The
Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (TORP) is giving school children who view
a Great Bend, Kansas museum a view on how oil is produced 3,000 feet
below ground. TORP developed an interactive museum display for the
Kansas Energy Education Center in great Bend that demonstrates
waterflooding.
The museum display, built by TORP research assistant Scott Ramskill, lets museum visitors turn a crank that sets a miniature pumping unit in motion. A cutaway view of the geological formation under the pump allows guests to see how the fluid is produced to the stock tanks on the surface
The 1:24 scale display uses both new and recycled materials. An old wooden desk rescued from the trash bin became the display frame after being re-cut and refinished. Recycled stainless steel fittings adorn the exhibits hardware. Ramskill was able to construct the model in his spare time at work over the course of three months. (Oread Engineer, Spring 2004)
