The objective of this project was to assess the effectiveness of low pressure atomizing burners as a means to augment in situ burning of emulsified crude oil while minimizing pump infrastructure requirements.
This project will use the physical and chemical analysis of the Deepwater Horizon in-situ burning samples as a focal point for comparisons to the analyses of other oil and residue samples of relevance to the spill response.
Objective:
Assess in-situ burn efficiency of oil spills in icy conditions and set new experimental and modeling framework to explore oil spill burning on ice. This will allow quantifying combustion efficiency as well as point of extinction for liquid fuel spills in icy conditions. Objectives will be accomplished with phases below:
The objective of the proposed research program is to develop methods for (1) recovering potentially non-buoyant ISB residues through innovative surface and sub-surface collection means; and (2) recovering buoyant residues, including those attached to sorbent agents that were intentionally added to the residue to prevent subsequent residue sinking. The goals of the program are to:
Refine and develop ideas for preventing ISB residues from sinking and for collecting both buoyant and non-buoyant ISB residues, based on earlier studies.
This purpose of this research project is to investigate the minimum ignitable thickness, combustion rate, effects of waves and residue amount for crude oils burned in situ in cold water and broken ice conditions. The tasks will: Conduct a literature review of in-situ burning in broken ice;
Perform a series of small-scale scoping burn tests in brash and frazil ice in an indoor tank in order to assist with the design of larger tests;
Develop test protocols and the test procedures;
Conduct mid-scale burns in the Alaska Clean Seas wave tank in Prudhoe Bay, AL;
An enhanced propane underwater bubbler system designed to allow the testing of fire resistant booms in flames was installed at Ohmsett-The National Oil Spill Response Test Facility, in Leonardo, New Jersey in the fall of 1998. The cornerstone of the test is an underwater bubbler system to create air-enhanced propane flames that produce an average total heat flux to the surface of a candidate boom in the range of 110 to 130 kW/m2 and flame temperatures on the order of 900 degrees C.
This project developed a draft American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) guidelines for in-situ burning from lab analysis of the oil to determine how easily it can be burned. The draft standard is available; however ASTM chose not to adopt the standard until more work was done on characterizing oils.
6 additional oils from OCS facilities are being analyzed to determine if their suitability of spill response by in situ burn methods. Data on evaporation, emulsion formation, ignitability, burn rate, oil removal efficiency, and the potential for emulsion breakers to extend the window of burn opportunity will be gathered.
The goal of this project is to assess the technical and operational feasibility of two alternative approaches to in situ burning of oil spills in the marine environment. The first is the use of towable incineration devices which can be used in conjunction with current containment booms and skimmers to allow for prolonged in situ burning operations encountered in major spills and situations involving an ongoing release, such as a grounded tanker or offshore will blowout.
To investigate the feasibility of using in situ burning to remove crude oil from mud flats in an environmentally and ecologically favorable manner. The main objectives are to: 1) quantify the effectiveness and limitations of burning oil on mudflats; 2) test the use of natural sorbent products as a burning aid, insulator, and post-burn fertilizer; 3) test the effectiveness of soot reducing agents in combination with the sorbent products; 4) assess the ecological impact due to temperature rises and hydrocarbon distribution on mudflats.
