Oil Spill-treating Agents

The terminology in the literature is not unique. Oil spill-treating agents are referred to as  

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Oil spill-treating agents have been a subject of controversy since their introduction during the Torrey Canyon oil spill off the coast of the United Kingdom in 1967. The dispersant policies of several European nations and Canada have been reviewed and compared with those of the United States [433]. 

There are some requirements that oil spill-treating agents should fulfill. Chemical dispersants are often used to disperse spilled oils, which threaten to... 

In particular, oil spill-treating agents should have a long shelf life and should be ... 

Oil spill-treating agents may be applied from boats, hydrofoils, aircraft, or helicopters in the case of large-scale pollution. For minor incidents such as car accidents, the application is done by hand. 

Effectiveness Testing. Initially, it was emphasized that oil spill-treating agents can be divided into four classes solidifiers, demulsifying agents, surfacewashing agents, and dispersants. 

The major fields of application for dispersants include cement slurries, drilling fluids, oil spill-treating agents, and transport applications. 

SL Ross. An experimental study of oil spill treating agents that inhibit emulsification and promote dispersion. Report EE87. Ottawa Environment Canada, 1986. 

Oil Spill Treating Agents A Compendium, The American Petroleum Institute, API Report No. 4150, Washington, DC, 1972. 

The importance of spill-treating agents is reflected by a list of major oil spills in the past, which is given in Table 19-1. 

M. F. Fingas, R. Stoodley, and N. Laroche. Effectiveness testing of spill-treating agents. Oil Chem Pollut, 7(4) 331-34S, 1990. 

Dispersant is a common term used to label chemical spill-treating agents that promote the formation of small droplets of oil that disperse throughout the top layer of the water column. Dispersants contain surfactants, chemicals like those in soaps and detergents, that have molecules with both a water-soluble and oil-soluble component. Depending on the nature of these components, surfactants cause oil to behave in different ways in water. Surfactants or surfactant mixtures used in dispersants have approximately the same solubility in oil and water, which stabilizes oil droplets in water so that the oil will disperse into the water column. This can be desirable when an oil slick is threatening a bird colony or a particularly sensitive shoreline. 

Solidifiers — These are a type of chemical spill-treating agent that are intended to change liquid oil to a solid compound that can be collected from the water surface with nets or mechanical means. They consist of cross-linking chemicals that couple two molecules or more to each other. 

Disposal. An estimated 2.3 billion barrels of crude oil were produced in 1997 (API 1998a). From this crude oil, TPH waste may be generated in a number of ways that ultimately lead to either improper or acceptable disposal. Incineration is a primary method of disposal for wastes containing TPH. Oil spills are frequently captured and treated using various absorbents (e.g., straw, polyurethane foam, activated carbon, peat), gelling agents, dispersants, and mechanical systems. Biodegradation also has been used to treat contaminated soil (OHM/TADS 1985). 

Photo 90 The person in the foreground is applying a surface-washing agent, while the person in the background is rinsing the treated oil down to a recovery area. (Oil Spill Response Limited)... 

Sinking agent — A material that is spread over the surface of an oil slick to adsorb oil and cause it to sink. Common sinking agents include treated sand, fly ash, and special types of clay. These materials are rarely used, however, because they provide a purely cosmetic approach to oil spill cleanup and may cause considerable damage to bottom-dwelling organisms. 

Many surfactant mixtures for treating oil spills have been promoted in the past two decades to overcome the extensive problems and costs of physical recovery. Of particular interest to this volume are dispersants, surface-washing agents, and emulsion breakers and inhibitors. All of these are formulations containing surfactants as active ingredients. Dispersants, in particular, promise to reduce the efforts and costs of cleaning up oil spills. 

Oil spills can be treated with absorbing substances or chemicals such as gelling agents, emulsifiers, and dispersants. 

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