Where Has All the Oil Gone? Dispersed Oil Detection in a Wave Basin and at Sea

Abstract

During the past 10 years, there have been many sea trials of dispersant chemicals for the purpose of demonstrating the effectiveness of specific products or elucidating the processes of oil dispersion into the water column. Unfortunately, most of these tests have proved inconclusive, leading many to believe that dispersant chemicals are only marginally effective. Wave basin tests have been carried out at the Esso Resources Canada Limited laboratory in Calgary, Canada, to measure dispersant effectiveness under closely controlled conditions. These tests show that dispersed oil plumes may be irregular and concentrated over small volumes, so that extensive plume sampling was required to obtain accurate dispersant effectiveness measurements. In large-scale sea trials, dispersants have been shown effective, but only where sufficient sampling of the water column was done to detect small concentrated dispersed oil plumes and where it was known that the dispersant was applied primarily to the thick floating oil.

A Review of Research and Practice on the Application of Chemical Dispersant in Oil Spills

“…As the measurements of the oil concentration are hard to make, the mass balance are difficult to achieve. Brown et al (1987) conducted these two measurements and reported that the results were not consistency and the total oil mass was unaccounted for or over-calculated [19]. OHMSETT, located at New Tersey of America, is the longest wave tank used for oil spill test.…”

Oil spill treating agents

“…Tests in a wave basin have been conducted to measure the effectiveness of the dispersant under closely controlled conditions [36]. Most tests have been proved to be inconclusive, leading many to believe that dispersant chemicals are only marginally effective.…”