Chemical Treating Agents

This project will distill research results collected during the past 6 years of decanting experiments (including the use of chemical demulsifiers to enhance water separation) into proposed guidelines for operational use and to transfer technology to responders and regulators. These proposed guidelines will include a review of regulatory issues and procedures for minimizing environmental impacts.

Tasks of this project are;

The goal of this project was to coordinate the publications of results of the 2003 MMS-sponsored Correlating Results of Ohmsett Dispersant Tests with Identical At-Sea Trials study by SL Ross and A. Lewis 2004. The results of the other spin-off projects were aimed at correlating results of other dispersant effectiveness testing procedures with results of the June 2003 UK at-sea trials, and identify, plan and coordinate follow-up dispersant effectiveness experiments at Ohmsett.

This project will extend the work to complete property analyses on IFO-180 and IFO-380 fuel oils used in the June 2003 UK field trials and in the Ohmsett dispersant effectiveness experiments completed in the fall of 2003.

Tasks to be completed:

Conduct detailed oil property analyses on IFO-180 and IFO-380 fuel oils;
Write a technical report, scientific paper and powerpoint presentation that incorporate results from all analyses (SL Ross and COOGER laboratory maintained by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans) on the results of this research project.

The project is a JIP with many agencies involved in updating this document. This document is the 1989 National Research Council's Using Oil Spill Dispersants on the Sea. Agencies in this JIP are MMS, NOAA, API, and US Coast Guard. Review and evaluate existing information regarding the efficacy and effects of dispersants as an oil spill response technique. Focus will be on understanding the limitations imposed by the various methods used in these studies and to recommend steps that should be taken on effects of dispersed oil on freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments.

The purpose of the study was to determine the partitioning of different chemical emulsions breakers between oil and water phases when they are used to enhance decanting of recovered water from offshore skimming operations. This proposed effort built upon a previous projects entitled Testing at Ohmsett to Determine Optimum Times to Decant to Temporary Storage Devices (Project 298) and Extending Temporary Storage Capacity Offshore With Emulsion Breakers (Project 395) where S.L.

The objectives of this research project are twofold. The first is to determine if the results of dispersant effectiveness tests conducted at Ohmsett are consistent with those gathered in the laboratory and under actual at-sea conditions. The project will conduct a series of dispersant effectiveness tests at Ohmsett under identical conditions to those conducted in the at-sea trials done in the UK in 2003. The research will compare the threshold limiting conditions for dispersibility as measured at Ohmsett with those measured in the laboratory and at-sea, under identical conditions.

During the past two years there has been an increased use of dispersants as a response technique to offshore marine oil spills. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently revised the National Project Schedule with regards to dispersants, and the cold water application and performance of these materials has come under critical review.

The project identified potential methods for the removal of dissolved dispersants from Ohmsett tank water using membrane filtration technology. The goal was to lower the dispersant concentration in the tank water to undetectable levels after dispersant effectiveness testing at Ohmsett. Previously, after a series of dispersant test in the Ohmsett tank, the only effective method for removing dissolved dispersant was to entirely drain the tank, then refill the tank, filter the water and add sufficient salt to bring the tank water up to open ocean salinities.

During the past two years there has been an increased use of dispersants as a response technique to offshore marine oil spills. The US EPA has recently revised the National Project Schedule with regards to dispersants, and the cold water application and performance of these materials has come under critical review.

This project determines the effects of chemically dispersed and biodegraded oils. Research provided a quantitative assessment of the rate of biodegradation of the components under a range of conditions found in the UK and cold US waters. Decision makers will use this information when choosing appropriate response options. The UK partners are the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, the Department of the Environment for Rural Areas, and the Department of Trade and Industries.