The DIFIS system for removal of oil from shipwrecks - evaluation of operational conditions, survival conditions and system deployment

This paper describes a system for the recovery of oil from ship wrecks, even in very large water depths. The system is light-weight, completely passive, more cost-effective than existing solutions and relatively easy to install. The design for the DIFIS (“Double Inverted Funnel for the Intervention on Ship wrecks”) concept was made in an EU-funded research project. The background of the DIFIS concept is explained and the system components are introduced. During the design, the behavior of the system was investigated through extensive series of computer simulations and scale model tests. The system performance in operational conditions, in survival conditions and during deployment is discussed. Finally, possible future developments of the DIFIS system are presented.