Presentation on Oil Spill presented during my 8th Semester at Department of Petroleum Engineering, Dibrugarh University Institute of Engineering and Technology.

1. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01723/BP2_1723549b.jpg
Presented By-
Antoni Boruah (PE-07/12)
Nitish Prasad (PE-41/12)
Thong Teron (PE-57/12)

2. • An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum
hydrocarbon into the environment especially marine
areas, due to human activity and is the form of
pollution. Oil spills maybe due to release of crude oil,
off shore platforms, drilling rigs, and wells as well as
spills of refined petroleum products. Cleanup of oil
spill is difficult and depends upon many factors. It may
take weeks, months or even years.

3.  Accidental spills during:
 Storage
 Handling
 Transport
 Offshore drilling
 Routine maintenance activities
 Intentional oil discharges
 Indirectly through burning of fuels, including vehicle
emissions
http://www.environmentalpollutioncenters.org/oil-
spill/causes/

4. Oil spill pollution can have multiple causes both of natural as well as man made.
 Accidental spills-
 Storage – oil and oil products may be stored in a variety of ways including underground
and aboveground storage tanks such containers may develop leaks over time.
 Handling – during transfer operations and various uses.
 Offshore drilling
 Routine maintenance activities such as cleaning of ships may release oil into
navigable waters.
 Water Sports -oil spills are spills by petroleum users of released oil. This happens
when various water sports or water vehicles such as motorboats and jet skis leak fuel.
 Intentional oil discharges

5. Largest Oil Spill Event in History :
Gulf War oil spill
http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/05/gulfwaroilspill_500_0510-xln.jpg

6.  When oil is spilled in the ocean, it spreads primarily
on the surface, depending on its relative density and
composition.
 It is estimated that approximately 706 million gallons
of waste oil enter the ocean every year, with over half
coming from land drainage and waste disposal.
 If oil waste reaches the shoreline or coast, it interacts
with the beach sand and gravel, rocks and boulders,
vegetation, and terrestrial habitats of both wildlife
and humans, causing erosion as well as
contamination.

7.  Offshore oil spills or leaks occur during
various stages of well drilling and repair
operations.
 Oil waste from offshore drilling operations
come from disposal of oil-based drilling fluid
wastes, deck runoff water, flowline and
pipeline leaks, or well failures or blowouts.

8.  The immediate effects of toxic and
smothering oil waste may be mass
contamination of fish and other food species.
 Reptiles, amphibians, and birds that live in or
near the ocean, are also poisoned by oil
waste.

9.  Long-term ecological effects that contaminate or
destroy the food chain and are also harmful to the
wildlife, so species populations may change or
disappear.
 Oil waste that invades and pollutes these areas and
negatively affects human activities can have
devastating and long-term effects on the local
economy and society.

10.  It depends on the type of oil that is spilled in
the water, that effects the animals and
surrounding wildlife.
 The oil gets on animals body and makes it
into a very thick layer
 It cause stress to animals which will
eventually kill them.

12. • Local industries
• Human health
• Marine ecosystem including animal and
plant life
• Vegetation & mangroves
• Effect on marine life
• Damage Beaches, Marshlands and Fragile
Marine Ecosystems

13. • Tourist as
fishing,
swimming or
sailing
• Industries that
rely on fresh sea
water
• Devices used to
catch fish
cannot be used
for fear of
damaging them
in area that have
had an oil spill

14. • Inhalation of vapor,
touching oil slicks and
consuming
contaminated sea food
• Causes neurological,
acute toxic effects,
ocular (eye) and also
problems of respiratory
system
• Nausea, throat
infections, nose and eye
irritations, etc. along
with migraines and
headaches.

15. • Spread of oil slick
• Movement (waves)and
weather (cold , low
energy, little water
movement)
• Area effected i.e.
Estuaries/ foreshore
• Proximity to bird
breeding colony

16. • Root areas of plants may
be harmful
• Living coral is also
vulnerable to oil slicks. If
the living coral dies, then
the reef of coral can be
destroyed by wave
erosion.
• A thick coating of oil on
the leaves does almost no
damage if it occurs
outside the growing
season.

17. • Salt tolerant tress and shrubs
and provide habitat for sea
birds, crabs, oysters, breeding
ground for birds
• Their complex root system
stabilizes and sediment,
preventing soil erosion
• They obtain oxygen through
lenticels on aerial roots,
which may become clogged
and stop oxygen supply
• There may be long term loss
of habitat

18.  Oil on ocean surfaces is
harmful to many forms of
aquatic life because it prevents
sufficient amounts of sunlight
from penetrating the surface.
 It also reduces the level of
dissolved oxygen.
 Crude oil ruins the insulating
and waterproofing properties of
feathers and fur, and thus oil-
coated birds and marine
mammals may die from
hypothermia.

21. • Marine mammals are
vulnerable to oil spills
because of their
amphibious habits and
their dependence on
air.
• The rough skin
surface, body hair and
grooming habits of
some species increase
the possibility of oil
contact, ingestion and
associated
toxicological effects.

22. • Absorption of oil by
fibrous plants and
grasses
• Effects on fragile
underwater ecosystems
• Killing or
contaminating many
fish and smaller
organisms that are
essential links in the
global food chain.

23.  One method in treating oil spills is to burn it
in a contained area on the surface of the
water.
 A combination of wind, sun, current, and
wave action will rapidly disperse and
evaporate most oils. Light oils will disperse
more quickly than heavy oils.

24.  Leave the oil alone so that it breaks down by
natural means.
 Contain the spill with booms and collect it
from the water surface using skimmer
equipment.
 Use dispersants to break up the oil and speed
its natural biodegradation.
 Introduce biological agents to the spill to
hasten biodegradation.

25. There are a number of methods which
may apparently be used to deal with oil
spills in seawater. Some options used
for marine protection from oil pollution
include:
• Mechanical Collection
• Chemical Dispersants
• Naturally available materials

26.  Setting fire to the oil spill:
Frequently crude oil is set
on fire in a wrecked ship
when an accident occurs.
The problem of burning
surface oil is very difficult
due to less thickness of the
layer and large surface
area. The volatile fraction
evaporates quickly and
makes it impossible to
ignite without doping
special measures.
• Skimming: It can be performed by employing devices for
collecting oil from a large area of water to make it a
thicker layer in harbour sheltered places.

27.  Sinking: Mixing small fine granular solids of
fairly high density (sand) culminates into
slurry, sinking the oil spill to the bottom of the
seabed.
 Absorbing: Floating oil can be separated due to
absorption applying chemicals.
• Gelling: Spraying gelling
agents with a certain amount
of mixing energy into the oil
spill causes formation of gel
or coagulation. The resulting
lumps can be collected easily
in the vicinity of a wrecked
ship.

28.  Breaks up oil before it reaches the beaches
and marshes on land
 1.8 million gallons were used on the surface
and at source of oil leakage – more than has
ever been used by the US before
 Dispersing the oil causes many marine
animals to be subject to oil that would not
have been without using dispersants, which
have unknown effects

29. o Sprayed on surface of water, breaks oil down
into tiny suspended droplets, over time
broken down by oil-eating bacteria, sunlight,
and wave action and dispersed throughout
the ocean or sinks to the bottom
o Toxic to marine animals that
live/spawn/reproduce there, trades one
ecosystem for another

31.  Most sprayed from airplanes, however in
this specific instance was injected at the
well’s leaking riser a mile below the surface,
effects of which had previously never been
tested
 No idea how oil, dispersants, and bacteria
will react under such high pressure, low
temps and O2, and no light
 If oil not degraded by bacteria, could linger
for decades on bottom of ocean floor or
carried to deep sea coral reefs

32. By using naturally available materials
CORCHORUS DEPRESSUS - This plant acts as a
sinking material when used in the powder form for
removal of oil from seawater by absorbing oil and
settling to the bottom.
ARACHIS HYPOGAEA - The solid
pulp that remains after edible oil is
extracted from it as a high protein
live stock feed which enables it to
absorb the oil spill from sea water
which gets collected on the surface.

