Oil Pollution Control Research Articles

Research on the flow velocity characteristics of oil contaminated with particulates using PIV

PurposeThe paper aims to clarify the influence of the equivalent particles number (EPN) change on the flow velocity characteristic.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for an exploratory study using PIV technology to obtain the transient flow toxicity vector of oil in the square pipeline.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights about the influence of EPN on the flow average velocity which is most prominent in the middle of the pipeline, and smaller EPN values have a greater impact.Originality/valueThese influence laws of EPN can be used to obtain the dynamic characteristics of oil, which provides theoretical support for oil pollution control and effective treatment measures and lays a preliminary foundation for the online monitoring of particles in oil.

Fabrication of versatile and durable superhydrophobic cotton fabrics using PTA-Ala adhesive

In recent years, the preparation of functional textiles based on polyphenols adhesion has received extensive attention and research. However, polyphenols are prone to peroxidation during oxidative polymerization, which can compromise the interfacial adhesion of their monomers. Reintroducing reactive functional groups after oxidative polymerization of polyphenols may potentially compensate for the lost interfacial adhesion while increasing cohesion. In this paper, L-alanine (Ala) is introduced into poly (tannic acid) (PTA) solution to generate the PTA-Ala via Michael addition and Schiff base reaction. Original cotton fabrics are modified with PTA-Ala solution to enhance adhesion strength between the fabrics and subsequent functional modifiers. A silver nanowire network is then incorporated to increase the surface roughness through tannic acid reduction. Finally, polydimethylsiloxane is applied to reduce fabric surface energy, resulting in superhydrophobic multifunctional OH-PDMS/Ag/PTA-Ala/cotton fabrics. The finished cotton fabric exhibits a water contact angle of 166.7 ± 1.9° and a rolling angle of 5 ± 0.5°. Moreover, the fabric features diverse functionalities such as oil-water separation, photothermal conversion, antimicrobial properties, water collection, and anti-icing capabilities, alongside excellent durability and self-healing properties that extend its service life. This finished cotton fabric demonstrates promising applications in oil pollution control, outdoor clothing and medical protection, highlighting its broad across various industries.

Revealing the microscopic formation mechanism and stability characteristics of anionic surfactant microemulsions using coarse-grained simulations

Microemulsion is thermodynamically stable dispersion system formed by emulsifiers such as surfactants adsorbed at the oil-water interface. However, the evolution mechanism of surfactant-stabilized microemulsions and its stability are not adequately understood. Motivated by these issues, the underlying formation mechanism and the complex interplay on the microemulsion stability were systematically investigated by dissipative particle dynamics simulations. Coarse-grained models of oil/water/surfactants were developed to demonstrate a clear Ostwald ripening mechanism for W/O microemulsion, whereas a collisional fusion mechanism for O/W microemulsion. Mutual transformation between O/W and W/O microemulsions was dominated by the change of interfacial water/oil area. As the surfactant concentration increased, smaller microemulsion formed with a higher stability. Compared to sodium lauryl sulfonate, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate with benzene structure could form a thicker interfacial film, thereby improving the microemulsion stability. Internal olefin sulfonate with a branched structure was able to form an interfacial film with greater strength, enduring a higher shear rate of 0.033/ps. Furthermore, longer molecular chains of surfactant could result in a stronger steric effect, leading to a higher salinity tolerance of microemulsion with aHH is 17. The obtained results are expected to provide a solid theoretical foundation for the rational design of efficient microemulsions and pave the way for the applications such as oil recovery, pollution control, and dispersion of drugs.

