Coping with an oiled sea : an analysis of oil spill response technologies. |
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Alaska American Petroleum Institute Amoco Cadiz areas barge barrier beach cleaning belt skimmers bioremediation Boat burning capability capacity Catalog of Oil coastal Containment and recovery contingency plans countermeasures deployed disk skimmers dispersants dredges effective Environmental Exxon Valdez spill freeboard G G G gallons Hamilton AFB Harbor large offshore large spills lifting belt major spills Maritime Prefect mechanical cleanup mechanical recovery ment million Minerals Management Service MPCU North Sea Norway Office of Technology offshore spills oil recovery Oil Spill Cooperative Oil Spill Response operations Photo credit PIRO Pollution Control Port Prince William Sound pump recovered oil Rope mop shoreline Skimming slick Sorbent SOURCE SPCA Spill Response Products Spill Response Technologies sponse storage Strike Team submersion belt suction Tank tanker techniques Technology Assessment testing tion U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Navy United United Kingdom vessels Vikoma viscosity Viscous Oil weir skimmers World Catalog
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Page 6 - The main question, therefore, is what improvements could be expected if new technologies or techniques were employed in the future. This OTA study has concluded that improvements could be made and that the most obvious improvements would not re-, quire any technological breakthroughs— just good engineering design and testing, good maintenance and training, timely access to the most appropriate systems, and rapid, informed decisions. The improvements that can be made, however, also have limitations,...
Page 31 - Cause a film or sheen upon or discoloration of the surface of the water or adjoining shorelines or cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or upon adjoining shorelines.
Page 1 - It is certain that oU spills will occur again. If improvements in prevention technology are made, the frequency of major spills may decrease, but improvements are unlikely to eliminate oil spills entirely, and a very large spill under adverse conditions could still overwhelm our capacity to respond effectively. Even using the best technology available and assuming a timely and coordinated response effort, it is not realistic to expect that a significant amount of oil from a major offshore spill could...
Page 1 - The March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska...
Page 7 - Press, 1989), p. 3. some currently available dispersants have proved effective in ideal situations, ideal conditions rarely exist in the real world. Research to improve dispersant effectiveness is continuing and appears to be producing some encouraging results. • Abroad, some countries rely almost exclusively on mechanical cleanup methods (eg, Norway and the Netherlands), while others (eg, the United Kingdom) rely almost exclusively on dispersants. Some countries have much larger mechanical systems...
Page 17 - Most agents are largely hydrophillic surfactants, surfactants with a strong tendency to make oil-in-water emulsions. Such surfactants can reverse the water-in-oil emulsion to two separate phases. The problem with a hydrophillic surfactant is that it is more soluble in water than in oil and will quickly leave the oil. Obviously such products cannot be successfully used on open water. Some recent products avoided this problem by using a less water-soluble surfactant and accepting the resulting decrease...
Page 52 - Several devices have been produced for collecting oil from the surface of the sea. Since the efficiency of an oil recovery device is improved by increasing the thickness or depth of the oil slick, these devices are frequently used inside a containment barrier. Oil recovery devices include suction-types, weir-types, and moving surface-types. Suction skimmers float on the surface and use suction pumps to draw in oil and water through tiny holes. A weir-type skimmer has a vertical...
Page 22 - ... available products. These tests generally were conducted to evaluate how well the products worked, and few studies have investigated the interactive phenomena of surfactants (surface tension reducing chemicals), crude oil, and water. When dispersants are sprayed from boats or aircraft, how well they work depends on sea conditions and application techniques as well as on the chemical nature of both the dispersants and the oil. Application techniques have improved with experience, but are still...
Page 14 - Air bubbles are another type of containment device. If air is pumped into a perforated pipe below the water surface, the rising bubbles cause the surface water to flow away from the pipe. As with containment booms, air barriers are most effective in calm waters.