Abstract
ABSTRACT There has been an increasing awareness of the utility of conventional chemical dispersants in general, and self-mix dispersants in particular as a viable means to minimize damage from oil spills. This paper will update the use of, and activity regarding the self-mix dispersant as noted in applications over the past two years. In addition, those aspects that are still little understood are discussed. Specifically, uniformly sized, dispersed oil droplets of approximately 1 micron diameter are formed by the diffusion action of self-mix chemical dispersants. The droplet size influences the dilution rate of the spilled oil in field applications, and data to support this are presented. The results of laboratory bioassays performed with these much smaller dispersed oil droplets, as opposed to larger droplets formed with mechanical mixing, can be misinterpreted since the increased rate of dilution afforded by smaller droplet size is not replicated. In addition to the vital dilution study results, this paper also presents evidence to clarify several popular misconceptions regarding chemical dispersants. For example, it is explained that the apparent synergistic effects between oil and dispersant do not indicate that chemical dispersants release toxic substances from the oil into the water. Data is also presented which shows that dispersants do not cause the oil to sink.
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