polyethylene.  You can compare it to the material used in Pom-Poms or Snare booms. The sorbent material is (2) two ply, half a millimeter thick and sealed at the edges, thus making a tube or sleeve, if you will. There are perforated holes every square inch.  Our roll (cartridge) is 1000 feet in length by 10.5 inches tall, by 6 inches wide, and weighs approximately 6 pounds.  The roll stands up inside the buoy and is fastened in place.  The end of the sorbent material is fed through the exit hole.  When the material exits the buoy, it does so in a helix motion, twisted like a rope.

If you are able to follow me so far, let’s continue with how it works.   At the moment a spill occurs, and the ROC Barrier™ is available, you have the capability to corral the spill before it turns into a runaway slick.  On any size watercraft, you simply pull out and toss ten or fifteen feet of the sorbent barrier onto the water.  The friction will hold the barrier onto the surface of the water so you may proceed to circle spill.  Once you have corralled the spill, the ROC Barrier will contain it, preventing it from becoming a runaway slick.  As a first response tool, this allows time to set into place normal remediation tools such as booms, pads, polymers  and skimmers, whatever is at your disposal.

In closing, I want to remind you of the compact size, the light weight, and the speed of deployment.  With these features, we refer to the ROC Barrier™ as an EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONSE TOOL.  The ROC Barrier™ is located on top, in the chest of remediation tools, waiting to corral and hold a spill, until additional help arrives.

Please follow the links to view our videos on how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnYwTEINZQE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb8VPylTHN8