Fire hazards of oil spills on waterways

Book · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:6054047

This publication provided information on the ignition potential of oil spills on waterways. Ignition can only occur if a liquid is at or above its flack point. Spells of Class II and Class III combustible oils ordinarily equilbrate at temperatures below their flack points and cannot be easily ignited. Spills of gasoline, may crude oils and other Class I flammable oils frequently present fire hazards. A spill which is ignited at its inception became a continuously fueled fire which will burn as long as the fuel supply is maintained. On an unconfined waterway a continuously fueled fire is unlikely to involve an area of more than 0.2 square meters for each litre-per-minute of spill rate. A spill will spread to cover an area depending primarily on the quantity spilled as modified by the viscosity of the oil, and at the later stages, by the character of the residue left as evaporation proceeds. Evaporation of a spill is promoted if the oil can spread freely on the surface of the water, if ambient temperature is high and if the wind is brisk. It is possible to determine by test when an expanding spill is safe from ignition. Some precautions should be taken during the early stages of a spill. (DP)

• OSTI ID: 6054047
• 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
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EVAPORATION
F REGION
FIRE HAZARDS
FUELS
GASOLINE
HAZARDS
IGNITION
INLAND WATERWAYS
IONOSPHERE
OIL SPILLS
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
SPREAD F
SURFACE WATERS
VISCOSITY