The objective of this final phase of research is to transition the Technology Readiness Level of a low-emission, low-pressure atomization and combustor system for emulsified crude oil from 4 to 8 by developing and refining the performance of a half-scale or full-scale flow blurring atomizer spray burner so that the system design can be transferred to a manufacturer.
The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development (ORD) will peform real-time air emissions and residue testing on two BSEE-sponsored, outdoor in situ burn tests at the Army Corp of Engineer's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) in New Hampshire. ORD will assess emission and residue to characterize the combustion efficiency. ORD will also assess emissions on an additional BSEE OSRR project at CRREL and a crude oil combustion study at the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Chesapeake Beach Detachment.
Under OSRR Project 1091, the NRL performed preliminary experiments to assess pulsed laser light technology (Light Detection And Ranging - LiDAR) ability to detect oil and characterize oil thickness on water. Initial testing conducted at Ohmsett demonstrated the successful application of LiDAR remote sensing to detect and measure the presence of oil at the surface and underwater.
This project will continue the development of the LiDAR system's ability to detect and characterize oil on the surface and varying subsurface layers thickness values and depth in the water.
Although remote sensing technologies have been advanced for airborne and spaceborne sensors, it is still challenging to detect oil under/encapsulated in ice as well as on seafloor.
The objectives of this project are to:
Investigate and advance the current underwater technology to detect and measure thickness of oil under ice, encapsulated in ice and/or on the seafloor
Conduct testing at Ohmsett or CRREL to characterize the sensitivity of remote sensors for detecting and characterizing oil under ice, encapsulated in ice, and/or oil on the tank floor.
Under Interagency Agreement (IAA) E13PG00031, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)/U.S. Army Night Vision team completed a program that demonstrated a compact, lightweight, multi-spectral airborne sensor payload capable of detecting the presence of oil on water, distinguishing oil from false alarms such as kelp forests, and providing a reliable estimate of the thickness of the oil present on the water.
This project tested the Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) sensor to detect oil in/under ice. For oil detection and thickness estimation under/in ice, where the access to the imaged region is limited to above its surface, the project team used a planar sensor design where the electrodes are mounted on a single plane and placed at a relatively close distance above the ice surface.
The current NOAA's WebGNOME platform displays the modeling bounds with available operational forecast models for selected areas. These areas are typically in shoreline areas. This project will expand the availability of forecast models to cover offshore areas where BSEE's regulated facilities reside. This added feature will enable the ability to run WebGNOME more easily, using available operational forecast models.
The project team will use radar technology instead of optical or infrared methods in order to enable 24-hour, weather independent operation that can be deployed in inclement or difficult to access environments, and reduce dependence upon on-site personnel. The team will evaluate the capability of low noise L-band (1.26 GHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery acquired by the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) sensor.
BSEE will participate in a Joint Industry Project with the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) and ExxonMobil to design, develop, and test a spill response system for a single manned helicopter and/or several robotic helicopters. This spill response system can jointly apply chemical herders to a spill and ignite the oil once it has been corralled. This project will
A workshop is being developed to discuss impacts of oil spills on shorelines. The workshop will bring together Subject Matter Experts (SME) from the spill response community, academia, and industry for the exchange of ideas and the exploration of the current state of the science of oil spill research. Traditional oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) as well as renewable energy (RE) will be explored. The results of this workshop will help guide BSEE Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) to develop relevant Research and Technologies (R&T) in fulfillment of BSEE's mission.
