UNIVERSAL FIELD OIL SPILL CLASSIFICATION

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 920-922
Author(s):  
Robert W. Castle ◽  
Fred Wehrenberg
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Field Methodology ◽  
Spilled Oil ◽  
Oil Type ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT The fate, behavior, impact, and response to oil spills can vary significantly in response to oil type and condition. This paper presents a field methodology that can be used to classify spilled oil based on observable physical properties. The classification methodology is intended to be used for shoreline cleanup assessment team (SCAT) surveys, selection of response techniques, and other emergency response applications.

UNNECESSARILY NEGLECTED IN PLANNING: ILLUSTRATION OF A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO IDENTIFY HUMAN DIMENSION IMPACTS OF MARINE OIL SPILLS

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250012 ◽  
Author(s):  
FABIENNE LORD ◽  
SETH TULER ◽  
THOMAS WEBLER ◽  
KIRSTIN DOW
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Contingency Planning ◽  
Human Dimension ◽  
Contingency Plans ◽  
Negative Impacts

Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving greater attention to human dimension impacts resulting from events and response. While oil spill contingency planners recognize the importance of human dimension impacts, little systematic attention is given to them in contingency plans. We introduce an approach to identifying human dimensions impacts using concepts from hazard and vulnerability assessment and apply it to the Bouchard-120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, MA. Our assessment covers the spill, emergency response, clean-up, damage assessment, and mid-term recovery. This approach, while still exploratory, did demonstrate that the spill produced a range of positive and negative impacts on people and institutions and that these were mediated by vulnerabilities. We suggest ways in which the framework may help spill managers to learn from events and improve contingency planning by anticipating risks to social systems and identifying strategies to reduce impacts.

scholarly journals MODELING THE WIND INFLUENCE IN AN OIL SPILL ALONG THE SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN SHELF

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
C. E. Stringari ◽  
W. C. Marques ◽  
L. F. Mello ◽  
R. T. Edit
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Local Wind ◽  
Wind Influence ◽  
Oil Density ◽  
Environmental Agencies ◽  
Spilled Oil

Oil spills can generate different effects in different time scales on the marine ecosystem. The numerical modeling of this process is an important tool with low computational cost which provides a powerful appliance to environmental agencies regarding the risk management. In this way, the objective of this work is evaluate the local wind influence in a hypothetical oil spill along the Southern Brazilian shelf. The numerical simulation was carried using the ECOS model (Easy Coupling Oil System), an oil spill model developed at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande – FURG, coupled with the tridimensional hydrodynamical model TELEMAC3D (EDF, France). The hydrodynamic model provides the velocities, salinity and temperature fields used by the oil spill model to evaluate the behavior and fate of the oil. The results suggest that the local wind influence are the main forcing driven the fate of the spilled oil. The direction and intensity of the currents are important controlling the behavior and the tridimensional transportation of the oil, on the other hand, the turbulent diffusion is important for the horizontal drift of the oil. The weathering results indicate 40% of evaporation and 80% of emulsification, and the combination of these processes leads an increasing of the oil density around 53.4 kg/m³ after 5 days of simulation.

scholarly journals Optimization on Emergency Materials Dispatching Considering the Characteristics of Integrated Emergency Response for Large-Scale Marine Oil Spills

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Li ◽  
Manel Grifoll ◽  
Miquel Estrada ◽  
Pengjun Zheng ◽  
Hongxiang Feng
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Oil ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Distribution Point ◽  
Dispatching Algorithm ◽  
Marine Oil Spills ◽  
The Difference

Many governments have been strengthening the construction of hardware facilities and equipment to prevent and control marine oil spills. However, in order to deal with large-scale marine oil spills more efficiently, emergency materials dispatching algorithm still needs further optimization. The present study presents a methodology for emergency materials dispatching optimization based on four steps, combined with the construction of Chinese oil spill response capacity. First, the present emergency response procedure for large-scale marine oil spills should be analyzed. Second, in accordance with different grade accidents, the demands of all kinds of emergency materials are replaced by an equivalent volume that can unify the units. Third, constraint conditions of the emergency materials dispatching optimization model should be presented, and the objective function of the model should be postulated with the purpose of minimizing the largest sailing time of all oil spill emergency disposal vessels, and the difference in sailing time among vessels that belong to the same emergency materials collection and distribution point. Finally, the present study applies a toolbox and optimization solver to optimize the emergency materials dispatching problem. A calculation example is presented, highlighting the sensibility of the results at different grades of oil spills. The present research would be helpful for emergency managers in tackling an efficient materials dispatching scheme, while considering the integrated emergency response procedure.

