The document discusses various methods for cleaning up oil spills. It notes that over 3 million metric tons of oil pollute the oceans each year, primarily from land runoff and shipping accidents. Oil spills pose hazards such as fire, contaminated drinking water, and harm to tourism. They can kill plants and animals and harm humans. Cleanup methods discussed include dispersants, burning, bioremediation, booms, and skimmers. Dispersants break up oil but can harm marine life. Burning can remove 98% of oil if thick enough but produces air pollution. Bioremediation uses bacteria and nutrients to break down oil more quickly. Booms contain oil using floating barriers, while skimmers vacuum, blot, or

1. Oil Spills

2. pollutant in the oceans.
 More than 3 million metric tons
of oil contaminate the sea every
year.
 The majority of oil pollution in
the oceans comes from land.
 Run off and waste from cities,
industry, and rivers carries oil
into the ocean.
 Ships cause about a third of the
oil pollution in the oceans when

4. Human impact of oil spills
• An oil spill represents an immediate fire hazard.
• Spilled oil can also contaminate drinking water
supplies.
• Contamination can have an economic impact
on tourism and marine resource extraction
industries.

9. Effects on Marine Life
• Algae and other local plants have been reported to
be eradicated. Animals that come in touch with high
concentrations of oil die of oil poisoning.
• Worms, microorganisms and young sea creatures are
more sensitive. Humans and other animals living near
the sea are also threatened.
• Among these compounds, aromatic hydrocarbons
that low boiling point are more dangerous, such as
benzene, toluene and xylene. Naphthalene and
Phenanthrene are more poisonous for fishes.

11. • Aromatic compounds are more soluble in water than
saturated hydrocarbons; therefore creatures may
become poisoned without direct contact with the oil
by the polluted water.
• Fortunately these compounds are volatile; their
harmful effects will decrease with time.

14. Chemical
Methods

15. Dispersants
• Chemicals, such as detergents, break apart
floating oil into small particles or drops so that
the oil is no longer in a layer on the water’s
surface.
• These chemicals break up a layer of oil into
small droplets.
• These small droplets of oil then disperse or mix
with the water.
• The problem with this method is that
dispersants often harm marine life and the
dispersed oil remains in the body of water
where it is toxic to marine life.

17. Physical
Methods

18. Burning
• Burning of oil can actually remove up to 98% of an oil
spill.
• The spill must be a minimum of three millimetres thick
and it must be relatively fresh for this method to work.
• There has been some success with this technique in
Canada.
• The burning of oil during the Gulf War was found not as
large a problem as first thought because the amount of
pollution in the atmosphere did not reach the expected
high levels.
• Field-testing is needed to check the feasibility of this
technology.

21. Bioremediation
• There are bacteria and fungi that naturally
break down oil.
• This process is usually very slow- it would
take years for oil to be removed by
microorganisms.
• Adding either fertilizer or microorganisms to
the water where the spill is located can speed
up the breakdown process.
• The fertilizer gives the bacteria and fungi
the nutrients they need to grow and
reproduce quicker.

23. • Adding microorganisms increases the population
that is available to degrade the oil.
• A drawback to adding fertilizers is that it also
increases the growth of algae.
• When the large numbers of algae die they use up
much of the oxygen & hence there isn’t enough
oxygen for animals like fish.

24. Mechanical
Methods

25. Booms
• It’s easier to clean-up oil if it’s all in one spot, so equipment called
containment booms act like a fence to keep the oil from spreading
or floating away.
• Booms float on the surface and have three parts:
i.
A ‘freeboard’ or part that rises above the water surface and
contains the oil and prevents it from splashing over the top.
ii. A ‘skirt’ that rides below the surface and prevents the oil
from being pushed under the booms and escaping.
iii. A cable or chain that connects, strengthens, and stabilizes the
boom.
iv. Connected sections of boom are placed around the oil spill
until it is totally surrounded and contained.

28. • One problem with using this method is that once
the material is coated with oil, it may then be
heavier than water.
• Then you have the problem of the oil-coated
material sinking to the bottom where it could harm
animals living there.
• Absorbent materials, very much like paper towels,
are used to soak up oil from the water’s surface or
even from rocks and animal life on shore that
becomes coated with oil.

29. Mechanical
MethodSkimmers

30. • Skimmers are machines that suck
the oil up like a vacuum cleaner,
blot the oil from the surface with
oil-attracting materials, or
physically separate the oil from
the water so that it spills over a
dam into a tank.
• Much of the spilled oil can be
recovered with skimmers
• The recovered oil has to be stored
somewhere though, so storage
tanks or barges have to be
brought to the spill to hold the

31. • Oil skimmers are commonly found in
three types:
1.Weir
2.Oleophilic
3.Non- Oleophilic

32. • Weir skimmers function by
allowing the oil floating on the
surface of the water to flow over
a weir.
• The height of the weir may be
adjustable.
• These devices will collect water
when oil is no longer present.
• Weir skimmers are also available
in floating, self-adjusting
variations.

33. Weir Skimmer

34. • Oleophilic skimmers function by
using a rotating element such as a
drum, to which the oil adheres.
• The oil is wiped from the surface
of the drum and collected.
• They are very efficient and do not
pick up any appreciable amounts of
water even when oil is not present.
• Oleophilic skimmers are
distinguished not by their operation
but by the component used to
collect the oil.
Oleophilic skimmers

36. • Non-oleophilic skimmers are
distinguished by the component used
to collect the oil.
• A metal disc, belt or drum is used in
applications where an oleophilic
material is inappropriate, such as in a
hot alkaline aqueous parts washer.
• The skimmer is generally turned off
whenever there is no oil to skim thus
minimizing the amount of water
collected.
• Metal skimming elements are nearly as

38. Thank-You
Project By:
Shagun Ramola
Class: XI-A
K.V. No.1, Harni road,
Vadodara.