A company in England that helps fight oil spills has converted two Boeing 727s to serve as chemical-dispersing delivery aircraft.
Ocean oil spills can be disastrous to the environment. When a significant amount of oil is accidentally released, the response time is critical. Before the spill spreads, containment and chemical dispersing are two of the main weapons.
Chemical solutions are used to break up the slicks into smaller droplets, which are then mixed by the water’s natural movement. Delivering those solutions early helps to prevent large slicks from reaching shore and fouling beaches.
Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), a company based in England, as converted two Boeing 727s to serve as quick-response delivery systems to fly to the site of a spill and spray oil dispersant chemicals.
The 727s, previously owned by FedEx, have had to undergo significant alterations to gain compliance. The United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ruled that the dispersant liquid used to break up oil slicks should be treated as flammable. That led to the aircraft being classified to carry flammable cargo.
The advantage of using aircraft to deliver oil-dispersant chemicals are obvious. First, they can arrive much quicker than ships that are sent to do the same job. Previously, ORSL used Hercules transports but the 727 has a definite speed and range advantage over the four-engine propeller-driven transports.
OSRL has one 727 that will be loaded with oil dispersant chemicals and on-call 24-7. The other 727 will be used to deliver cargo to help defer the company’s expenses but can quickly be converted to serve as another delivery system.
In the video below by miar2006, you can clearly see the spray bar below. Eat your heart out Chemtrail fans!
(If you’re into the technical aspects, here’s the company report on the 727 project.)