33. BENTONITE CLAY: It acts as a sinking
material when added to oil spill polluted
water sample
ACTIVATED CARBON: This material causes
the oil spill to form a gel or coagulate,
however due to its chemical composition it
may have negative side effects on marine
health life environment

34. On the shore In the water

35. • Bioremediation
• Manual treatment
• Mechanical
treatment

36. • Boom
• Burning
• Spreading of chemicals
• Skimming
• Sorbents
 Natural organic sorbents
 Natural inorganic sorbents
 Synthetic sorbents
• Shovels

37. Boom

38. • Containment booms are used to control the spread of oil to reduce the
possibility of polluting shorelines and other resources, as well as to
concentrate oil in thicker surface layers, making recovery easier.
• In addition, booms may be used to divert and channel oil slicks along desired
paths, making them easier to remove from the surface of the water.
 Booms can be divided into several basic types-
• Fence booms have a high freeboard and a flat flotation device, making them least effective in rough water, where wave
and wind action can cause the boom to twist.
• Round or curtain booms have a more circular flotation device and a continuous skirt. They perform well in rough
water, but are more difficult to clean and store than fence booms.
• Non rigid or inflatable booms come in many shapes. They are easy to clean and store, and they perform well in rough
seas. However, they tend to be expensive, more complicated to use, and puncture and deflate easily.
All boom types are greatly affected by the conditions on the water; the higher the waves swell, the less effective booms
become.
Booms

40. Burning

41. Spreading of chemicals

42. Gelling Agents
• Gelling agents, also known as solidifiers, are chemicals that react with oil to form rubber-
like solids.
• With small spills, these chemicals can be applied by hand and left to mix on their own. For
treating larger spills, the chemicals are applied to the oil, then mixed in by the force of high
pressure water streams.
• The gelled oil is removed from the water using nets, suction equipment, or skimmers, and is
sometimes reused after being mixed with fuel oil.
• There is one drawback to the use of gelling agents. Large quantities of the material must
often be applied, as much as three times the volume of the spill. For oil spills of millions of
gallons it is impractical to store, move, and apply such large quantities of material.

43. Skimming

44.  Skimmers
 A skimmer is a device for recovering spilled oil from the water's surface.
 Three types of skimmers -weir, oleophilic and suction
 Weir skimmers use a dam or enclosure positioned at the oil/water interface. Oil floating on top of the
water will spill over the dam and be trapped in a well inside, bringing with it as little water as possible.
 The trapped oil and water mixture can then be pumped out through a pipe or hose to a storage tank for
recycling or disposal.
 These skimmers are prone to becoming jammed and clogged by floating debris.

45.  Oleophilic ("oil-attracting") skimmers use belts, disks, or continuous mop chains
of oleophilic materials to blot the oil from the water surface.
 The oil is then squeezed out or scraped off into a recovery tank.
 Oleophilic skimmers have the advantage of flexibility, allowing them to be used
effectively on spills of any thickness.
 Some types, such as the chain or "ropemop" skimmer, work well on water that is
choked with debris or rough ice.

46.  Suction skimmers operate similarly to a household vacuum cleaner.
 Oil is sucked up through wide floating heads and pumped into storage tanks.
 Although suction skimmers are generally very efficient, they are vulnerable to becoming
clogged by debris and require constant skilled observation.
 Suction skimmers operate best on smooth water, where oil has collected against a boom
or barrier

47. Sorbents

48.  Sorbents are insoluble materials or mixtures of materials used to recover liquids
through the mechanism of absorption, or adsorption, or both.
 To be useful in combating oil spills, sorbents need to be both oleophilic (oil attracting)
and hydrophobic (water repellent).
 Although they may be used as the sole cleanup method in small spills, sorbents
are most often used to remove final traces of oil, or in areas that cannot be reached by
skimmers.
 Sorbents can be divided into three basic categories:
• Natural organic
• Natural inorganic
• Synthetic.

49.  Natural organic sorbents include peat moss, straw, hay, sawdust, ground corncobs, feathers, and
other readily available carbon based products.
 Organic sorbents can adsorb between 3 and 15 times their weight in oil.
 Natural inorganic sorbents consist of clay, perlite, vermiculite, glass wool, sand, or volcanic ash.
 They can adsorb from 4 to 20 times their weight in oil.
 Synthetic sorbents include manmade materials that are similar to plastics, such as polyurethane,
polyethylene, and polypropylene and are designed to adsorb liquids onto their surfaces.
 Other synthetic sorbents include crosslinked polymers and rubber materials, which absorb liquids into
their solid structure, causing the sorbent material to swell.
 Most synthetic sorbents can absorb up 70 times their own weight in oil.

