This summer it was hard to escape the dramatic images of the oil-drenched beaches along the United States’ Gulf Coast. However, a Swiss invention, “Oilskill”, may soon be available that can prevent environmental damage on this scale from happening again.  It is a revolutionary fabric that absorbs oil but repels water. Like a giant mat, Oilskill can be rolled out on at-risk beaches, thus forming a barrier against any encroaching oil slick.  

A sponge and oilskin in one

Oilskill is a non-woven polyester-based fabric that is similar to the thermal fleeces much favoured by outdoor enthusiasts. Thanks to an innovative treatment with a special chemical compound, engineers from the Swiss firm HeiQ have managed to create a fabric that simultaneously combines the properties of a sponge with those of an oilskin, i.e. it attracts and absorbs oil but repels water.

This Swiss invention has buoyed hopes that there will finally be a product which can make an effective contribution to tackling oil spills. Given that existing clean-up technology has not advanced much beyond shovels and mechanical diggers, it came as little surprise that the oil giant BP, which shares responsibility for the explosion on the “Deepwater Horizon” drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, opted to include Oilskill in its emergency response programme.

Following conclusive tests in June and August on the contaminated beaches of Alabama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also gave Oilskill its official seal of approval. The Swiss development team is now gearing up to mass-produce its absorbent matting.

Single-use matting

While the clean-up of polluted beaches is a good thing, surely it would make better sense to stop an oil slick reaching the shoreline in the first place? According to the brains behind Oilskill, the fabric can also be used preventively, making it an interesting proposition for any multinational involved in the extraction or shipment of oil. For example, with the help of a suitable vehicle, huge sheets of the fabric (up to 5 metres wide and 500 metres long) could be rolled out along the threatened coastline.

As the surface oil drifts with the tide towards the shore, these tarry deposits become trapped in the fibres of the absorbent matting preventing them from washing up on the sands. Tests have shown that the absorbent capacity of Oilskill is up to six times its own weight.

However, the matting can only be used once. This means that as soon as the oil has been completely soaked up, the Oilskill sheet needs to be removed and incinerated. HeiQ is currently looking into possible ways of recovering and using the energy generated by the incineration process. Only then can Oilskill be genuinely considered a green technology.

By-products

HeiQ, a spin-off from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, enjoys the backing of two other Swiss textile firms - TWE Vlies and Beyond ST. While the three, who collectively go by the name of “Oilguard”, await the day when they can finally launch their absorbent matting on the market, they are busy developing several other innovative products, including special gloves to clean oil-coated sea birds, cloths to clean boat hulls and rocky coastal areas, and sponges that can be positioned out at sea to soak up the oil directly at the point of leakage.