Oil Spill, Status and Solution free essay sample

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from  tanker ship  accidents have damaged natural  ecosystems  in  Alaska, the  Gulf of Mexico, the  Galapagos Islands, France and many  other places. The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has varied from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (for example : Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,  Atlantic Empress,  Amoco Cadiz) but is a limited barometer of damage or impact. Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems (Exxon Valdez oil spill)  because of the inaccessibilityof the site or the difficulty of an emergency environmental responses. Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of seagoing miles in a thin  oil slick  which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. This can kill sea birds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly  bulldozed  around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily. We will write a custom essay sample on Oil Spill, Status and Solution or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Largest oil spills, ordered by  tons Spill/Tanker |Location |Date |Tons of crude oil |Barrels | | | | |(thousands) |(thousands) | |Kuwaiti oil fires |[pic]Kuwait |January, 1991  Ã‚  November, |136,000-205,000 |1,000,000-1,500,000 | | | |1991 | | | |Kuwaiti oil lakes |[pic]Kuwait |January, 1991  Ã‚  November, |25,000-50,000 |1,050,000-2,100,000 | | | |1991 | | | |Lakeview Gusher |[pic]United States,  Kern |March 14, 1910  Ã¢â‚¬â€œSeptember, |9,000 |378,000 | | |County, California |1911 | | | |Gulf War oil spill |[pic]Kuwait,  Iraq, and |January 19, 1991  -January |6,000–8,000 |252,000–336,000 | | |the  Persian Gulf |28, 1991 | | | |Deepwater Horizon |[pic]United States,  Gulf of |April 20, 2010  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚   July 15, |4,100-4,900 |172,000-180,800 | | |Mexico |2010 | | | |Ixtoc I |[pic]Mexico,  Gulf of Mexico |June 3, 1979  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  March 23, |3,329–3,520 |139,818–147,840 | | | |1980 | | | ESTIMATE THE VOLUME OF AN OIL SPILL By ob serving the thickness of the film of oil and its appearance on the surface of the water, it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled. If the surface area of the spill is also known, the total volume of the oil can be calculated. |Film Thickness |Quantity Spread | |Appearance |in |mm |nm |gal/sq mi |L/ha | |Barely Visible |0. 0000015 |0. 0000380 |38 |25 |0. 370 | |Silvery sheen |0. 0000030 |0. 0000760 |76 |50 |0. 730 | |First trace of color |0. 0000060 |0. 0001500 |150 |100 |1. 500 | |Bright bands of color |0. 0000120 |0. 0003000 |300 |200 |2. 900 | |Colors begin to dull |0. 0004000 |0. 010000 |1000 |666 |9. 700 | |Colors are much darker |0. 0008000 |0. 0020000 |2000 |13322 |19. 500 | Oil spill model systems are used by industry and government to assist in planning and emergency decision making. Critical importance for the skill of the oil spill model prediction is the adequate description of the wind and current fields. There is a worldwide oil spill modelling (WOSM) prog ram. Tracking the scope of an oil spill may also involve verifying that hydrocarbons collected during an ongoing spill are derived from the active spill or some other source. NDINGS. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS Having been mentioned above,oil punctures into the structure of the  plumage  of birds and the  fur  of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less  buoyant  in the water. Oil spills can pose grave dangers to surrounding ecosystems. As oil floats on water, it blocks sunlight from getting through to plants and other wildlife below. The substance is also toxic and nullifies the waterproofing and insulating properties of feathers and fur, allowing it to kill animals via poisoning or hypothermia. And oil spills can impede private and commercial fishing, too, spurring economic problems. Animals that rely on scent to find their babies or mothers fade away due to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned, leaving the babies to starve and eventually die. Oil can weaken an ability to fly of a bird, preventing it from foraging or escaping from predators. As they  preen, birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers, irritating the  digestive tract, altering  liver  function, and causing  kidney  damage. Together with their diminished foraging capacity, this can rapidly result in dehydration and metabolic imbalance. Some birds exposed to petroleum also experience changes in their hormonal balance, including changes in their  luteinizing  protein. The majority of birds affected by oil spills die without human intervention. Some studies have suggested that less than one percent of oil-soaked birds survive, even after cleaning. Heavily furred  marine mammals  exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways. Oil coats the fur of  sea otters  and  seals, reducing its insulating effect, and leading to fluctuations in  body temperature  and  hypothermia. Oil can also blind an animal, leaving it defenseless. The ingestion of oil causes dehydration and weakens the digestive process. Animals can be poisoned, and may die from oil entering the lungs or liver. There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria  (SRB) and acid-producing bacteria are  anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are  aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain. ENVIRONMENT SENSITIVE INDEX (ESI) MAPPING Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are used to identify sensitive shoreline resources prior to an oil spill event in order to set priorities for protection and plan cleanup strategies. By planning spill response ahead of time, the impact on the environment can be minimized or prevented. Environmental sensitivity index maps are basically made up of information within the following three categories: shoreline type, and biological and human-use resources. Shoreline type Shoreline  type is classified by rank depending on how easy the garet would be to clean up, how long the oil would persist, and how sensitive the shoreline is. The floating oil slicks put the shoreline at particular risk when they eventually come ashore, covering the  substrate  with oil. The differing substrates between shoreline types vary in their response to oiling, and influence the type of cleanup that will be required to effectively decontaminate the shoreline. In 1995, the US  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  extended ESI maps to lakes, rivers, and estuary shoreline types. The exposure the shoreline has to wave energy and tides, substrate type, and slope of the shoreline are also taken into account—in addition to biological productivity and sensitivity. The productivity of the shoreline habitat is also taken into account when determining ESI ranking. Mangroves  and marshes tend to have higher ESI rankings due to the potentially long-lasting and damaging effects of both the oil contamination and cleanup actions. Impermeable and exposed surfaces with high wave action are ranked lower due to the reflecting waves keeping oil from coming onshore, and the speed at which natural processes will remove the oil. Biological resources Habitats of plants and animals that may be at risk from oil spills are referred to as elements and are divided by functional group. Further classification divides each element into species groups with similar life histories and behaviors relative to their vulnerability to oil spills. There are eight element groups: Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish, Invertebrates, Habitats and Plants, Wetlands, and Marine Mammals and Terrestrial Mammals. Element groups are further divided into sub-groups, for example, the ‘marine mammals’ element group is divided into  dolphins, manatees,pinnipeds  (seals, sea lions walruses),  polar bears,  sea otters  and  whales. Problems taken into consideration when ranking biological resources include the observance of a large number of individuals in a small area, whether special life stages occur ashore (nesting or molting), and whether there are species present that are threatened, endangered or rare. Human-use resources Human use resources are divided into four major: ( Classifications ( Archaeological  importance or cultural resource site, ( High-use recreational areas or shoreline access points, ( Important protected management areas, or resource origins. The oil spills affect all of these four major and they are usually bad effects for our Human life. Some examples include airports, diving sites, popular beach sites, marinas, natural reserves or marine sanctuaries. [pic] A U. S. Air Force Reserve plane sprays Corexit  dispersant over the  Deepwater Horizon oil spill  in the Gulf of Mexico. [pic] Clean-up efforts after the  Exxon Valdez oil spill. [pic] A US Navy oil spill response team drills with a Harbour Buster high-speed oil containment system. [pic] Surf Scoter  covered in oil as a result of the  2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill. [pic] A bird covered in oil from the  Black Sea oil spill. [pic] Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the  Prestige oil spill. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS. Humans have taken a variety of measures to clean up oil spills, but a perfect method has yet to be found. A common first step is to set up floating booms to contain the loose oil, and then pump it up for storage. Chemical dispersants can break up oil into smaller, dispersible droplets, although they can also make oil more toxic. When oil spills reach shorelines, standard cleaning procedures involve a combination of manpower, construction equipment and vacuums CLEANUP AND RECOVERY Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Methods for cleaning up include: †¢ Bioremediation: use of  microorganisms  or  biological agents  to break down or remove oil. Bioremediation Accelerator: Oleophilic, hydrophobic chemical, containing no bacteria, which chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The bioremediation accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and o n the surface, floating molecules to the surface of the water, including solubles such as phenols and BTEX, forming gel-like agglomerations. Undetectable levels of hydrocarbons can be obtained in produced water and manageable water columns. By overspraying sheen with bioremediation accelerator, sheen is eliminated within minutes. Whether applied on land or on water, the nutrient-rich emulsion creates a bloom of local, indigenous, pre-existing, hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria. Those specific bacteria break down the hydrocarbons into water and carbon dioxide, with EPA tests showing 98% of alkanes biodegraded in 28 days; and aromatics being biodegraded 200 times faster than in nature they also sometimes use the hydrofireboom to clean the oil up by taking it away from most of the oil and burning it. †¢ Controlled  burning  can effectively reduce the amount of oil in water, if done properly. But it can only be done in low  wind,and can cause  air pollution. †¢ Dispersants  can be used to dissipate  oil slicks. A dispersant is either a non-surface active  polymer  or a  surface-active substance  added to asuspension, usually a  colloid, to improve the separation of  particles  and to prevent  settling  or  clumping. They may rapidly  disperse  large amounts of certain oil types from the sea  surface  by transferring it into the  water column. They will cause the oil slick to break up and form water-soluble  micellesthat are rapidly  diluted. The oil is then effectively spread throughout a larger volume of water than the surface from where the oil was dispersed. They can also delay the formation of persistent  oil-in-water emulsions. However, laboratory experiments showed that dispersants increased toxic hydrocarbon levels in fish by a factor of up to 100 and may kill fish eggs. Dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate  coral. Research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals. A 2012 study found that  Corexit  dispersant had increased the toxicity of oil by up to 52 times. †¢ Watch and wait: in some cases, natural attenuation of oil may be most appropriate, due to the invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands. †¢ Dredging: for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water. †¢ Skimming: Requires calm waters at all times during the process. †¢ Solidifying: Solidifiers are composed of dry  hydrophobic  polymers  that both  adsorb  and  absorb. They clean up oil spills by changing the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a semi-solid or a rubber-like material that floats on water. Solidifiers are  insoluble  in water, therefore the removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out. Solidifiers have been proven to be relatively non-toxic to aquatic and wild life and have been proven to suppress harmful vapors commonly associated with hydrocarbons such as Benzene, Xylene, Methyl Ethyl, Acetone and Naphtha. The reaction time for solidification of oil is controlled by the surf area or size of the polymer as well as the viscosity of the oil. Some solidifier product manufactures claim the solidified oil can be disposed of in landfills, recycled as an additive in asphalt or rubber products, or burned as a low ash fuel. A solidifier called C. I. Agent (manufactured by  C. I. Agent Solutions  of  Louisville, Kentucky) is being used by  BP  in granular form, as well as in Marine and Sheen Booms at  Dauphin Island  and  Fort Morgan, Alabama, to aid in the  Deepwater Horizon oil spill  cleanup. †¢ Vacuum and  centrifuge: oil can be sucked up along with the water, and then a centrifuge can be used to separate the oil from the water allowing a tanker to be filled with near pure oil. Usually, the water is returned to the sea, making the process more efficient, but allowing small amounts of oil to go back as well. This issue has hampered the use of centrifuges due to a United States regulation limiting the amount of oil in water returned to the sea. Equipment used includes: †¢ Booms: large floating barriers that round up oil and lift the oil off the water †¢ Skimmers: skim the oil Sorbents: large absorbents that absorb oil †¢ Chemical and biological agents: helps to break down the oil †¢ Vacuums: remove oil from beac hes and water surface †¢ Shovels  and other road equipment: typically used to clean up oil on beaches PREVENTION †¢ Secondary containment methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into environment. †¢ Oil Spill Prevention Containment and Countermeasures (SPCC) program by the  United States  Environmental Protection Agency. †¢ Double-hulling build  double hulls  into vessels, which reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding. Existing single-hull vessels can also be rebuilt to have a double hull. Offshore oil spill prevention and response  is the study and practice of reducing the number of offshore incidents that release oil or hazardous substances into the environment and limiting the amount released during those incidents. Important aspects of prevention include technological assessment of equipment and procedures, and protocols for training, inspection, and contingency plans for the avoidance, control, and shutdown of offshore operations. Response includes technological assessment of equipment and procedures for cleaning up  oil spills, and protocols for the detection, monitoring, containment, and removal of oil spills, and the restoration of affected wildlife and habitat. CONCLUSION: This course project indicated that many awful effects are brought along with oil spills to human life. Nevertheless, with lots of methods to minimize the those effects of oil spills, in studies based on the current status, root causes and its outer results and by analysing one example of oil spill, BP oil ,new and bright future of human could be obtained for the next generation. REFERENCES _http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Oil_spill _http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill _http://www. popularmechanics. com/science/energy/coal-oil-gas/biggest-oil-spills-in-history#slide-1 (from slide 1 to 10 , changing the number at the end from 1 to 10) _http://www. mnn. com/eco-glossary/oil-spill British Petroleum Deepwater Accident Investigation Report– September 2010 _Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit Loren C. Steffy – McGraw-Hill 2011 _In Too Deep – BP And The Drilling Race That Took It Down Reed Fitzgerald 2011 Bloomberg Press _http:// www. amsa. gov. au/marine_environment_protection/educational_resources_and_information/teachers/the_effects_of_oil_on_wildlife. asp _http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/special_reports/oil_disaster/ _http://www. nwf. org/What-We-Do/Protect-Habitat/Gulf-Restoration/Oil-Spill/Effects-on-Wildlife. aspx _http://www. latimes. com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-gulf-oil-spill-fish-20130502,0,6888111. story OIL SPILL ABSTRACT: