CONTAINMENT AND RECOVERY TECHNIQUES FOR COLD WEATHER, INLAND OIL SPILLS

1979 ◽  
Vol 1979 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan A. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Cold Weather ◽  
Recovery Techniques ◽  
Spill Control ◽  
Training Exercises ◽  
Ice Water ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup

ABSTRACT The maintenance of an around-the-clock oil spill cleanup service in Alaska offers an unusual opportunity to develop and test a variety of oil spill containment and recovery techniques. The experiences during numerous actual cleanup efforts, together with the results of training exercises on snow, ice, water, and land, provide valuable information for those faced with the potential spillage of oil during cold-weather conditions. Off-the-shelf cleanup equipment and materials can frequently be modified or used in a slightly different mode to achieve effective spill control under subzero temperatures on, in, and beneath ice and snow. Monitoring the fate and behavior of several types of oil under such real-world conditions also provides quantitative data leading to the development of innovative spill control techniques which emphasize the use of naturally found materials at the site of a spill. Such techniques involve snow berms, cross-river ice cuts, induced ground-surface leaching with snow, various damming and trenching methods, surface flooding, absorption of pooled oil with snow, and the construction of various types of filter fences and diversionary booms.

OHMSETT TESTS OF A ROPE-MOP SKIMMER IN ICE-INFESTED WATERS1

1985 ◽  
Vol 1985 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Shum ◽  
M. Borst Mason & Hanger-Silas
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Cold Weather ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Test Tank ◽  
Broken Ice ◽  
Petroleum Development ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup

ABSTRACT The increase in petroleum development activities in the arctic region has raised concerns over potential oil spills during the broken ice season. Currently, exploratory drilling for oil and gas is restricted during this season due to the lack of proven oil spill cleanup methods for broken ice fields. Test programs have been conducted at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT) to determine the feasibility of cold weather testing and to evaluate various oil spill cleanup methods considered for use in the arctic. This paper describes a test program to determine the practicality of using a catamaran-mounted rope-mop skimmer for spill cleanup in broken ice fields. An Oil Map Pollution Control, Ltd., prototype arctic skimmer was tested in the test tank under controlled conditions during January 30 to February 7, 1984. Freshwater ice cubes of 250 to 280 millimeters (mm) were used in the tests to approximate a broken ice field. During tests, a predetermined ice condition was established across the encounter width of the rope mops and oil was distributed over the ice. The oil and ice were channeled into the skimmer by two booms, which were joined to the skimmer at the bow. Nine tests were conducted at a tow speed of 1 knot using Circo 4X light oil. During the tests, ice concentrations were varied from 0 to 75 percent of the surface area, and oil slick thickness varied from 3 to 8 mm. The test results demonstrated the spill cleanup capability of the skimmer in ice-infested waters having up to 50 percent ice coverage. At higher ice concentrations, the skimmer was ineffective due to ice jamming at the skimmer inlet.

“An Inevitable Consequence:” Changing Ideas of Prevention in the Wake of Catastrophic Events

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-438
Author(s):  
TERESA SABOL SPEZIO
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Visual Evidence ◽  
The Face ◽  
Policy Transformation ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup ◽  
Spilled Oil

AbstractIn the face of technology failures in preventing oil from reaching beaches and coasts after catastrophic oil spills in the 1960s and early 1970s, the oil industry and governmental officials needed to quickly reconsider their idea of prevention. Initially, prevention meant stopping spilled oil from coating beaches and coasts. Exploring the presentations at three oil-spill conferences in 1969, 1971 and 1973, this idea of prevention changed as the technological optimism of finding effective methods met the realities of oil-spill cleanup. By 1973, prevention meant stopping oil spills before they happened. This rapid policy transformation came about because the oil industry could not hide the visual evidence of the source of their technology failures. In this century, as policymakers confront invisible pollutants such as pesticides and greenhouse gases, considering ways to visually show the source of the pollution along with the effects could quicken policy decisions.

JAPANESE GOVERNMENTAL AND INDUSTRIAL MEASURES FOR THE CONTROL OF MARINE OIL SPILLS

1979 ◽  
Vol 1979 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-267
Author(s):  
Chikao Funatani
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Marine Disaster ◽  
Marine Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Disasters ◽  
Prevention Center ◽  
Spill Control

ABSTRACT Development of an effective oil spill control system in Japan was spurred by two marine disasters in 1974 which brought about an organizational and physical reinforcement of the nation's capability to respond to oil spills. This paper describes today's legal structure for oil spill control, the organizational concepts used at various levels to provide joint efforts by government agencies and industry, the role of the Marine Disaster Prevention Center which serves as the nucleus of the necessary control operations, and research and development highlights of ongoing Japanese efforts to prevent, control, and clean up oil spills.