Application Of The Concept Of Eco Liability In Marine Pollution Due To Ship Accidents In Batam Waters Indonesia

Batam’s waters are a very busy sea lane and important for regional and international trade. High maritime activity, including the traffic of cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships, and passenger vessels, is an integral part of the economic and transportation life of the region. However, as a consequence of heavy maritime activity, the risk of ship accidents increases and is often a serious concern for those involved in the shipping industry and governments. Ship accidents can cause oil spills, dangerous chemicals, and other waste that can pollute waters, and beaches, and affect marine animal and plant life. This research uses normative research methods with qualitative analysis. This research aims to determine the application of the eco liability principle in marine pollution due to ship accidents in Batam waters. One of the concepts proposed to address the environmental impact of ship accidents is eco-liability, which is environmental responsibility.A method that focuses on comprehending and rebuilding marine ecosystems is needed to apply the notion of eco-liability to combat marine pollution caused by ship accidents. The concept of eco liability focuses on environmental restoration so that each polluter is responsible for providing compensation for environmental restoration efforts carried out through coordination between the central government and regional governments. To compensate for damage caused by oil pollution sufferers and control civil liabilities brought on by pollution accidents, international treaties have been formed.

Технологические решения очистки подземных вод от растворенных нефтепродуктов

The priority in the oil industry is to reduce the technogenic load on environmental components. Modern technologies allow minimizing the negative impact on water bodies, soils, vegetation, etc. However, the development of effective technical solutions aimed at purification of underground water from oil products is still in progress. There are mechanical, physical-chemical, and biological methods of oil pollution control. Each method has advantages and limitations and can be used in different situations. The technology of groundwater treatment based on biotechnological method and dosed oxygen supply is proposed. The recommended solution can be used as an independent environmental protection measure or in addition to existing ones.

Environmental DNA-based profiling of benthic bacterial and eukaryote communities along a crude oil spill gradient in a coral reef in the Persian Gulf.

Coral reef ecosystems in the Persian Gulf are frequently exposed to crude oil spills. We investigated benthic bacterial and eukaryote community structures at such coral reef sites subjected to different degrees of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. Both bacterial and eukaryote communities responded with pronounced shifts to crude oil pollution and distinguished control sites, moderately and heavily impacted sites with significant confidentiality. The observed community patterns were predominantly driven by Alphaproteobacteria and metazoans. Among these, we identified individual genera that were previously linked to oil spill stress, but also taxa, for which a link to hydrocarbon still remains to be established. Considering the lack of an early-warning system for the environmental status of coral reef ecosystems exposed to frequent crude-oil spills, our results encourage further research towards the development of an eDNA-based biomonitoring tool that exploits benthic bacterial and eukaryote communities as bioindicators.

Application of Microbial Degradation Technology in Oil Pollution Control

Oil pollution is still a problem that is very difficult to control. To this end, this study investigates the application effect of microbial degradation technology in oil pollution control. First, the degradation microbial strains and substrates were determined according to the type of microorganisms. Then, ultraviolet spectrophotometry was used to determine the concentration of crude oil in the culture medium. After that, the authors designed the flow chart of crude oil standard curve, extracted organic phase, determined the residual oil composition in the culture medium, and calculated the degradation rate of mixed bacteria to crude oil. By studying the degradation mechanism of aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, and fungi, the degradation products were confirmed and the treatment of oil pollution on the water surface was carried out. It can be seen from the experimental results that the microbial degradation technology is effective in solving the problem of oil pollution.

Modified ceramic membrane with pH/ethanol induced switchable superwettability for antifouling separation of oil-in-acidic water emulsions

Nowadays, oily wastewater is a harmful pollutant to the environment. Membranes with switchable wettability have great advantages in the oil–water separation. Herein, a novel ceramic composite membrane with switchable superwettability is fabricated by combining a dopamine-assisted nanoparticle coating process and a chemical grafting of copolymers with responsive groups. FESEM, XPS, FTIR, TG and contact angle measurements confirm the success of each surface modification steps. The as-prepared membranes transform from superhydrophobicity in air to superhydrophilicity in acidic aqueous solution (pH = 1) and recover to superhydrophobicity after immersion in ethanol. This superhydrophobicity-superhydrophilicity translation can repeat cyclically. The superwettability switchable membranes can effectively separate oil–water mixture and emulsions. Furthermore, good antifouling property of the composite membrane in filtration of oil-in-acidic water emulsions (pH = 1) has also been obtained. All these results show that this kind of ceramic composite membranes would have important applications in oil pollution control and industrial wastewater treatment.

Destructing surfactant network in nanoemulsions by positively charged magnetic nanorods to enhance oil-water separation

The separation of ultrafine oil droplets from wasted nanoemulsions stabilized with high concentration of surfactants is precondition for oil reuse and the safe discharge of effluent. However, the double barriers of the interfacial film and network structures formed by surfactants in nanoemulsions significantly impede the oil-water separation. To destroy these surfactant protective layers, we proposed a newly-developed polyethyleneimine micelle template approach to achieve simultaneous surface charge manipulation and morphology transformation of magnetic nanospheres to magnetic nanorods. The results revealed that positively charged magnetic nanospheres exhibited limited separation performance of nanoemulsions, with a maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 50%, whereas magnetic nanorods achieved more than 95% COD removal in less than 30 s. The magnetic nanorods were also applicable to wasted nanoemulsions from different sources and exhibited excellent resistance to wide pH changes. Owing to their unique one-dimensional structure, the interfacial dispersion of magnetic nanorods was significantly promoted, leading to the efficient capture of surfactants and widespread destruction of both the interfacial film and network structure, which facilitated droplet merging into the oil phase. The easy-to-prepare and easy-to-tune strategy in this study paves a feasible avenue to simultaneously tailor surface charge and morphology of magnetic nanoparticles, and reveals the huge potential of morphology manipulation for producing high-performance nanomaterials to be applied in complex interfacial interaction process. We believe that the newly-developed magnetic-nanorods significantly contribute to hazardous oily waste remediation and advances technology evolution toward problematic oil-pollution control.

Dominant constraints to the effective use of oily-water separator (OWS) in the control of ship-based oil pollution in West African waters

The International Regulations for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from ships (MARPOL 73/78) provided for the deployment of the oily-water separator (OWS) technology for the prevention of ship-based oily-water pollution in the marine ecosystem. Previous studies on the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of the OWS technology shows about 40 % failure rates and ineffective use; while also identifying a multiplicity of correlated factors constraining the effectiveness of the use of the technology onboard. To overcome the constraints posed by the identified factors to the effective use of the OWS technology requires a systems approach, which demands the determination of the dominant and significant factors constraining most, the effective use of the technology and prioritizing the elimination of the significant factors. The study used a survey design approach, employing primary data and the principal component factor analysis to determine the existence of about five principal factors, significantly constraining the effective use of the technology by ship operators in the West African Waters. The policy implications were discussed and recommendations for effective use of the technology proffered.

Harm and control of hydraulic oil pollution in coal mine machinery

Coal mining machinery such as shearer is one of the most important comprehensive mining equipment in coal mine. Once it breaks down, the consequences cannot be estimated. The data shows that about 2 / 3 of the faults in the hydraulic system of coal mine machinery are caused by the pollution of hydraulic oil. Therefore, this paper first analyzes the types and properties of various pollutants, then describes the harm of pollutants to the hydraulic system, and finally puts forward a comprehensive control scheme of hydraulic oil pollution, which provides a reference for engineering practice.

Rationale for Soil‐Gas Sampling to Improve Vapor Intrusion Risk Assessment in China

Rationale for Soil‐Gas Sampling to Improve Vapor Intrusion Risk Assessment in China

The Relationship of Oil Pollution Sources, Consequences and Control towards Marine Life at Teluk Rubiah, Perak, Malaysia

This research focuses to study on the oil pollution sources and consequences towards the marine life. The scope of the research was conducted at Teluk Rubiah, Perak, Malaysia. This research has analyzed the hierarchy of the sources, the consequences and the control of the oil spill towards the marine life. The element of sources were breakage of oil tanker (oil ships), oil pipe leakage and drilling activities. For the consequences covers on the damage to ecosystem, damage to society and damaging to marine biodiversity. Meanwhile, for the control of the oil spill covers the trained employees, the competent disaster management plan and the regular inspection of oil sites and methods of clean-up. A technique of questionnaire survey has remained pragmatic in this research and has established 117 sets of questionnaires from the embattled respondents situated at the Teluk Rubiah, Perak, Malaysia. The closed ended questions encompassed of the demographical contextual of the respondents, elements of sources, consequences and the control of the oil pollution. The descriptive and frequency analysis and multiple regression have been applied for the data analysis. The finding has designated that the element of control towards the oil spill are significantly correlated towards the marine life.

Oil Pollution Prevention in Nigeria: A Lesson to Learn from Other Jurisdictions

In Nigeria just like any other country of the world where oil and gas are produced, there are legislations put in place to control if not prevent the menace of pollution by oil and gas. Despite this, there are problems with the legislations as well as institutions in place in this regard ranging from lack of enforceability of the laws to that of weak institutions to enforce the laws among other things. This article therefore poised to compare the legal and institutional framework for the prevention of oil pollution in a chosen oil and gas jurisdictions. The legal and institutional framework for the prevention and control of oil and gas pollution in these countries were compared with the position in Nigeria. The article therefore analysed the efficacy or otherwise of the extant Nigeria legislations and institutions vis-à-vis that of the jurisdictions under review in respect to the control. At the end it was discovered that the Nigerian oil pollution legislations as well as the institutions are ineffective, lack enforceability and weak and therefore cannot sufficiently withstand the negative impact of oil exploration and production on the environment. The research thus made a case for an effective viable, adequate and comprehensive body of legislation, as well as proactive institutions to deal with the menace of oil and gas pollution in Nigeria.

Oil spill remote monitoring by using remotely piloted aircraft

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the application of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) for remote oil spill sensing. Design/methodology/approach This paper is an analysis of RPA strong points. Findings To increase the accuracy and eliminate potentially false contamination detection, which can be caused by external factors, an oil thickness measurement algorithm is used with the help of the multispectral imaging that provides high accuracy and is versatile for any areas of water and various meteorological and atmospheric conditions. Research limitations/implications SWOT analysis of implementation of RPA for remote sensing of oil spills. Practical implications The use of RPA will improve the remote sensing of oil spills. Social implications The concept of oil spills monitoring needs to be developed for quality data collection, oil pollution control and emergency response. Originality/value The research covers the development of a method and design of a device intended for taking samples and determining the presence of oil contamination in an aquatorium area; the procedure includes taking a sample from the water surface, preparing it for transportation and delivering the sample to a designated location by using the RPA. The objective is to carry out the analysis of remote oil spill sensing using RPA. The RPA provides a reliable sensing of oil pollution with significant advantages over other existing methods. The objective is to analyze the use of RPA employing all of their strong points. In this paper, technical aspects of sensors are analyzed, as well as their advantages and limitations.

Study on Extreme Microbial Degradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons

Some oil-contaminated areas are often accompanied by extreme environments including high salinity, low temperature, and high temperature. The petroleum-degrading microorganisms isolated from these extreme environments can quickly adapt to extreme environments, grow and metabolize in extreme environments, and show great potential in the field of oil pollution control. This article reviews species, adaptation mechanism and research progress of oil-degrading bacteria in three extreme environments of hypersaline, low temperature and high temperature, so as to provide theoretical basis for further research and application.

Green preparation of nonflammable carbonized asphalt-melamine sponges as recyclable oil absorbents

Abstract Oil absorption by macroporous absorbents has been recognized as an easy, efficient, economical and environment-friendly method in such fields as oil pollution control, oil-water separation, and solidification of liquid fuels/hazardous. In this study, Carbonized asphalt-melamine sponge (CAMS) was prepared by the combination of dip-coating melamine sponge with asphalt/water emulsion and then mild carbonization at 500 °C. The produced CAMS presented high oil-absorption capacity and good recyclability, water-repellence, fire resistance, flexible compressibility and low density. Its chloroform absorption capacity can reach 246 g g−1, significantly higher than that of most of other reported oil absorbents. CAMS is verified as oil-absorbent material with great commercial development potentials that can be massively produced via green and economic process, using no organic solvents or harmful solutions while lowering manufacture costs.

Oil spill detection in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea with the help of ENVISAT ASAR data

Oil pollution in the world’s oceans is predominantly caused by operational discharges from tankers (predominant oil dumped during cleaning operations). These discharges result in over 2 million tons of oil which are introduced annually comparable to one full-tanker disaster per week. Land-based sources such as urban waste and industrial discharges, which compass the ocean via rivers, are also a major contamination factor. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland water body on Earth without a direct connection to the world’s oceans, which makes it a unique water reservoir. This fact makes the Caspian Sea particularly vulnerable and subject to human influence, for example, pollution from shipping activities and oil transports by ships. The research study shows results from a monitoring campaign in northern and central parts of the Caspian Sea (Kazakhstan sector) for the period from 2005 to 2012 (April–October), based on visual interpretation of radar images from ASAR ENVISAT. Radar data (529 radar images) such as ASAR_WSM_1P and ASAR_IM_1P were obtained from the archives of the European Space Agency. In 529 ASAR ENVISAT images, 160 images were selected, on which 329 oil spills were detected. Examples of individual slicks were analyzed by visual image interpretation. The total surface of contamination for the entire study period was estimated by 822.66 km2. The average size of the oil spills ranged from 1.09 to 10.62 km2, in different years. The monitoring of oil spills over the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea could show that it is possible to state with certainty that the main source of oil pollution is shipping (confirmed by analysis of slicks form and clusters along shipping routes) and the most contaminated area is its southern part, where there is more intensive navigation in the direction of Aktau–Baku (Azerbaijan), Aktau–Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan), and Aktau–Neka (Iran). In the northern part of the Caspian Sea, it was determined that a low number of spills could have been caused by fishing and marine activities in the development area of the Kashagan oil field. The result is based on comparing the contamination map and the map of navigation, as well as through an analysis of the geometry of the slicks. Monitoring results largely coincided with the results of work carried out in the region, and at different times for some of its sites. These findings based on the radar data showed advantages of ASAR ENVISAT satellite monitoring for the control of oil pollution on the sea surface.

Legal Framework for Marine Oil Pollution Control in Tanzania

Tanzania is among the countries in the west of the Indian Ocean. The country is endowed with maritime resources and a considerable coastline of about 1500 Kilometers. The well being of people leaving along the coast depend on the use of resources of the ocean. The country is facing current and potential danger of marine oil pollution caused by ships calling its ports and terminals, ships using the West Indian Ocean route, land based activities, and the developments in offshore oil and gas activities in the country and within East Africa region.In order to achieve sustainable use of the oceans and its resource, this article provide a legal framework for marine oil pollution control in the context of prevention of oil pollution, response to marine pollution incident and compensation for oil pollution damage. Specifically, the article assesses national legislation in the light of international agreements. The article assists in the analysis of the established legal regime and institutional framework for purposes of improving the status of marine oil pollution control.

The Impact of the Spectral Band Number and Width on the Oil Pollution Diagnostics on Earth Surface by Laser Fluorescence Method

Using the remote sensing methods is the most promising for day-to-day control of oil pollution. The laser-induced fluorescence method provides efficient detection and classification of oil pollutions. To monitor oil pollutions on the earth surface is more complicated than on the water one because of lower fluorescence intensity and interfering fluorescence of natural objects available on the earth surface. Properties of oil pollution classifiers depend largely on the number and positions of spectral bands of fluorescence registration. Reducing the number of spectral bands allows us to diminish computation complexity and cost of equipment. In some cases the reduction increases classification accuracy. The number of spectral bands can be reduced through increasing their width. The paper presents mathematical modeling of oil pollution detection and classification. The experimentally obtained fluorescence spectra of oil pollutions on different substrates were used as input data. The k-nearest neighbors algorithm was used to detect and classify oil pollutions. Cross validation was applied in mathematical modeling. The mathematical modeling results have shown that for oil pollutions detection using over 8 spectral bands (band width less than 50 nm) a classification error rate does not depend on the further increasing number of the spectral bands. As to the type classification of oil pollutions (4 classes), an increasing width of the spectral bands up to 60 nm (the number of spectral bands reduced up 7) does not lead to a significantly decreasing overall classification accuracy. In the case of the sort classification of oil pollutions (8 classes) a local maximum of the overall accuracy has been observed at 25-30 nm width of the spectral band (14-16 spectral bands). The spectral resolution improvement (increasing the number of bands) does give an essentially increasing accuracy. The paper has shown that to detect and classify oil pollutions on the earth surface there is no need to acquire fluorescence with high spectral resolution and numerous spectral bands.