Marine Oil Spill Research Articles

Hydrophobically modified nano‐SiO2 in situ loaded on polyurethane foam as a potential carrier for marine oil spill

AbstractIn order to enhance the oil–water separation properties of polyurethane foam (PFU), hydrophobic silica nanoparticles (H‐SiO2 NPs) were firstly prepared by incorporating long alkyl chains into silica nanoparticles, and then, it was combined with PFU by in situ loading to fabricate a hydrophobic PFU (H‐SiO2 NPs/PUF). When the loading amount of H‐SiO2 NPs was 10%, the water contact angle of the modified foam H‐SiO2 NPs/PUF‐10 reached 147 ± 1°, which proved it was highly hydrophobic. The elongation at break of the foam was increased by 202%, which indicated that it had better resilience and recyclability. In addition, the total pore area and porosity were increased to 16.24 m2/g and 88.43% from 5.46 m2/g and 2.11%, which provided more storage space for adsorption. The oil–water separation experiment showed that the adsorption capacity for most light oils was 11–13 g/g, and that for dichloromethane was as high as 40.5 g/g. After 10 adsorption–desorption cycles, the adsorption capacity only decreased from 15.6 to 14.5 g/g, which was still 93% of the initial adsorption capacity. H‐SiO2 NPs/PUF represents good adsorption capacity, recyclability, and recyclability, so it as a carrier has a potential application in the treatment of marine oil spills.

SAR marine oil spill detection based on an encoder-decoder network

ABSTRACT Marine oil spills are currently among the most challenging problems in marine environments. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), with all-day and all-weather observation, has demonstrated great potential in oil disaster monitoring. A simple encoder-decoder network model was proposed by using SAR images for effective oil spill detection. The proposed model incorporates an optimized U-Net architecture that reduces computational requirements while maintaining detection performance. This is achieved through shortened encoder and decoder stages, depthwise separable convolutions, group normalization, and bilinear interpolation-based upsampling. To improve the model’s generalization, the auto-learning rate and focal loss function are also included. Two public SAR datasets acquired by different sensors have been used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed model. In addition, the polarimetric information has also been assessed for the detection of oil spill monitoring. The results show that the model can achieve high efficiency at a small model size. The sub-dataset with polarimetric features also achieves a high F1-score of 91.65% and an IoU of 84.59%.

TDA/rGO@WS with Joule heat and photothermal synergistic effect: A promising adsorption material for all–weather recovery of viscous oil spills at sea

Oil spills are a global environmental protection challenge, and traditional adsorption materials have poor effect on low temperature and high viscosity marine oil spills. This article reports composite adsorption materials TDA/rGO@WS for viscous oil spills: loaded with rGO/TDA coating on a commercial biomass wood pulp sponge (WS), achieving Joule heating, photothermal effect and hydrophobic modification. The results showed that the TDA/rGO@WS has good photothermal conversion ability and Joule heating ability, and the temperature increased to 83.7 °C and 148 °C, respectively, under simulated solar irradiation and additional voltage at room temperature. The efficiency of adsorption at a low temperature of 5 °C increased by 22.41% at 1 sun and by 51.53% at 10 V. Temperature effectively reduced the viscosity of the offshore oil spill and ensures the efficient adsorption of oil spills at low temperatures promoted. The TDA/rGO@WS also showed good hydrophobicity (WCA=129°), excellent efficiency of water–oil separation (99.53%) and good adsorption capacity (9.4–13.68 g/g) for marine fuel oils. TDA/rGO@WS effectively solves the problem of cleaning up high–viscosity oil spills from ships in winter and polar waters, and proposes a new strategy for all–weather efficient treatment of oil spills at sea.

Reusable Solid-form Phase-Selective Organogelators for Rapid and Efficient Remediation of Crude Oil Spill.

Phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs) are considered as a prospective tool for their application in oil spill remediation. However, the number of reports on the PSOGs that can be used in powder form for prompt phase-selective gelation of crude oils is still limited. In this study, a series of compounds with l-mandelic acid as the scaffold bearing different amino acid fragments have been prepared. Also, the gelation behaviors and properties of these derivatives toward organic liquids, product oils, and a type of Chinese crude oil were investigated via heating-and-cooling process, stirring, or resting operation. Besides, the micromorphologies of the resulting gels and the driving forces for the gel formation have been studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, UV spectroscopy, concentration-dependent 1H NMR, and X-ray diffraction. Particularly, gelator C15-Phe-Mac-Nap was shown to have the capability of congealing the Chinese crude oil selectively from water in powder form with a relatively lower gelator dosage, as compared with the other gelators we reported in the current and previous works. Moreover, gelator C15-Phe-Mac-Nap displayed some advantageous behaviors such as the reusability of gelator, excellent mechanical and chemical stability of the crude oil gels, and nontoxicity of the gelator in the aquatic environment, indicating its great potential application value for marine oil spill remediation.

Oil Spill Sensitivity Analysis of the Coastal Waters of Taiwan Using an Integrated Modelling Approach

Pollution caused by marine oil spills can lead to persistent ecological disasters and severe social and economic damages. Numerical simulations are useful and essential tools for accurate decision making during emergencies and planning response actions. In this study, we applied the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to determine current data, including seawater velocity, salinity, and temperature, and we obtained the fate and trajectory of spilled oil using OpenOil. Several probable oil slicks around Taiwan were simulated over time (12 months) and space (four spill locations in the marine area of each coastal city or county) using the model. The percentage risk under the effect of an oil spill is estimated. The risk zone of the coastal waters of Taiwan was identified based on the frequency of simulated oil slicks hitting the coast and sensitive resources. This information not only helps authorities guide the preparation of effective plans to minimise the impacts of oil spill incidents but could also be used to improve regulations related to shipping and vessel navigation in regional seas.

The Impact of Marine Oil Spills on the Ecosystem

This study delves into the significant impact of marine oil spills on ecosystems, societies, and economies. Marine environments, critical for global biodiversity, face severe threats from incidents like oil spills, causing immediate environmental hazards and enduring implications for marine life, habitats, and human societies. The research aims to analyze the intricate relationship between marine oil spills and their multifaceted impacts across ecological, environmental, societal, and economic dimensions. Through an examination of ecosystem responses, management methodologies, societal and economic ramifications, and an analysis of notable incidents like the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon, this study seeks to identify deficiencies in current strategies and propose more effective and sustainable remediation approaches. By synthesizing available information, this paper provides insights and recommendations for future policies, technological innovations, and research directions, aiming to promote sustainable coexistence between human activities and marine ecosystems.

Table-top numbering-up 3D-printed miniaturized hydrocyclone for high-efficiency and high-throughput separation of oil-in-water emulsions

Oily wastewater from home and industrial effluents, as well as marine oil spills, poses significant environmental problems, such as water and soil contamination and ecosystem devastation. We here developed a parallelized miniaturized hydrocyclone (mHC) system consisting of multiple mHCs and a flow distributor for high-efficiency and high-throughput separation of oil-in-water emulsions. From a manufacturing perspective, our system can be easily and rapidly created using 3D printing technology. It was also specifically designed to provide simple and durable connections between tubes and components, eliminating the need for a time-consuming bonding process. Direct visualization of primary and secondary vortex flows generated within the mHC device was achieved, allowing the variation of the vortex flows as a function of the feed flow rates to be analyzed. Furthermore, we demonstrated that a single mHC was capable of separating six types of oil-in-water emulsions with different oil phases and a separation efficiency greater than 90 %, with olive oil-based emulsions achieving a remarkable separation efficiency of 98.3 % at the optimal feed rate of 200 mL/min. By numbering-up a single mHC and incorporating a 3D-printed flow distributor to ensure a uniform flow distribution into each individual mHC, we can construct a parallelized mHC system. The separation system can process an estimated 3,168 L (837 US gallons) of mineral oil-based emulsion per day with a separation efficiency of approximately 97 %. The results of this study can be further enhanced by modifying the flow distributor, increasing the number of single mHCs, and introducing high-performance pumps.

