Do you need to clean up a lot of oil or other hazardous liquid? Or are you afraid you might have to -- if there is a spill? If so, absorbent booms might be just the ticket. There are two major kinds to choose from: oil absorbent booms, if the liquid is primarily hydrocarbon based, or chemical hazmat booms, if the liquid is particularly hazardous.
Unlike non-absorbent booms, which are primarily used to contain the liquid and prevent it from spreading, absorbent booms are designed to do exactly what their name indicates: absorb liquids. In order to do so, they basically consist of a strong mesh outer sleeve and a poly skin that is stuffed with polypropylene. The filler is highly absorbent and will not shed. Even better, the booms will not sink even when they are saturated with oil -- since of course oil floats on water. And even when the oil is contained inside the boom, it will still float, and thus the boom floats too.
If there is a lot of oil to clean up, multiple booms will be needed, which can be linked together. Specifically, they can be clipped together with connector hardware that is made out of carbon steel. They generally come with a nylon rope as well, along with steel hardware. These ensure that they will be sturdy and can easily be retrieved. If you have a spill that extends over a larger area, you can connect as many as you need in order to contain it and clean it up.
While oil absorbent booms are designed to be used on water, hazmat booms are intended for use on land. They too can handle large volume spills. Unlike oil absorbent booms, they absorb water-based fluids along with oil, gas, coolants, diesel, hydraulic fluids, and many more. They will also absorb ether, hexane, acetone, vegetable oil, MEK, and trichloroethylene, and many other chemicals and liquids. They will not float on water, however.
Oil absorbent booms which float on water are usually white in color. Hazmat booms which will not float on water because they absorb all types of liquids must be used for land spills only. Hazmat booms are usually yellow in color. Both types of booms are available in diameters of 5 inches or 8 inches and in lengths of 10 foot or 20 foot sections. As stated above each section is easy to connect together because of the hardware included with each boom.
Often companies are confused as to what type and size of boom to purchase. That is why it is important to purchase your absorbent products from a company that has experts to help you decide which type of absorbent boom to buy based upon your location and the type of chemicals you are dealing with. If the amount of chemicals you have are not that great, you may be able to purchase less costly absorbent socks which come in 3 inch diameters.
Want to know more about absorbent booms? Get valuable tips and the latest news about absorbents and other environmental safety products on Travis Zdrazil's Safety Maintenance News blog and get his free newsletter too. Travis is an expert on environmental safety products and has supplied businesses with products to aid in meeting EPA and OSHA requirements for more than 10 years. You may publish this article, but must keep the resource box ©2009 PCI Products Company. All rights reserved. |
