Media Advisory 11-001
NSF Webcast: Water and Oil Everywhere, and Now it's Safe to Drink
Developer demonstrates oil filtration technology tested in 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Clean water being passed over a vibratory separator after treatment with Osorb®.
January 14, 2011
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Building upon research conducted during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, engineers have incorporated a swellable nano-structured glass called Osorb® into a system for extracting pollutants like dissolved petroleum from water--and collecting the petroleum for later use.
During a webcast from the National Science Foundation, developer Paul Edmiston of the College of Wooster will demonstrate the new application for the Osorb® technology and discuss how it is being evaluated in the petroleum industry.
As part of the media briefing, Edmiston will conduct demonstrations to show how the material expands to eight times its original volume in the presence of hydrocarbons--expanding with a force that could lift 20,000 times its original weight--and filter a gasoline-tainted sample of drinking water for consumption. Questions before and during the webcast can be directed to webcast@nsf.gov. See a video showcasing Osorb® research on The College of Wooster's YouTube channel.
| Who: | Osorb® developer Paul L. Edmiston of the College of Wooster and Chief Science Officer of ABSMaterials |
| What: | Live Webcast demonstrating new oil spill remediation applications for Osorb® technology |
| When: | Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Where: | Media are invited to participate in the webcast by phone or online on the Science360 website |
To register for the event and obtain the user name and password for the webcast, journalists can contact NSF media officer Josh Chamot at jchamot@nsf.gov or (703) 292-7730. Username and password are required for access. Questions before and during the webcast can be directed to webcast@nsf.gov.
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View Video
NSF hosts chemical engineer Paul Edmiston for a demonstration of Osorb®.
Credit and Larger Version
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email: jchamot@nsf.gov
John Hopkins, The College of Wooster, (330) 263-2082, email: jhopkins@wooster.edu
Program Contacts
Benaiah Schrag, NSF, (703) 292-8323, email: bschrag@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Paul Edmiston, The College of Wooster / ABSMaterials Inc., (330) 234 7999, email: p.edmiston@absmaterials.com
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