Sodium Alginate Aerogel as a Carrier of Organogelators for Effective Oil Spill Solidification and Recovery.

Marine oil spills pose a serious threat to the marine ecological environment. Phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs) are ideal candidates for oil spill gelation when used in combination with a mechanical recovery method. However, the toxicity of an organic solvent carrier has become a key problem when it is applied in the remediation of marine oil pollution. In this study, through an inexpensive and nontoxic ionic cross-linking and freeze-drying method, we successfully developed composite oil gelling agents that used a biomass sodium alginate aerogel as the carrier of 12-hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA). Simultaneously, carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CNF-C) with large specific surface area and graphene oxide (GO) with excellent mechanical properties as reinforcing fillers were combined with an alginate matrix. 12-HSA, as a green and inexpensive organic gelator, was uniformly loaded on the aerogels by vacuum impregnation. The sodium alginate aerogel was capable of absorbing and storing oil due to its three-dimensional network skeleton and high porosity. Rheological studies have demonstrated that the organic gelator 12-HSA can be released from the aerogel substrate and self-assemble to form an oleogel with the absorbed oil quickly. The synergistic effect between absorption and congelation endows the composite oil gelling agent with efficient oil spill recovery capability. Based on eco-friendly, biodegradable, and simple synthesis methods, this composite oil gelling agent shows great potential for application in marine oil spill recovery.

Marine oil spill analyses based on Korea Coast Guard big data from 2017 to 2022 and application of data-driven Bayesian Network

Oil spills have a large after-effect on maritime environment. Oil spills occur worldwide, and their accident histories provide a rich data. In this study, oil spill data collected over six years from Korea Coast Guard (KCG) formed the basis for statistical analysis, using the Bayesian Network (BN) model. In the analysis, map-based ship distribution and accident scale were analyzed, along with the time of accident occurrence, region, oil and ship types, accident causes, and accident sources. The BN model for predicting whether the oil spill amount was low or high was constructed using the K2 and counting learning algorithms, with an accuracy of 71.43% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 75.85%. Five analyses based on the BN model were performed, and the probability distribution, effect of other nodes on a specific target node, the condition according to the amount of oil spill, effect of attribute variables on class variables, and most probable configuration for a specific class variable “Ship_type” was analyzed. Finally, a policy based on the results was proposed to support in-depth decision-making by government agencies.

Marine oil spill monitoring based on SAR technology

Marine oil spill monitoring based on SAR technology

Estimation of Marine Oil Spill Surface Characteristics Based on Laser-Induced Fluorescence With IA-DBSCAN

Estimation of Marine Oil Spill Surface Characteristics Based on Laser-Induced Fluorescence With IA-DBSCAN

A review of various dimensional superwetting materials for oil-water separation.

In recent years, the application and fabrication technologies of superwetting materials in the field of oil-water separation have become a research hotspot, aiming to address challenges in marine oil spill response and oily wastewater treatment. Simultaneously, the fabrication technologies and related applications of superwetting materials have been increasingly diversified. This paper systematically reviews the sources and hazards of oily wastewater and oil-water emulsions, several traditional oil-water separation methods, and their limitations, thereby highlighting the advantages of superwetting materials. Additionally, this paper provides an overview of the fundamental theories of wetting and conducts a microanalysis of the penetration mechanism based on Laplace pressure at the gas-liquid-solid three-phase interface. Following this, the latest advances in superwetting oil-water separation materials are elucidated, focusing on five categories: (i) superhydrophobic-superoleophilic materials; (ii) superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic materials; (iii) superhydrophobic-superoleophobic materials; (iv) "special" superwetting materials; and (v) smart switchable superwetting materials. This paper innovatively discusses these materials from the perspectives of two-dimensional and three-dimensional materials, deeply studying the mechanisms of oil-water separation and using data to quantify the separation efficiency. Comparative discussions are conducted on the materials from various dimensions, including different substrates, innovations in existing technologies, and fabrication methods as discussed in various articles, followed by corresponding summaries. Finally, the existing shortcomings and challenges of current superwetting materials are summarized, and prospects are proposed. We firmly believe that developing low-cost, stable, environmentally friendly, and practical large-scale superwetting oil-water separation materials will have broad application prospects and potential in the future.

