Oil Recovery and Water Testing
Starting with the BP Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil-spill crisis in 2010, AquaFlex oil recovery products have been deployed in more than 60 major water disasters around the globe.
AquaFlex has several distinct advantages over traditional oil-spill, sorbent pads and floating booms. The polypropylene products have several limitations such as the need for calm seas. Waves, harbor-chop or currents can carry oil over and under traditional booms. These older technologies also have limited absorption capacity and are typically single-use. When they get “oiled” they can no longer absorb, and they soak up vast amounts of water with the oil, which makes them unnecessarily heavy and causes them to sink in the water. This increases the cost of disposal, as most landfills charge by the pound and are reluctant to accept toxic substances.
AquaFlex Oil Recovery solutions are not only different but game changing.
The AquaFlex Open-Cell foam does not absorb water. It absorbs oil and chemicals into the Open-Cell capillary network while repelling water thereby allowing water to pass through. The buoyant foam material is 70-percent lighter than conventional booms. Less than 12 feet of AquaFlex Open-Cell foam can absorb/detect more than 60 pounds of oil. Unlike conventional sorbents, even at full saturation with oil and chemicals AquaFlex products will not sink.
Oil can be wrung out of the AquaFlex Open-Cell foam, where it can be collected and sent to refineries for reuse. After the wringing process, the AquaFlex foam can be redeployed, and it can be reused up to 100 times. After extensive reuse, the bio-degradable foam can be safely disposed of.
AquaFlex Oil Recovery solutions offer a more effective – and more efficient oil recovery system.
The history of AquaFlex and an overview of our technology as deployed in the real world
AquaFlex Open-Cell foam for simultaneous detection and removal of oil and chemicals from water as tested at the United States’ Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) OHMSETT testing facility
Biotechnology and Medical/Drug Delivery
The AquaFlex® Open-Cell foam technology has been adapted for use as a high surface area, disinfectant-infused foam Sponge and mitt to help mitigate the risk of human infection from COVID-19 and other pathogens from surfaces.
For more information visit US BioSolutions Direct.
The concept of infusing the AquaFlex Sponge to mitigate or neutralize exposure to dangerous chemicals and pathogens is not new.
In 2002, the FDA initially cleared a device consisting of a lotion-impregnated AquaFlex® Sponge. The AquaFlex® Sponge serves as the backbone for this Class II medical device that removes or neutralizes chemical warfare agents and T-2 toxin from the skin. Decontamination occurs by physical removal of the chemical warfare agent from the skin or by chemical neutralization. The lotion-impregnated Sponge removes toxins from the skin to allow for neutralization to occur within the Sponge.
In 2003, the FDA stated in a press release:
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for use by the U.S. military a liquid decontamination lotion intended to remove or neutralize chemical warfare agents and T-2 fungal toxin from the skin.
The lotion, called Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL), must be applied to exposed skin as soon as possible after exposure to a chemical agent.
The lotion is impregnated in a Sponge pad packaged as a single unit in a heat-sealed foil pouch. When exposed to chemical warfare agents, the user wipes the exposed skin with the lotion. The lotion removes the agents or the T-2 toxin and also reacts with the chemical agents, rapidly neutralizing them so they are non-toxic.”
A complete copy of the FDA press release from 2003 is here:
The lotion impregnated AquaFlex Sponge, as used by our U.S. Military, is also now available to the general public on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Reactive-Skin-Decontamination-Lotion-Decon/dp/B01N16XZBX
As posted by International Safety on YouTube, this link demonstrates how the lotion impregnated AquaFlex foam technology is utilized by the US Military:
Additionally, EPE posted on YouTube a more detailed demonstration and background for this application using the lotion impregnated AquaFlex foam technology here:
Read technical information as prepared and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, detailing how this technology works.
https://chemm.nlm.nih.gov/countermeasure_RSDL.htm