Environmental effects from burning oil wells in Kuwait

Browning, K. A.; Allam, R. J.; Ballard, Su; Barnes, R. T. H.; Bennetts, D. A.; Maryon, R. H.; Mason, P. J.; McKenna, D. S.; Mitchell, J. F. B.; Senior, C. A.; Slingo, A.; Smith, F. B.

doi:10.1038/351363a0

Cited by 72 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…This is due to a substantial reduction in rates of smoke dry deposition caused by an increase in the average altitude to which the smoke is raised in the model atmosphere. The smoke appears to be self‐lofting, an effect also observed in simulations of the Kuwait oil fires by Browning et al [1991].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Estimating the direct radiative forcing due to haze from the 1997 forest fires in Indonesia

et al. 2004

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[1] The El Niño event of 1997-1998 caused a severe reduction of rainfall in Indonesia that promoted the spread of forest fires, leading to a pervasive haze in the region. Here we use fire coverage data from the 1997 World Fire Atlas with a review of other available data and literature to estimate the distribution of particulate emissions from August to November 1997 and the particle size and radiative properties. Our preferred estimate of the total particulate emissions is approximately 41 Tg. The emissions have been used to drive an atmospheric model to simulate the distribution of the haze and its direct radiative effect, with and without allowing for the effects of the smoke on the atmospheric evolution. Model diagnostics of the aerosol and its radiative impact are compared with measurements and output from other models. Large decreases in the incident solar flux at the surface are obtained in the region. The simulated global mean shortwave radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere, averaged over the 4 months, is À0.32 Wm À2 . The accuracy of this calculation is discussed, and the importance of the Indonesian fires in particular and of biomass burning in general is assessed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Estimating the direct radiative forcing due to haze from the 1997 forest fires in Indonesia

et al. 2004

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“…Therefore, burning or spilling of such oils leaves the environment with elevated content of heavy metals [6,8]. Petroleum ash and "rain" were reported to have fallen on Kuwait and her neighbors following the burning of oil wells during the Gulf war [3,22,30]. Such wide-spread release of the ash from burning crude oil would result in the contamination of most parts of Kuwait and could account for the observed anomalous concentrations of nickel in the apparently uncontaminated soils.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, it may be suggested that the enzymes that catalyze the utilization of naphthalene in the concerned organisms, especially in the contaminated soils, are especially sensitive to high concentrations of nickel, in addition to other possible components of contaminated oil. Such components include other heavy metals like cadmium, vanadium [22], hydrocarbon fractions [23], and their degradation products [24]. Furthermore, since the isolated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbonsdegrading bacteria were generally similar (data not shown), it can be deduced that the sensitivity of naphthalene degradation to added nickel was not genusspecific but most probably pathway-specific.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of nickel on the mineralization of hydrocarbons by indigenous microbiota in Kuwait soils

Al-Saleh

Obuekwe

2009

J. Basic Microbiol.

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Assessment of nickel contents in soil samples in Kuwait indicated only a minor difference in concentration in hydrocarbon-contaminated (86 mg kg(-1) soil) and non-contaminated soils (84 mg kg(-1) soil). The potential inhibitory effects of nickel on the number of hydrocarbon degraders, and hydrocarbon utilization were investigated over a wide range of nickel concentrations to span concentrations observed in the soil. Nickel addition, as nickel sulphate, to soil samples reduced the number of hydrocarbon degraders in all samples by a wide range (15-96%) depending on concentration and the hydrocarbon substrate utilized. Similarly, the metabolic activities were affected as observed in mineralization (3-60%) of soils amended with various concentrations of nickel. The inhibitive effects of nickel on hexadecane and crude oil utilization were minimal but were significantly higher with naphthalene (P < 0.05) in both hydrocarbon-contaminated and non-contaminated soils. Polarographic determination of hydrocarbons induced oxygen uptake rate demonstrated the tendency of nickel to significantly inhibit (P < 0.05) the oxidation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons compared to aliphatic hydrocarbons.

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“…Kuwait oil well fires may test such models and few simulations were produced before extensive data were available (Ferek et a1.1992 and papers therein; Hobbs and Radke 1992). Browning et al (1991), using both a mesoscale model and a GCM, show that the plume remains confined in the lower troposphere and obtain a local decrease of the surface temperature of the order 10 C and no large scale changes. Bakan et al (1991), using a GCM, show that the surface cooling is limited to 4 C in the Gulf region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Dynamical and radiative response to the massive injection of aerosol from Kuwait oil burning fires

Ferretti

Visconti

1993

Geophysical Research Letters

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The effects of the injection of large amount of soot comparable to that produced in the burning of oil wells in Kuwait were studied using a 2‐D mesoscale model. During the three day numerical simulation the ground‐atmosphere system appears to be strongly perturbed. A surface cooling is produced in the first two days above and downwind of the sources. The cooling, between −10 C over the desert and −0.5 C over the sea is dependent on the surface characteristics. The temperature decrease at the ground results in a stratified troposphere which inhibits convection and perturbs the normal diurnal variability of the boundary layer while the upper levels are driven by the radiative warming of the aerosol layer. In this region after few hours the simulation produces a warming of 0.8 C reaching a maximum of 6 C is after 60 hours. During the last 2 days of simulation the long wave radiation emitted by the low altitude atmospheric layers contribute to mitigate the surface cooling. A detailed discussion of the radiative and the dynamical interactions is given and it is shown that beside the specific interest in the short term effects these results may be useful to parameterize the smoke source for a GCM simulation.

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Environmental effects from burning oil wells in Kuwait

Cited by 72 publications

References 16 publications

Estimating the direct radiative forcing due to haze from the 1997 forest fires in Indonesia

Estimating the direct radiative forcing due to haze from the 1997 forest fires in Indonesia

Effect of nickel on the mineralization of hydrocarbons by indigenous microbiota in Kuwait soils

Dynamical and radiative response to the massive injection of aerosol from Kuwait oil burning fires

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