Oil tankers

During loading and unloading of crude oil tankers, the specific gravity of the crude is measured to confirm it meets the specifications for the case where payment is made on a barrel basis, or when the volume is converted into weight if the transaction is based on a price per ton (Hayward et al., 1980). 

The extent and manner of NDE applied in different shipyards has been the subject of a recently completed exercise within LR. The exercise involved randomly selected shipyards building ship types which included oil tankers, bulk carriers, gas carriers, container ships, ro-ro and general cargo ships. The variation in extent of applied NDE that was observed is summarised in Table 1. 

The onus for the organisation of any inspection programme beyond that required by Class rests with the owner or operator of the ship. Under certain circumstances, for example, when the propagation of cracks could lead to pollution through the loss of cargo, an owner of an oil tanker operating in US coasted waters may spend a considerable amount of money on preventative inspections. 

An oil tanker has collided witli a freighter at sea. A rupture on tlie side of the tanker lias released 450,000 gallons of crude oil (specific gravity = 0.88) into a rough sea. Estimate the spill area of oil resulting from the accident. 

Seals for hatch covers for oil tankers, prow and stern pipe seals, and couplings for ship propulsion units... 

Oil Spills. Oil spills occur from oil pipeline leaks, oil tanker accidents, or submarine oil drilling operations. The two major ocean drilling accidents—oil wells blowing out—were the 1969 Santa Barbara Channel spill and the 1979 Yucatan Peninsula spill, in Mexico. The Yucatan spill spewed out more than three million barrels before being capped in 1980. Both caused damage to beaches and marine life, but the smaller Santa Barbara spill was far more devastating because of unfavorable winds following the accident. 

The first modern oil tanker, Gluckauf, is built for Germany by England. 

Board, P. W. and Elbourne, R. G. P., Pitting Corrosion in Plain Cans Containing Acid Foods , Food Techno ., 19, 1571 (1965) C.A., 64, 2661c Voogel, P., Pit Corrosion of Internally Painted Cargo and Cargo/Ballast Tanks of Oceangoing Crude Oil Tankers , J. Oil Colour Chemists Assoc., 48, 597 (1965)... 

Cathodic protection is effectively supplied to ships hulls and also to the tanks of oil tankers and other vessels where sea-water is used for ballast or other... 

The cargo tanks of oil tankers present a special case, because of the high cost of steel renewals in unprotected tanks. For a 30 0001 tanker, costs in the region of 500000 for the initial painting of the tanks have been quoted if the life of the paint system is 6-8 years, the total cost over the normal 20-year life of a tanker is expected to be appreciably less than the sum otherwise spent on steel renewals, which may amount to several hundred thousand pounds. 

The largest releases of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are due to the incomplete combustion of organic compounds during the course of industrial processes and other human activities. Important sources include the combustion of coal, crude oil, and natural gas for both industrial and domestic purposes, the use of such materials in industrial processes (e.g., the smelting of iron ore), the operation of the internal combustion engine, and the combustion of refuse (see Environmental Health Criteria 202, 1998). The release of crude oil into the sea by the offshore oil industry and the wreckage of oil tankers are important sources of PAH in certain areas. Forest hres, which may or may not be the consequence of human activity, are a signihcant... 

Apart from release into air, which is important globally, the direct transfer of PAH to water or land surfaces can be very important locally. Wreckages of oil tankers and discharges from oil terminals cause marine pollution by crude oil, which contains appreciable quantities of PAH. Disposal of waste containing PAH around industrial premises has caused serious pollution of land in some localities. 

Ironically, despite all this scientific progress, modern fiberoptic cables went into service during a decade of chemical catastrophes more reminiscent of the old Leblanc factories than of optical fibers superpurity. On December 3, 1984, a cloud of deadly methylisocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India the gas killed more than 3000 people and injured up to 25,000. Two years later in Europe, a Sandoz chemical factory spilled 30 tons of chemicals into the Rhine River, killing fish for 120 miles downstream. In North America, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled crude oil over 1000 miles of Alaskan coastline in 1989. 

The moist sulfide readily oxidises in air exothermally, and may reach incandescence. Grinding in a mortar hastens this [1]. The impure sulfide formed when steel processing equipment is used with materials containing hydrogen sulfide or volatile sulfur compounds is pyrophoric, and has caused many fires and explosions when such equipment is opened without effective purging. Various methods of purging are discussed [2], Formation of pyrophoric FeS in bitumen tanks is considered as a cause of spontaneous ignition and explosion in the head space [3], A detailed study of formation of possibly pyrophoric sulphides from rust in crude oil tankers has been made [4],... 

Another current development in the use of F-T chemistry in a three-phase slurry reactor is Exxon s Advanced Gas Conversion or AGC-21 technology (Eidt et al., 1994 Everett et al., 1995). The slurry reactor is the second stage of a three-step process to convert natural gas into a highly paraffinic water-clear hydrocarbon liquid. The AGC-21 technology, as in the Sasol process, is being developed to utilize the large reserves of natural gas that are too remote for economical transportation via pipelines. The converted liquid from the three-step process, which is free of sulfur, nitrogen, nickel, vanadium, asphaltenes, polycyclic aromatics, and salt, can be shipped in conventional oil tankers and utilized by most refineries or petrochemical facilities. 

Primary separation facilities process the produced fluids and gases into individual streams of gas, oil and water. These facilities are commonly referred to as Gas Oil Separation Plants (GOSP s), Central Processing Facilities (CPF) or if located offshore on drilling, production and quarters platforms (PDQ s). The offshore platform may either float on the sea or be supported on steel or concrete supports secured to the ocean floor, where it is capable of resisting waves, wind, and in Arctic regions ice flows. In some instances surplus oil tankers have been converted into offshore production and storage facilities. 

Hong Kong Harbor, Oil Tanker, Fire Vessel collided with another and fire ensued 3 Fatalities... 

Structural failure of 121,000 dwt. Crude oil tanker during incorrect ballasting led to a release of contents resulting in explosions and fires. 

Epoxy-silica hybrids are well known for their abrasion resistance and low thermal expansion due to the presence of nanostructured bi-continuous domains. Most recently they have entered the market as anticorrosion coatings in the marine held, for yachts and for large metal vessels, such as oil tankers, and in particular for cargo or ballast tanks and on hulls (Figure 4.9). 

No new U.S. oil refineries have been built since 1970 for a variety of reasons, and giant oil tankers are being retired without replacement. The oil companies have not been investing in refineries because of environmental regulations, and they have been able to increase refinery capacities, but that is nearing its end. 

Annual global trends since 1970 (a) number of marine oil tanker spills greater than 7 tonnes (b) volume of oil spilled Into the oil In thousands of tonnes from those spills. Source-. From International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (2007). Statistics http //www.ltopf.com/ lnformatlon-servlces/data-and-statlstlcs/statlstlcs/ major. 

ISGOTT. 1996. International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals. ISGOTT. 

Figure 7.14 Storage tanks for crude oil can be huge. These handle 750,000 barrels, about the size of one oil tanker and perhaps two days supply for the oil refinery. A floating, expandable top enables minimal pressure variation with temperature. (Courtesy of BP Amoco, Texas City, TX)...

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