Evaluating oil spill control equipment and techniques

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1970 · Ocean Ind.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5307749

Milz, E A

Shell Oil Co. has initiated a program to develop formal oil-spill action plans to handle the increasing spill incidence. Shell constructed a 120 x 50 x 5-ft wave tank equipped with a mechanical wave generator to conduct tests using 3 variables: (1) environmental condition; (2) volume of oil spilled; and (3) type of oil spilled. The environmental conditions imposed were wind velocity, wave structure, and current velocity. Tabular data illustrate the properties of 6 oils used in the tests. Three types of skimmers and 3 generic types of oil containment booms were tested. Generally, booms are not effective in sea states over about 2 to 4 ft and in currents over 0.7 kn. Air barriers were found to be generally effective in quiescent water. Tests were made to determine the relative performance of 15 floating sorbents, as shown by tabular data. The tests show that, pound-for-pound, the polyurethane and urea formaldehyde foams are the best oil sorbents. Oil skimmers should be designed for easy handling, easy operation, versatility to operate in wave and current situations, and be capable of skimming oil at a high oil-to-water ratio.

• Research Organization: Shell Pipeline Corp
• OSTI ID: 5307749
• Journal Information: Ocean Ind.; (United States), Journal Name: Ocean Ind.; (United States) Vol. 5:7; ISSN OCIDA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ADSORBENTS
CONTROL
EQUIPMENT
EVALUATION
OIL SPILLS
PERFORMANCE
POLLUTION CONTROL
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
SKIMMERS
SORBENT RECOVERY SYSTEMS
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL