CounterSpill

A team of oil spill response experts found a way to skim oil out of water at a pace four times beyond the industry standard. 

Elastec/American Marine, an Illinois-based oil response company, participated in a competition organized by the X Prize Foundation to revolutionize oil spill technology and won its $1.4 million prize.

Donnie Wilson, CEO of Elastec/American Marine, told CNN his team had the idea for years but it was too hard to sell. 

"It's something we had on the drawing board," he said. "The problem was legitimacy. If we did this ourselves, we're not sure anyone would believe what we had." 

Over the summer, the team competed along with nine other finalists and showcased their technology at a large outdoor saltwater wave test facility.  

The team's final "grooved disc skimmer" contraption -- which looks like a moving truck-sized vinyl collection -- can skim oil off water at a pace of 4,670 gallons per minute. 

The industry standard for oil skimming is at about 1,100 gallons per minute. 

Their secret? Oil is attracted to plastic. 

As the discs spin over the water's oily surface, the oil is lifted by the groves in the discs and then emptied into a container that separates it from water. 

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The team approached a number of industry experts to help on the project and eventually collaborating with the University of California at Santa Barbara to develop the grooved discs. 

Team leader Don Johnson told the Carmi Times said his team's success could give big benefits back to its state.

"The team was great," he said. "We brought in world-class people to help us…We can not just compete at the world level, but excel. We blew them all away. This says something about southern Illinois' people and their ingenuity. We can compete. And we can bring in the jobs." 

Peter Diamandis of the X Prize Foundation told NPR the industry had been stagnant when it came to upgrading its cleanup methods.

"The oil cleanup technology has pretty much been the same for the last 20 years," he says. "Between the Exxon Valdez and the BP oil spill, nothing has really changed. And we have technology that came out of the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge that is literally four times better than what has existed for 20 years."

Out of the other nine finalists, only one other team hit the challenge's minimum requirements. Team NOFI from Norway was able to lift oil at a rate of 2,712 gallons per minute. 

The Oil Cleanup X Challenge was funded by Wendy Schmidt, wife of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.