Synergistic dispersion and biodegradation of oil in seawater based on Janus nanosheets and oil-degrading bacteria

Janus nanosheets synergistically interact with oil-degrading bacteria for marine oil spill remediation.

Surfactants Influencing the Biocatalytic Performance of Natural Alkane-Degrading Bacteria via Interfacial Biocatalysis in Pickering Emulsions.

Setting superhydrophobic Mycobacterium sp. as an example, the hydrophobic bacteria acting as demulsifying agents of surfactant-stabilized conventional emulsions, vice versa, the synergistic/antagonistic influence of nonionic surfactants (Tween 80 or Span 80) on the stability of the bacteria-stabilized Pickering emulsions was investigated. At the same time, the activated/suppression effect of nonionic surfactants on microbial degradation of tetradecane, which exhibited a dose-response relationship, was also found. The hydrophobic bacteria acting as demulsifying agents and the suppression influence of nonionic surfactants on the biocatalytic performance (indexing as biomass) of natural alkane-degrading bacteria, believed to be totally separated concepts previously, are for the first time found to be closely related to in situ surface modification of bacteria with nonionic surfactants. During the degradation of tetradecane by Mycobacterium sp. in the presence of nonionic surfactants, demulsification due to the bacteria acting as demulsifying agents and interfacial biocatalysis in the bacteria-stabilized Pickering emulsions are involved, which provides useful information to select optimal dispersants for marine oil spills.

Comparison of two field systems for determination of crude oil biodegradation in cold seawater

Marine oil spills have devastating environmental impacts and extrapolation of experimental fate and impact data from the lab to the field remains challenging due to the lack of comparable field data. In this work we compared two field systems used to study in situ oil depletion with emphasis on biodegradation and associated microbial communities. The systems were based on (i) oil impregnated clay beads and (ii) hydrophobic Fluortex adsorbents coated with thin oil films. The bacterial communities associated with the two systems displayed similar compositions of dominant bacterial taxa. Initial abundances of Oceanospirillales were observed in both systems with later emergences of Flavobacteriales, Alteromonadales and Rhodobacterales. Depletion of oil compounds was significantly faster in the Fluortex system and most likely related to the greater bioavailability of oil compounds as compared to the clay bead system.

PAHs in high Arctic copepods Calanus hyperboreus following exposure of residues from in situ burning of oil spill

In situ burning of marine oil spills reduces the total amount of oil in the environment, but a negative side effect may be the generation of environmentally hazardous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that may pose a risk for bioaccumulation, particularly in organisms having a high lipid content. In this study uptake of PAHs from oil and burn residue were examined in the high arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus. A major part of the low ring number petrogenic PAHs in the oil was removed during burning and relative higher concentrations of pyrogenic high ring number PAHs was found in the burn residue. This suggests that burning markedly reduces the general PAH exposure load. Furthermore, the pyrogenic PAHs generated during the burn were not bioconcentrated to quantifiable levels in the copepods. We conclude that in situ burning can mitigate the potential risk of PAH uptake for copepods and other pelagic organisms in the marine environment as the pyrogenic PAHs only pose low risk for uptake from the water by the copepods and other pelagic organisms.

Sustainable solar-driven MXene/polyvinylidene fluoride composite nanofiber membrane for oil/saltwater separation and distillation in the complex environment

