A better way to filter oil

For the last 15 years, Loughborough University researchers Dr. Richard Holdich and Dr. Iain Cumming have been investigating ways of separating oil and other particles from water. Together with a team of researchers, they have now developed a new filtration system, which could be used on offshore oilrigs to vastly reduce the amount of oil discharged into the world's oceans.

In conventional microfilters, deposition of particles within the matrix of the filter leads to long-term membrane fouling and low flow rates. Even when clean, the pressure required to pass the fluid through the filter is high because of the tortuous pore channel required to capture the particles.

In the Loughborough filter design, which uses microfiltration media similar to very fine sieves, there is no internal deposition of solids and the pressure required to pass liquids through the media is low.

'Put simply, our filters work by literally sieving suspended solids and drops from a fluid,' Dr. Holdich explains. 'Through years of research we have been able to design a filter which has such minute holes in it that it can separate water from substances such as oil.'

The team's research was originally funded by a £220,000 grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This has enabled them to set up a spin out company, called Micropore Technologies, to develop the system into a commercial product.

Now, the company has been given a Smart Award by the Department of Trade and Industry of £45,000 and is involved in talks with several of the world's biggest oil producers about introducing the new filtration system to offshore rigs.

It is estimated that around 5,000 tonnes of oil each year escapes into the sea from offshore rigs in the UK sector alone, whilst oil is being collected. The new Micropore system could help tackle this problem, and - in the future - could also be used to treat major oil spills.