MMR-ROVRR (Magnetic Mechanical Remediation via Remote Operated Vehicles in Rapid Response)

Overview

Oil spills are a prevalent and persistent problem in the current work, where the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration responds to over 150 oil and chemical spills in U.S. waters annually. These spills are extremely harmful to ocean environments, and become strenuous to clean up when, leading to the harm of laborers who are sent to clean up these sills. However, recent research and development of Magnetorheological Fluids (MRFs) show promise as a novel approach to this ongoing problem. MRFs are iron particles within a non-polar suspension, giving it magnetic properties while also being soluble in oil. The increasing need of remote solutions to readily clean up oil spills leads to the development of MMR-ROVRR, a remote operated vehicle, utilizing a mechanical- magnetic remediation approach ready for rapid response emergencies. MMR- ROVRR utilizes a remote depth control system in order to readily adapt to fluctuating water density within harsh oil spills. Mechanical-magnetic remediation is performed by a rotating magnetic drum that skims the water to collect distributed MRFs dispersed within oil. MMR-ROVVR had met success criteria for an open water oil spill remediation model by demonstrating remote depth control and propulsion as well as demonstrating practicality of MRFs in open water oil spills (88% yield rate), taking a big step into real world application of MRFs as a solution to oil spills large or small.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Environmental Engineering (Senior Division) · Entry S-11-07

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Environmental Engineering projects
• CSEF Environmental Engineering projects
• Every CSEF 2026 project