Hydrofoil Addition to a Fast Oil Containment System
The U.S. Coast Guard uses flexible, floating barriers known as boom to trap and collect spilled oil from the surface of the ocean, bays, and rivers. Typical boom is effective for collecting oil at incident water velocities of up to 1 knot, but the Coast Guard has a need for a barrier which is effective for velocities up to 5 knots. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) has researched and developed barrier technology that allows the barrier to experience incident velocities up to 5 knots. The barrier utilizes an inclined, submergence plane bow to drive incident oil downwards to a gap opening where the oil enters a protected containment volume. UNH has developed two primary systems, one towed alongside a vessel or vessels, and the other moored in an estuary or bay. Initial testing of the towed system indicated a tendency for it to rise significantly out of the water, thereby limiting its overall effectiveness. This paper highlights UNH's efforts to add a hydrofoil to the towed system. The new system, known as the Hydrofoil/Fast Sweep Conversion, was subsequently modeled and tested for its seakeeping abilities.