“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.

ESTIMATING MORTALITY OF SEABIRDS FROM OIL SPILLS

1987 ◽  
Vol 1987 (1) ◽  
pp. 547-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Glenn Ford ◽  
Gary W. Page ◽  
Harry R. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Central California ◽  
Marine Oil ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Using Data

ABSTRACT From an aesthetic and damage assessment standpoint, the loss of seabirds may be one of the more important results of a marine oil spill. Assessment of the actual numbers of seabirds killed is difficult because the bodies of dead or incapacitated seabirds are often never found or recorded. We present a computer methodology that estimates the number of birds that come in contact with an oil spill and partitions these birds among four possible fates: (1) swimming or flying ashore under their own power; (2) carried out to sea by winds and currents; (3) carried inshore, but lost before being beached; and (4) beached by winds and currents. Beached birds are further divided into those that are recovered and those that are not. The accuracy of the methodology is examined using data for two recent spills in central California, each of which resulted in the beachings of large numbers of birds. The methodology also has potential application to real-time emergency response by predicting when and where the greatest numbers of bird beachings will occur.

Recent Results from Oil Spill Response Research

1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 673-676
Author(s):  
Edward Tennyson
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Management Service ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Yield Information ◽  
Environmental Test ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT Recent large oil spills from tankers have reaffirmed the need for continuing technology assessment and research to improve oil-spill response capabilities. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) remains a lead agency in conducting these studies. This paper discusses MMS concerns, as reinforced by the acceleration of its research program in 1990. It briefly assesses the current state-of-the-art technology for major aspects of spill response, including remote sensing, open-ocean containment, recovery, in-situ burning, chemical treating agents, beach-line cleanup, and oil behavior. The paper reports on specific research projects that have begun to yield information that will improve detection and at-sea equipment performance. The first detection project, for which MMS has patent pending, involves the use of shipboard navigational radar to track slicks at relatively long range. The second project involves the use of conventional containment and cleanup in a downwind mode, which is contrary to the traditional procedures. The paper also discusses current research projects, including the development of an airborne, laser-assisted fluorosensor that can determine whether apparent slicks contain oil. Additional projects involve the development of improved strategies for responding to oil in broken-ice conditions, for gaining an improved understanding of the fate and behavior of spilled oil as it affects response strategies, and for reopening and operating the oil and hazardous materials simulated environmental test tank (OHMSETT) facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. Recent progress on the development of safe and environmentally acceptable strategies to burn spilled oil in-situ is also discussed. The OHMSETT facility is necessary for testing prospective improvements in chemical treating agents and to develop standard procedures for testing and evaluating response equipment.

A REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL SHORELINE OIL SPILLS

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 583-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Baker ◽  
D. I. Little ◽  
E. H. Owens
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Toxicity Testing ◽  
Ecological Effects ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Shoreline Protection ◽  
Oil Type

ABSTRACT Oil spill research and development has involved a large number of experiments to evaluate the effectiveness and the effects of marine shoreline protection and cleanup techniques. Considerable knowledge has accumulated from laboratory and wave tank studies, and there have also been a number of field experiments, in which oil was intentionally spilled on shorelines under controlled conditions. This review summarizes those field experiments, which are grouped in five major habitat types: rocky intertidal, cobble/pebble/gravel, sand/mud, saltmarshes, and mangroves/seagrasses. Tables included in the paper itemize the oil type and volume, location and substrate character, number and size of plots, response techniques tested, and referenced publications. This information is then used to combine understanding of the effectiveness of cleanup with understanding of the ecological effects of cleanup methods, compared with those of untreated oil. It is very difficult to achieve this type of information and understanding from toxicity testing or from spills of opportunity.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL AND OIL PRODUCTS (NOT JUST ANOTHER PRETTY DATABASE)

