OR&R Speaker Series: Tom Coolbaugh of Ohmsett
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — Ever wonder how oil spill responders come up with the ideas and suggestions for oil spill cleanups? Well, this last episode of the You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know lecture series explains it all. Dr. Tom Coolbaugh, program/facility manager of Ohmsett for the Applied Research Associates, Inc. dives into all the extraordinary studies and experiments they are conducting at Omhsett’s wave and test tank.
From seeing how oil interacts with different subsurface injections, to types of surface skimmers that can be used to remove oil from the water surface, the 2.6 million gallon salt water wave tank provides researchers with an opportunity to test their extensive oil treatment ideas. At 203 x 20 meters, the massive tank is used for testing sorbents, wave energy, remote sensing tools, sunken and surface oil handling, boom deployment and recovery, chemical treatments, and the future of marine debris removal techniques. The team at Ohmsett works with all types of federal and state agencies, as well as international agencies and universities, to help develop and test the leading spill response technologies!
For further information, contact Hayley.Betker@noaa.gov.
