THE SYSTOCRAT PAPERS

Fellow Systocrats:

Apparently there are more innovative techniques for cleaning up the Gulf than I was aware of.  Turns out that the latest proposed solution was developed to help the natural gas industry with a bad "fracing" situation.  Hallelujah for bad fracs!!  (Any BSG fans out there?  Anyone?) 

I flipped on CNN last Saturday to find Drew Bledsoe hawking a new technique for cleansing seawater called "Ozonix technology" on behalf of Ecosphere Technologies, Inc.  You can check out the CNN interview here.  Turns out that Bledsoe and his pal Troy Aikman are both investors in Ecosphere Energy Services, LLC, a majority owned subsidiary of Ecosphere Technologies. 

Here’s how Ozonix technology is supposed to work in a deep water cleanup operation like the Gulf.  According to a pamphlet posted on Ecosphere’s website, an Ozonix cavitational reactor uses highly ozonated water (water with ozone gas diffused into it) and a two step cavitation process to generate millions of nano-bubbles (for those of you who, like me, aren’t scientists or engineers, cavitation is "the sudden formation and collapse of low-pressure bubbles in liquids by means of mechanical forces, such as those resulting from rotation of a marine propeller.").

These nano-bubbles are released deep beneath the waves to create a "buoyancy blanket," i.e. a column of bubbles that bear oil-contaminated water to the surface, where a second Ozonix machine separates the mixture into highly oxygenated water on the one hand and concentrated oil on the other. 

More specifically, the second Ozonix reactor decontaminates seawater by means of an oxidation process. According to an informational video on Ecosphere’s website, after contaminated water enters the reactor, ozonated water decomposes organic and inorganic contaminants.  The nano-bubbles implode, a process that raises the water temperature several hundred degrees in a process known as sonoluminescence.  A secondary oxidation process occurs with the help of submerged electrodes, whereby hydrogen and oxygen are separated from the water and bond together to form hydroxl radicals, which oxidize "leftover organics."  As the water continues its journey through the Ozonix reactor, the electrodes decompose contaminants and kill any remaining microorganisms.  At this point, Ecosphere claims that the water is safe to use and recycle. 

This process has been endorsed by iconic oceanographer and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau to aid the Gulf clean-up effort.  Major selling points of this technology include the following: 1. the process does not rely on chemical dispersants that may harm the environment; and 2. each machine operating on the surface purports to clean approximately one million gallons of water a day.  According to Bledsoe, Ecosphere Technologies is ready to unleash 26 of these bad boys in the Gulf as soon as BP gives them the green light. 

Moreover, these cavitational reactors have already been successfully marketed to the natural gas industry.  According to Ecosphere, over the last 18 months or so, Ozonix technology has been purchased and successfully utilized by natural gas companies to treat contaminated "flowback" water at 150 different sites.  By way of explanation, in order to recover natural gas deep below the Earth’s surface, water is pumped into the ground to release natural gas trapped in shale formations, a process called "hydraulic fracing."  Good thing the natural gas industry had this fracing problem and the Ozonix folks figured out how to turn a bad frac into a good one! 

It would seem that Ozonix technology has a leg up on Costner’s sea vacuums.  In the first place, Ecosphere has a plan to actually bring the oil to the surface.  We’ve all read about the huge plumes of oil that continue to spread beneath the waves.   In the second place, if the estimates of both Ocean Therapy Solutions and Ecosphere are to be believed, Ozonix can clean twice as much water per day as the sea vac (a million gallons compared to 500,000 for Costner’s largest sea vac model).  Moreover, according to Charles Vinick, Chairman of Ecosphere Technologies, the cleansed water is so highly oxygenated that it can help replenish the environment. 

Even so, given the immense scope of the environmental disaster, I don’t think this is an "either/or" situation.  An "all hands on deck" approach is still warranted.  There’s enough water in need of degreasing down there to keep the sea vacs and the cavitational reactors busy for some time.

Yes, the new technology is exciting.  Just as important is the fact that in this case, the "free market" is functioning exactly as it should.  The oil companies are run by a bunch of damned sloppy, profit-obsessed, short-sighted nimrods, and as a result these types of environmental disasters occur.  Because to date there really hasn’t been a terribly effective option for cleaning up oil spills, an enormous opportunity exists to develop effective new cleanup methods, save the day and reap a tidy profit in the process. 

By no means am I endorsing the profit motive as a worthy end in and of itself – that’s how we got into this mess in the first place.  But I am rather pleased to see the "market" produce some innovative solutions to clean up after BP’s negligence.  Now, let’s all hope that someone takes this market principle one step further and presents an immediate, comprehensive energy solution that does not involve fossil fuels or any other non-renewable sources!