Answering the essential questions to improve emergency response for Inland Waterways
With growing environmental concerns surrounding the impact of industrial processes on waterways and aquatic wildlife, it is critical that facilities are available to equipment providers and end users to collaborate in the development and evaluation of new technologies that improve spill detection, containment and recovery.
Through a research initiative with industry and government, C-FER Technologies constructed the Inland Waterway Simulator, a large-scale river channel testing facility capable of simulating spills of various products under realistic flow conditions. Tests in the Inland Waterway Simulator will support the development and improvement of new and existing technologies used to monitor or manage inland waterways.
Joint Industry Project
C-FER is managing a Joint Industry Project (JIP) designed to evaluate the performance of technologies for detecting submerged oil in inland waterways. C-FER is open to collaboration on other research projects that may use Inland Waterway Simulator to improve performance of spill detection, containment and recovery technologies.
Inland Waterway Simulator Capabilities
The Inland Waterway Simulator is capable of flow velocities up to 0.2 m/s (0.4 kn) at a flow rate of approximately 38 m3/min (10,000 USGPM) and can be expanded to twice this flow rate capacity. It is constructed of corrosion resistant materials to allow for testing with both freshwater and saltwater.
Although the tank is housed inside the C-FER lab, a hydrocarbon vapour capture and incineration system allows testing with volatile hydrocarbon products instead of surrogate fluids.
The initial test program evaluated the performance of technologies used for detecting submerged oil. Tests used diluted bitumen as the test product, and determined the detectable concentrations of oil under different conditions.
Inland Waterway Simulator Virtual Walkthrough
Inland Waterway Simulator Capabilities
- Dimensions of 20 m long, 3 m wide, and 2.4 m deep
- Contains approximately 180,000L of water
- Constructed from corrosion resistant materials
- Polyurea lined concrete channel
- Stainless steel piping and ducting
- Pump capacity of 10,000 GPM and 4” solids handling
- Approximate flow speed of 0.2 m/s in the channel, at 1.5 m water depth
- Higher flow speeds can be achieved at lower water levels
- Capable of testing with actual hydrocarbon products due to vapor incinerator system
- Custom flow diverter design to achieve fully developed flow in the channel
- Designed with future expansion in mind (i.e. secondary parallel pump)
Dye Test in the Inland Waterway Simulator
Other Testing Applications
Oil spill containment and recovery techniques can also be tested in the Inland Waterway Simulator under flowing or still water conditions. The flow channel is large enough to accommodate many technologies such as sorbents, herders, booms, and skimmers.
Micro-plastics detection, containment and recovery techniques can also be evaluated in the Inland Waterway Simulator. The large-bore, single-stage pump, can handle solids up to 100 mm (4 in) in diameter, allowing even larger plastic debris to be circulated through the main channel to simulate debris transportation and deposition in rivers.
