A vacuum technique is established for oil spill cleanup. It consists of environmental tank, oil-collecting unit, vacuum system, and air distributors. The vacuum technique is found very effective under all possible operating conditions. Several operating parameters are investigated such as hole arrangement (vertical and horizontal slots), air distributors location (one-side and two-sides strategies), air volumetric flow rate over the range of 0.0-0.667 x 10(-3) m(3)/s, salinity concentration (0.0-30 kg NaCl/m(3)), temperature (5-35 degreesC), amount of crude oil added (0.25 x 10(-3)-10(-3) m(3)), and surfactant concentration (0.0-0.3% of Triton X-100). The installation and implementation of the vacuum technique are quick, simple, and efficient. The proposed technique does not require any further processes to extract the crude oil. It provides excellent economical operating results. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.