50.  The characteristics of both sorbents and oil types must be considered when choosing sorbents
for cleaning up oil spills:
• Rate of absorption - The absorption of oil is faster with lighter oil products. Once absorbed the
oil cannot be rereleased. Effective with light hydrocarbons (e.g., gasoline, diesel fuel, benzene).
• Rate of adsorption - The thicker oils adhere to the surface of the adsorbent more effectively.
• Oil retention - The weight of recovered oil can cause a sorbent structure to sag and deform, and
when it is lifted out of the water, it can release oil that is trapped in its pores. Lighter, less
viscous oil is lost through the pores more easily than are heavier.
• Ease of application - Sorbents may be applied to spills manually or mechanically, using
blowers or fans. Many natural organic sorbents that Sorbents being used to absorb crude oil.
exist as loose materials, such as clay and vermiculite, are dusty, difficult to apply in windy
conditions, and potentially hazardous if inhaled.

51. Shovels

52.  Former BP CEO Tony
Hayward initially stated
that BP would take full
economic
responsibility for all of
those affected.
 On June 16, after
meeting with President
Obama, BP executives
agreed to create a
$20 billion spill
response fund
 Attorney Kenneth
Feinberg is in charge
of this escrow account.
 By November, BP said it
had sent $1.7 billion in
checks.
 Estimates state that
about $6 billion of the
fund will be paid out in
claims, including
government aims and
cleanup costs.
Feinberg plans to
return the remaining
$14 billion to BP once
all the settlements are
paid out by August
2013.[

53.  Fishing in Louisiana alone supplies roughly
40% of US seafood.
 Approximately 36% of Gulf federal waters
were closed off during the clean-up
processes.
 The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is
estimated to cost the industry $2.4 billion.
• Tourism in Florida is another industry that
has been largely affected.
• The region’s tourism industry is expected to
be impacted for an additional 2.5 years and
suffer a total loss of $22.7 billion.

54.  Clean Harbors, a company
dedicated to coastal
restoration, was employed to
help in clean-up efforts.
 They saw an increase in market
shares of at least 12%.
 Nalco Holdings has benefited
greatly from the oil spill.
 Production of Corexit has
caused shares to increase
dramatically, even as much as
6% in one day.

55.  There are 195
seafood processors
across the Gulf Coast
employing more than
9,000 workers and
generating more than
$1 billion in revenue
a year.
 Seafood supply is
down because
fishermen who
normally bring in the
crabs, shrimp and
fish have been
employed with BP
cleaning up the spill
or have not been able
to return to their
fisheries because of
the oil.

56.  At the same time,
demand is down
because their
longtime
customers, such as
restaurants and
grocery chains,
have turned to
other sources or
are skittish to buy
Gulf seafood.
 This is a classic
supply chain
problem that is
caused by tainted
resources and a
tainted reputation
of where the
product is coming
from.
 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2
010-10-08-oilspill08_ST_N.htm

57. Conclusion –
Oil spill is a type of pollution.
It is injurious to environment therefore a proper treatment should be used for its
cleaning.
Different cleaning techniques have different characteristics and it should be used
according to that.
Proper monitoring of oil spills should be done over a period of time and also after its
cleaning.
Oil transportation should be done in a secure manner.
Oil debris should be handled proprely.

58. References-
• Oil Spill Monitoring based on SAR Remote Sensing Imagery
Jianchao Fana, Fengshou Zhangb, Dongzhi Zhaob, Jun Wanga
• OIL SPILL MONITORING HANDBOOK- Australian Maritime Safety Authority
• Oil spill control technologies - Mallory Nomack (EPA)
• GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF OIL SPILL DISPERSANTS - Leigh Stevens (Cawthron Institute- New
Zealand)
• Encyclopedia Britannica www.britannica.com
• www.indiancoastguard.nic.in
• Oil Spill Prevention and Response Guidance -California Coastal Commission
• Effects of Oil on Wildlife and Habitat - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• http://www.epa.gov/emergency-response/sorbents