OIL SPILL CLEANUP WITH DISPERSANTS: A BOOMED OIL SPILL EXPERIMENT

1981 ◽  
Vol 1981 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-268
Author(s):  
Joseph Buckley ◽  
David Green ◽  
Blair Humphrey
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Visual Observation ◽  
Oil Droplets ◽  
Oil Boom ◽  
Dispersed Oil ◽  
Vertical Density ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup

ABSTRACT Three experimental oil spills of 200, 400, and 200 litres (l) were conducted in October, 1978, in a semiprotected coastal area on Canada's west coast. The surface slicks were restrained with a Bennett inshore oil boom. The spilled oil was chemically dispersed using Corexit 9527, applied as a 10-percent solution in sea water and sprayed from a boat. The dispersed oil was monitored fluorometrically for some hours. Surface and dispersed oil were sampled for chemical analysis. The highest recorded concentration of dispersed oil was 1 part per million (ppm). After a short time (30 minutes), concentrations around 0.05 ppm were normal, decreasing to background within 5 hours. The concentrations were low compared to those expected for complete dispersion which, as visual observation confirmed, was not achieved. The dispersed oil did not mix deeper into the water column with the passage of time, in contrast to predicted behaviour and in spite of the lack of a significant vertical density gradient in the sea water. This was attributed to the buoyancy of the dispersed oil droplets and the limited vertical turbulence in the coastal locale of the experiment. The integrated quantity of oil in the water column decreased more rapidly than either the mean oil concentration of the cloud or the maximum concentration indicating that some of the dispersed oil was rising back to the surface. The surfacing of dispersed oil was confirmed visually during the experiment. The mixing action of the spray boat and breaker boards apparently created large oil droplets that did not form a stable dispersion. Horizontal diffusion of the dispersed oil was initially more rapid than expected, but the rate of spreading did not increase with time as predicted. The results imply that the scale of diffusion was larger than the scale of turbulence which again can be attributed to the locale of the experiment.

LOGISTICS FOR THE CONDUCT OF CONTROLLED OIL SPILL EXPERIMENTON BIORESTORATION OF FRESHWATER WETLANDS

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (2) ◽  
pp. 1467-1469
Author(s):  
Stéphane Grenon ◽  
Vincent Jarry ◽  
Darcy Longpré ◽  
Kenneth Lee ◽  
Albert D. Venosa
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
The United States ◽  
Freshwater Wetlands ◽  
Environmental Groups ◽  
Emergency Responders ◽  
And Control ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup ◽  
St Lawrence River

ABSTRACT The St. Lawrence River, situated between Canada and the United States, provides a major transport route in North America for the transport of millions of tons of crude oil, condensates, and refined products each year. In addition, as one of the largest rivers in the world, it is of major ecological significance. For example, over 55,000 hectares of wetlands are found along the St. Lawrence alone. These areas provide habitat for wildlife, the nurseries for fisheries, and control coastal erosion are highly vulnerable to oil spills. Furthermore, as traditional oil spill cleanup methods may be ineffective or cause more damage, emergency responders are considering less intrusive methods such as biorestoration as operational countermeasures. A biorestoration experiment was designed to measure the effectiveness of this method in the St. Lawrence River. To conduct this experiment, 1,200 liters of crude oil were to be spilled in a controlled manner over an experimental zone of 750 m2 in a marsh area. To obtain regulatory approvals from governmental agencies, environmental groups and, more importantly, to avoid the “not in my backyard” protests from the local communities, site selection, emergency planning, contingency measures, and especially community meetings, were all necessary steps towards the acceptance of the project. This controlled spill was done in June 1998 without any incident. Sampling of the experimental site will be completed in the fall of 2000. This paper aims to provide insights on the steps needed to gain acceptance from concerned citizens for the conduct of a controlled oil spill experiment.

scholarly journals Hydraulic Analysis of Oil Spill Control Systems in Transformer Stations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Fan
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Transformer Oil ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Hydraulic Analysis ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Spill Control ◽  
The City

Electrical transformer stations use transformer oil to increase the efficiency of the electrical voltage transfer and to reduce the moisture and air in an electrical transformer. Each year, there is a high probability of spilling the transformer oil accidentally into the environment. Some spill events contain large volume of transformer oil. The objective of this thesis is to investigate oil spill control systems for spilled transformer oil during all operating and weathering conditions at a Hydro One's transformer station near the city of Burlington. This thesis examines the design of (1) oil trap systems which trap the spilled transformer oil and (2) the oil back-up systems thick back up the transformer oil spills to the transformer station. This research focuses primarily on Hydro One's transformer stations and the normal operation conditions in Ontario.

