Oil skimmer

An oil skimmer is a device that is designed to remove oil floating on a liquid surface from oil spills. The effectiveness of a skimmer is highly dependent on the roughness of the surrounding water that it is working on: the more choppy the surrounding wake and water, the more water the oil skimmer will take in along with the oil, rather than take in oil alone. Skimmers can be self-propelled, used from shore, or operated from vessels, with the best choice being dependent on the specifics for the job at hand. Skimmers can be pressed into use for a number of applications other than oil spills, with the correct type to use again being dependent on the nature of the intended application. Examples of possible uses include making skimmers one component of oily water treatment systems, removing oil from machine tool coolant and aqueous parts washers, and collecting fats, oils, and greases as part of wastewater treatment efforts for food manufacturing industries.

Oil skimmers are different from swimming pool sanitation skimmers, which are designed for a similar but unrelated purpose.

Oil skimmers were used to great effect to assist in the remediation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.