Recently, the kick‑off meeting and expert consultation session for the project “Development of Vessel‑mounted Oil‑Absorbing Material Recovery Equipment for Low‑Sulfur Oil Spills in Waterways” was successfully held. Qingdao Huahai Environmental Protection Industry Co., Ltd. has formed an industry‑university‑research R&D team together with the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Fuzhou University. Industry experts and project researchers gathered at the venue to clarify R&D objectives, division‑of‑labor details and phased implementation plans, officially launching technical research and development for new‑type waterway oil‑spill response equipment.

With the vigorous development of inland waterway shipping, the risk of water pollution caused by low‑sulfur oil spills keeps rising. Existing recovery equipment cannot adapt to operating scenarios featuring narrow waterways and variable flow velocities. Targeting these industry pain points, the three parties carry out joint R&D leveraging their respective strengths. The Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS focuses on developing high‑performance new oil‑absorbing materials to break through the technical bottlenecks of low adsorption efficiency and high consumption of traditional adsorbent consumables. Fuzhou University draws on its expertise in fluid mechanics and mechanical design to complete structural simulation optimization and theoretical calculation for the equipment. Drawing on years of experience in industrialization of water environmental‑protection equipment, Huahai Environmental Protection takes charge of prototype trial production, on‑site water‑area testing and subsequent mass production of research outcomes, so as to realize the transformation from laboratory technologies to market‑ready products.

As a national high‑tech enterprise and the builder of a provincial‑level enterprise technology center, Huahai Environmental Protection has long been engaged in the R&D and manufacturing of oil‑spill prevention and control equipment. Its products such as oil booms and oil skimmers are widely adopted in maritime, inland‑waterway and marine environmental‑protection projects, boasting mature equipment manufacturing and on‑site application capabilities. This industry‑university‑research cooperation marks a key initiative for the enterprise to strengthen independent innovation and shore up weaknesses in emergency‑response equipment for inland‑waterway low‑sulfur oil spills.

At the meeting, participating experts offered suggestions from multiple dimensions including material performance, equipment practical operation and engineering implementation, further refining the project’s technical scheme. Going forward, the three parties will steadily advance material sample preparation, prototype trial‑manufacturing and on‑site testing in accordance with the established schedule. They aim to roll out integrated oil‑recovery equipment adapted to domestic waterway operating conditions at an early date, and help improve the capacity for water‑environment safety protection for China’s inland waterway shipping.