scholarly journals The effect of vertical mixing on the horizontal drift of oil spills

Ocean Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1581-1601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Röhrs ◽  
Knut-Frode Dagestad ◽  
Helene Asbjørnsen ◽  
Tor Nordam ◽  
Jørgen Skancke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Horizontal Transport ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Drift Behavior ◽  
A Chain

Abstract. Vertical and horizontal transport mechanisms for marine oil spills are investigated using numerical model simulations. To realistically resolve the 3-D development of a spill on the ocean surface and in the water column, recently published parameterizations for the vertical mixing of oil spills are implemented in the open-source trajectory framework OpenDrift (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1300358, last access: 7 April 2018). The parameterizations include the wave entrainment of oil, two alternative formulations for the droplet size spectra, and turbulent mixing. The performance of the integrated oil spill model is evaluated by comparing model simulations with airborne observations of an oil slick. The results show that an accurate description of a chain of physical processes, in particular vertical mixing and oil weathering, is needed to represent the horizontal spreading of the oil spill. Using ensembles of simulations of hypothetic oil spills, the general drift behavior of an oil spill during the first 10 days after initial spillage is evaluated in relation to how vertical processes control the horizontal transport. Transport of oil between the surface slick and the water column is identified as a crucial component affecting the horizontal transport of oil spills. The vertical processes are shown to control differences in the drift of various types of oil and in various weather conditions.

OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR MAJOR TERMINALS AND SENSITIVE AREAS

1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
C. Jones ◽  
J. P. Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Staff Training ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Resource Levels ◽  
Spill Control

The BP Exploration approach to oil spill control can be summed up as prevention and preparedness. In all cases our primary objective is to prevent oil spills occurring. However despite careful attention to plant design, staff training, auditing etc., oil may sometimes be spilled.For any operation, effective oil spill ontingency planning depends on having a sound understanding of the local ecological and environmental sensitivities, physical conditions and the nature, size and risks of potential spills. This information allows the definition of response strategy and appropriate resource levels (equipment and personnel). However the mere provision of resources is insufficient; equipment maintenance, staff training, oil spill exercises (planned and unannounced), agreement of responsibilities with external authorities and periodic reviews are regarded as essential to ensure adequacy of response.The implementation of these principles is demonstrated using the development and continued evolution of the oil spill plan for Sullom Voe, a major North Sea oil terminal handling ca 1 million barrels of crude per day. Changes have been made to the plan to take account of technological advances and the lessons learned from actual spills in Sullom Voe, Port Valdez and elsewhere.Oil spill contingency arrangements for onshore and nearshore exploration drilling are also considered, illustrated with recent English (on and offshore Wytch Farm) and Scottish west coast examples. The principles adopted for spill planning at oil terminals have been found to apply equally to E & P operations in sensitive areas.The paper concludes with a brief comparison of the relative costs of efforts to prevent spills with the costs of spill cleanup and damages.

scholarly journals The effect of vertical mixing on the horizontal drift of oil spills

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Röhrs ◽  
Knut-Frode Dagestad ◽  
Helene Asbjørnsen ◽  
Tor Nordam ◽  
Jørgen Skancke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Size Spectra ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Horizontal Transport ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Drift Behavior ◽  
A Chain

Abstract. Vertical and horizontal transport mechanisms of marine oil spills are investigated using numerical model simulations. To realistically resolve the 3D-development of a spill on the ocean surface and in the water column, recently published parameterizations for the vertical mixing of oil spills are implemented in the open source trajectory framework OpenDrift1. These encompass the wave-entrainment of oil, two alternative formulations for the droplet size spectra, and turbulent mixing. The performance of the integrated oil spill model is evaluated by comparing model simulations with airborne observations of an oil slick. The results show that an accurate description of a chain of physical processes, in particular vertical mixing and oil weathering, is needed to represent the horizontal spreading of the oil spill. Using ensembles of simulations of hypothetic oil spills, the general drift behavior of an oil spill during the first 10 days after initial spillage is evaluated in relation to how vertical processes control the horizontal transport. Vertical mixing of oil between the surface slick and entrained oil is identified as a crucial component affecting the horizontal transport of oil spills. The vertical processes are shown to control differences in the drift of various types of oil and in various weather conditions. 1 https://github.com/opendrift/opendrift

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