How FLAUS Technology Works: Inside the Engineering of Floating Auto Suction Oil Skimmers

FLAUS (Floating Auto Suction) technology, developed by Vens Hydroluft, represents one of the most advanced approaches to automatic floating oil recovery. By integrating suction, buoyancy, and oil-water interface tracking into a single self-contained unit, FLAUS eliminates the complexity and limitations of conventional floating skimmer designs. This technical deep dive explains the engineering innovations behind FLAUS and why it outperforms traditional floating skimmer technology.

The FLAUS Design Philosophy

Traditional floating skimmers treat buoyancy, oil collection, and oil transfer as separate functions that must be integrated on site. FLAUS technology unifies these functions into a single engineered platform. The buoyancy system maintains the collection mechanism at the oil-water interface. The integrated suction system draws oil from the surface without requiring an external pump. The discharge system transfers recovered oil through a flexible hose to a collection vessel. The self-regulating design adjusts automatically to changing oil thickness, water level, and environmental conditions. This integration eliminates external pump stations, reduces piping and hose connections, simplifies installation, and creates a truly deploy-and-forget oil recovery system.

Integrated Suction System Engineering

The heart of FLAUS is its integrated suction mechanism. Unlike weir-type floaters that rely on gravity flow (and therefore fail with thin oil layers), the FLAUS suction system actively draws oil from the surface. The suction inlet is positioned at the optimal depth by the buoyancy system, ensuring it always operates at the oil-water interface. The suction rate is engineered to match the oil recovery capability without drawing excessive water. When the oil layer is thick, the system recovers high-purity oil. As the oil layer thins, the system automatically adjusts its operating point to maximise oil concentration in the recovered product.

Self-Adjusting Buoyancy System

The FLAUS buoyancy system is designed to maintain the correct operating depth across a wide range of conditions. As water levels rise and fall, the unit floats with the surface — handling level changes from millimetres to metres without any manual adjustment. As oil layer thickness varies, the buoyancy responds to the changing density at the surface, keeping the suction inlet at the interface. Wind, waves, and current forces are absorbed by the buoyancy elements without displacing the unit from its optimal operating position. This self-adjusting capability means FLAUS requires no operator intervention to maintain optimal performance — a critical advantage for remote or unmanned installations.

Applications and Performance

FLAUS units are deployed in API separators (where they outperform fixed weir skimmers), large storage tank sumps, wastewater equalisation basins, cooling water ponds, and oil spill containment areas. They achieve oil recovery purities of 95%+ under normal conditions and continue operating effectively on oil layers as thin as 1–2 mm — well beyond the capability of gravity-flow weir skimmers.

Learn more about FLAUS technology from Vens Hydroluft — contact our engineers for a technical discussion or watch FLAUS in action on our YouTube channel.