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (2) ◽  
pp. 975-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Jokuty
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Oil Products ◽  
Crude Oils ◽  
The Media ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
The Many ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT When an oil spill occurs, there is an immediate need on the part of spill responders to know the properties of the spilled oil, as these will affect the behavior, fate, and effects of the oil, which will in turn affect the choice of countermeasures. However, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain a sample of the spilled oil, let alone the specialized analysis required to determine its properties, in a manner timely enough to suit the circumstances of an oil spill. Under the scrutiny of the media and the public, answers regarding the identity and predicted behavior of the spilled oil will be expected immediately, if not sooner. In preparation for such emergencies, the Emergencies Science Division (ESD) of Environment Canada has been collecting properties data for crude oils and oil products since 1984. Basic physical properties—density, viscosity, pour point, etc.—and environmentally relevant characteristics—evaporation rates, emulsion formation, chemical dispersibility—are measured. Properties related to health and safety—flash point, volatile organic compounds, sulfur—also are determined. In fact, nearly 20 different types of measurements are made for both fresh and weathered crude oils and oil products. To date data has been collected for more than 400 oils. For ease of access, this information is stored in an electronic database. The database in turn is accessible via the World Wide Web, and is also periodically printed in an easy-to-read catalogue format. The wide variety of data collected in the database also makes it possible to examine both simple and complex relationships that may exist between oil properties and spill behavior. This presentation will review the full scope of information determined and collected by ESD. Using tables and graphs, examples will be presented of the many ways in which this information can be viewed and used by both laymen and experts in the field of oil spills.

DEVELOPMENT OF ABSORBENT TECHNOLOGY FOR OIL SPILL RECOVERY AND CLEANUP IN ARCTIC ENVIRONMENT

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2017-076
Author(s):  
Changwoo Nam ◽  
Houxiang Li ◽  
T.C. Mike Chung
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Absorption Capacity ◽  
Fast Kinetics ◽  
Refined Oil ◽  
New Class ◽  
Penn State ◽  
Tank Test ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT 2017-076 In this paper, we discuss a new class of i-PetroGel oil-superabsorbent technology that has shown a potential solution to the oil spill recovery and cleanup in arctic environments, based on the laboratory tests at Penn State and an open tank test at Ohmsett. This i-PetroGel material is formed by polyolefin polymers that are petroleum downstream products with similar oleophilic and hydrophobic properties of oil molecules. Apart from many oil sorbents based on adsorption, i-PetroGel absorbs oil by absorption (similar to Hydrogel absorbing aqueous solutions) and swells to a large volume. During Ohmsett testing, i-PetroGel flakes spread on top of the affected area showed effective transformation of Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil into a floating gel on the seawater surface, which was effectively recovered by an oleophilic drum skimmer and pumped to a storage tank. The recovered ANS oil-swelled adducts, containing <0.1 wt% water, exhibit similar distillation characteristics as the original ANS oil. Overall, this i-PetroGel technology could potentially provide a comprehensive solution for combating oil spills, with the goal to dramatically reduce the environmental impacts from oil spills and help recover one of the most precious natural resources. i-PetroGel exhibits a combination of desirable properties. ✓ High oil absorption capacity about 35–40 times by weight at 3 and 25 °C. ✓ Suitable to a broad range of hydrocarbons, including complex crude oils, refined oil products (gasolines, diesels, heating oils, etc.), and solvents (toluene, benzene, etc.). ✓ Fast kinetics in capturing the spilled oil. ✓ No detectable water absorption in i-PetroGel. ✓ The resulting oil/i-PetroGel adducts floating on water surface are recovered by skimmer. ✓ The recovered oil/i-Petrogel adducts can be refined as crude oil through standard refining processes. ✓ Cost effective. ✓ No secondary pollution.

EPHEMERAL DATA COLLECTION GUIDANCE MANUAL, WITH EMPHASIS ON OIL SPILL NRDAS

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 1029-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon A. Robilliard ◽  
Paul D. Boehm ◽  
Michael J. Amman
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Environmental Sampling ◽  
Beach Sediments ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT The purpose of the guidance manual is to identify for first responders the basic methods for collecting, preserving, and documenting essential ephemeral samples and data that are needed for NRDA and general environmental assessment in oil spills. The manual assumes that first responders will have limited specialized experience, expertise, and equipment in environmental sampling. Ephemeral data and samples include (a) source oil and freshly spilled oil, (b) the spatial distribution and amount of oil on the water surface and on shorelines, (c) unoiled beach sediments, (d) oil in the water column in unoiled and oiled areas, and (e) selected unoiled intertidal organisms. The manual provides guidance on where, when, and how to collect each type of sample and data. The manual emphasizes the importance of documenting samples and data so that they can be used later to evaluate the environmental impacts of the spilled oil.

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