The escalating environmental crises and water scarcity necessitate innovative water purification and marine oil spill recovery strategies. This study elucidates the potential of photothermal materials as a sustainable, effective strategy for oil/water separation and desalination in extreme conditions. Multifunctional photothermal polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membranes integrated with MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets were synthesized via electrospinning technique. These embedded nanosheets act as solar absorbers and energy converters. Thanks to the superior hydrophobicity and photothermal conversion efficiency, the MXene/PVDF nanofiber membranes exhibited an impressive oil flux of 16977.9 L·m−2·h−1 for hexane flux (gravity-driven) and 1018.7 L·m−2·h−1 for heavy mineral oil flux (~20 cmHg vacuum filtration, 1 sun illumination). Concurrently, the membranes achieved a heavy mineral oil/saltwater rejection ratio exceeding 99%. Importantly, they maintained stability and performance in harsh environments (acidic, alkaline, high-energy UV light). The hydrophobic PVDF nanofiber membrane effectively protected the embedded MXene nanosheets from oxidation. Notably under 1 sun illumination, the photothermal MXene/PVDF nanofiber membrane quickly reached a surface temperature of 101.2 °C, attaining an evaporation rate of 1.56 kg·m−2·h−1 within an hour. These results underscore the potential for an all-in-one solution that efficiently combines oil/water separation and desalination, offering a compelling response to marine oil spills.

Remote sensing methods for striped marine oil spill detection in narrow ship channels

Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and the global economy. With the increasing frequency of maritime transport, oil spills are on the rise and so is the risk of oil spills in shipping lanes. Therefore, timely oil spill monitoring at the ship channel is of far-reaching significance for marine disaster prevention and control. This study selects oil spill in the ship channel of the northern Yellow Sea as an example and proposes an object-oriented fuzzy logic classification method combining selected multi-feature parameters based on Sentinel-2 data. Firstly, sensitive bands for oil spills are selected to perform multi-scale segmentation of the oil spill object. Then, 30 samples of oil spill objects were uniformly selected in the oil spill area and the average fuzzy membership values were calculated using 11 membership functions by combining the preferred spectral, geometric, texture, and custom features. Finally, five fuzzy logic operators are used to achieve the final classification, while the oil spill misclassification information is processed and compared with the pixel-based SVM and RF algorithms for accuracy. The experimental results show that the oil spill detection based on the “AND” operator is the best compared to other fuzzy operators, with an overall accuracy of 85.19% and a KAPPA coefficient of 0.753. Relative to the pixel-based Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms, the overall accuracy was improved by 15.66% and 11.25%, respectively, and the KAPPA coefficients were improved by 0.072 and 0.161, respectively. The method is feasible for oil spill detection at ship channels and provides technical support for future marine oil spill detection work.

Sustainability and capability-based assessment of marine oil spill response technologies using a decision support system under decomposed fuzzy set.

Marine oil spills are a practically challenging environmental occurrence to remediate. The critical stage of managing marine oil spills is choosing an appropriate response technology. This research implements a novel sustainability and capability policy-oriented decision support system (DSS) and the decomposed fuzzy set-based ORESTE model. First, an integrated criteria system on the basis of the sustainability and capability aspects is employed by considering four social, environmental, economic, and capability dimensions. Second, the ORESTE model under the decomposed fuzzy environment is extended to deal with the uncertainty data, evaluate the conflicts between the candidate alternatives, and choose the optimal scenario. Seven technologies of bioremediation, solidifiers, dispersants, adsorbents, in situ burning, booms, and skimmers for remediating oil spills in the Persian Gulf, Iran, have been assessed. The assessment results indicate that the bioremediation technology is the optimal scenario for the oil spill-contaminated sites management and the suggested DSS is feasible and applicable.

Marine oil spill photodegradation: Laboratory simulation, affecting factors analysis and kinetic model development

Photodegradation significantly influences marine oil spill behavior, yet its role remains underrepresented in current models, impairing predictive accuracy. Addressing this, our study rigorously examined oil properties and environmental determinants affecting marine oil spill photodegradation through laboratory simulations. We identified and quantified key factors and their interactions, noting particularly the positive influence of asphaltene and negative implications of oil density. We also discerned a negative correlation between n-alkane degradation and carbon numbers. Our findings underscored the pivotal roles of temperature and irradiance in photodegradation. All tested oils adhered to first-order kinetics, with rate constants ranging from 0.0348 to 0.0645 day−1. Finally, we introduced a novel model incorporating temperature, irradiance and their interactions, ensuring reasonable simulations for marine oil spill photodegradation, fortifying marine oil spill management strategies.