In situ burning via towed boom of oil spilled at sea

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Combustion and Flame; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-2180(92)90091-3· OSTI ID:7103648

Carrier, G; Fendell, F; Mitchell, J ^[1]

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1. Center for Propulsion Technology and Fluid Mechanics, TRW Space and Technology Group, Redondo Beach, CA (US)

In this paper, operational guidance for the efficient use of combustion in the cleanup of a surface oil film, formed as a result of a spill at sea, is sought by approximate analysis. In remediation by burning, the spilled oil itself provides the energy for its cleanup. Attention is focused on situations holding relatively far from the source of the spill and/or relatively long after the spill: the oil is taken to have so dispersed that the thickness of the film is on the order of a few millimeters. Under such conditions, the oil film is unlikely to burn without the use of multiple towed booms, each boom spreading its already-ignited, localized fire to continuously collected, previously unignited portions of the oil film. A simple, quasisteady, two-dimensional analysis suggests efficient values for the tow speed and the tow--line length as functions of such parameters as the oil density, oil-film thickness, oil burn/evaporation rate, etc. The analysis leads to specific suggestions for apparently unreported laboratory experiments that may be informative prior to at-sea operation.

• OSTI ID: 7103648
• Journal Information: Combustion and Flame; (United States), Journal Name: Combustion and Flame; (United States) Vol. 90:3; ISSN 0010-2180; ISSN CBFMA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
025000 -- Petroleum-- Combustion
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
DIMENSIONS
EVAPORATION
FILMS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
LABORATORIES
OIL SPILLS
OXIDATION
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
SEAS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
SURFACE WATERS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
THICKNESS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS