Oil Spill Problem Research Articles

Enhanced separation flux and compressive strength for oil-water separation by adding sodium lignosulphonate

Oil-water separation materials have been deeply developed to solve oil spill problems. However, mechanical strength and separation efficiency remain challenging. Based on the electrostatic repulsion, we design and prepare oil-water separation materials to enhance the separation flux and resistance to pressure by adding sodium lignosulphonate nanoparticles (LSs) to the reduced graphene oxide (rGO), followed by surface modification with trimethoxymethylsilane (MTMS). XRD patterns prove the positive action of LSs for improving interlayer spacing of rGO, which contributes to an excellent separation flux (carbon tetrachloride/water, 43209.71 L⋅m-2⋅h-1) of MLNGA. The compressible recovery ability is enhanced to 49.91 kPa under 80 % strain. The MLNGA presents excellent separation efficiency (∼99.12 %) on a continuous oil-water separation device. All these results indicate the outstanding performances and potential of MLNGA in oil–water separation applications. Moreover, this design concept involves electrostatic repulsion and may be promoted to other anionic macromolecules such as sodium alginate, tannic acid, and pectin.

STAGES OF ACCUMULATION OF OIL DROPLETS AND GAS BUBBLES IN THE DOME FOR CASES OF DEEP-SEA SPILLS: PART 1

The paper considers the process of installing a special device – a separator dome, which is designed to eliminate deep-water spills, the occurrence of which is associated with the deep-sea development of oil fields or oil transportation through underwater pipelines. Modeling of special devices for eliminating the consequences of deep-sea leaks is a very important task. This is due to the large volumes of oil production in the shelf. Oil spills in various areas of the seas of the World Ocean (Gulf of Mexico, North Sea) have shown that there is still no qualitative method that can quickly and efficiently solve the problem of oil spills. The main methods for eliminating leaks are associated with the collection of oil already on the surface of the reservoir. The work describes the entire sequence of actions aimed at collecting hydrocarbons in the dome, and each of the stages is considered in detail. Separately, the condition is considered how to exclude the ingress of gas hydrates into the device, as this may interfere with its proper operation. In order to eliminate the possible accumulation of hydrate particles inside the dome, the dome is filled with an immiscible liquid with water (ILW). In the first part of this work, the stages of installation of the device and the general philosophy of the process of accumulation of hydrocarbons inside are described in detail, and the basic equations describing the first three stages of the installation are also given. The process of migration of oil droplets inside the dome, the process of accumulation of oil droplets inside the dome, the interaction of oil and ILW solution is described in detail. At the first stage, the process of migration of oil droplets that penetrate into the dome through the open lower base is considered. Droplets falling inside the dome migrate in a layer of alcohol solution, and then, reaching the upper surface of the dome, begin to form a layer of oil. To estimate the temperature of the accumulated oil layer, the interaction with the ILW layer is calculated by calculating the heat flow.

Non-Wettable Microporous Sheets Using Mixed Polyolefin Waste for Oil-Water Separation.

Mixed polyolefin-based waste needs urgent attention to mitigate its negative impact on the environment. The separation of these plastics requires energy-intensive processes due to their similar densities. Additionally, these materials cannot be blended without compatibilizers, as they are inherently incompatible and immiscible. Herein, non-wettable microporous sheets from recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are presented. The methodology involves the application of phase separation and spin-casting techniques to obtain a bimodal porous structure, facilitating efficient oil-water separation. The resulting sheets have an immediate and equilibrium sorption uptake of 100 and 55 g/g, respectively, due to the presence of micro- and macro-pores, as revealed by SEM. Moreover, sheets possess enhanced crystallinity, as evidenced by XRD; hence, they retain their structure during sorption and desorption and are reusable with 98% efficiency. The anti-wetting properties of the sheets are enhanced by applying a silane coating, ensuring waterless sorption and a contact angle of 140°. These results highlight the importance of implementing sustainable solutions to recycle plastics and mitigate the oil spill problem.

A Self-Cleaning TiO2 Bacterial Cellulose Super-Hydrophilic Underwater Super-Oleophobic Composite Membrane for Efficient Oil-Water Separation.

Due to the increasingly serious problem of offshore oil spills, research related to oil-water separation has attracted more and more attention. Here, we prepared a super-hydrophilic/underwater super-oleophobic membrane (hereinafter referred to as BTA) using poly-dopamine (PDA) to adhesive TiO2 nanoparticles on the surface of bacterial cellulose, coated with sodium alienate by vacuum-assisted filtration technique. This demonstrates its excellent underwater super-oleophobic property. Its contact angle is about 153°. Remarkably, BTA has 99% separation efficiency. More importantly, BTA still showed excellent anti-pollution property under ultraviolet light after 20 cycles. BTA has the advantages of low cost, environmentally friendliness and good anti-fouling performance. We believe it can play an important role in dealing with problems related to oily wastewater.

SiO2 modified superwetting cotton fabric with anti-crude oil fouling, mechanical stability and corrosion resistance

A superwetting SiO2/PDA/CF membrane was simply fabricated by modifying cotton fabric (CF) with SiO2 and polydopamine (PDA), which exhibits superoleophobicity (i.e., an underwater oil contact angle (UOCA) is 159.7°), and was characterized by TG, SEM, EDS and FTIR. The oil/water separation performance, mechanical stability and corrosion resistance of SiO2/PDA/CF were investigated. The results show that the water fluxes are 34000 and 31300 L·m−2·h−1 for “crude oil/water” and “toluene/water”, respectively. And the oil/water separation efficiencies all are more than 99%. Continuous separation of “crude oil/water” and “toluene/water” for 15 and 100 times, the separation efficiencies are more than 98% and 99%, and the fluxes decrease by 2.9% and 19.7%, respectively. The membrane shows ultra-low adhesion towards crude oil. The as-prepared SiO2/PDA/CF maintains underwater superoleophobicity (i.e., UOCA>150°) after ultrasonically treating for 9 h or 240# sandpaper abrasion for 500 cycles or after exposure to harsh conditions of saturated NaCl, 1 M H2SO4, 1 M NaOH, respectively for 31 days. SiO2/PDA/CF, which is low-cost and environmentally friendly, has good oil/water separation performance, anti-oil fouling, low oil adhesion, mechanical stability, and corrosion resistance, exhibiting great potential applications in solving the serious problem of oily industrial wastewater and oil spills in the ocean.

Preparation of antifouling and highly hydrophobic cellulose nanofibers/alginate aerogels by bidirectional freeze-drying for water-oil separation in the ocean environment.

Oil spills frequently occur in the ocean, and adsorption is one of the effective ways to deal with oil spills. Compared with other adsorbent materials, biomass aerogel has superior selective adsorption capacity. CNF/SA aerogels with good mechanical properties (340kPa at 90 % strain) and high adsorption capacity (88.91g/g) were prepared by mixing cellulose nanofibers (CNF) with sodium alginate (SA) through bidirectional freeze-drying, ionic crosslinking, and surface modification to effectively solve the ocean oil spill problem. The bidirectional freeze-drying technology is a green and efficient technique for preparing layered microstructured composite aerogels. The prepared aerogels have a three-dimensional interpenetrating lamellar structure, low density (24.2mg/cm3), high porosity (97.85 %), and high hydrophobicity (WCA=144.5°), can be calibrated and used repeatedly. It has potential applications in water-oil separation and can be used as an absorbent for effectively treating oil spills in the ocean environment.

Preparation and performance evaluation of graphene/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose composite aerogel for high viscosity oil adsorption

With the society development, offshore oil leakage has become a global concern. The high viscosity and low fluidity of crude oil tend to prevent its diffusion to porous adsorbents, resulting in inefficient oil spill handling. To deal with the problem of intractable oil spills at sea, a two-step hydrothermal reduction method combined with ice templates was used to prepare graphene/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose composite aerogels (RGA/HPMCs). Thanks to the rough surface and efficient photo-thermal conversion efficiency, the average light absorbance of RGA/HPMC can reach 90.4% in the entire solar spectral range, and the temperature of the upper surface of the aerogel can be rapidly heated to 88.3 °C within 40 s under 1 sun illumination, resulting in a significant reduction in the viscosity of the crude oil and an enhancement of the adsorption capacity for it, up to 124.43 g·g−1 within 22 min. In addition, the good mechanical properties of RGA/HPMC led to no obvious damage when subjected to 300 cyclic compression experiments under 70% strain. And after five times of adsorption-extrusion desorption, the adsorption capacity remained above 90% of the initial adsorption capacity, indicating that the aerogel has good reusability and broad application prospect in the field of offshore oil spill treatment.

Oil Spills in the Niger Delta-Does the Petroleum Industry Act 2022 Offer Guidance for Solving this Problem?

Oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta have resulted in massive oil spills and lasting environmental damage to the region. This article critically examines the legal and regulatory dimensions of this problem. It looks at the general statutory provisions governing oil spills in the Niger Delta to see whether there are gaps and deficiencies in the existing laws and policies which cause or exacerbate oil spills in the region. It further looks at the implementation and enforcement of the laws, particularly the effectiveness or lack thereof of the polluter-pays principle, adequacy of funding for environmental remediation, issues relating to standard setting and ministerial discretion, as well as the issues associated with the security problems in the Niger Delta. The article concurrently reviews relevant sections of the newly enacted Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 to see whether it offers guidance for solving the endemic problem of oil spills in the Niger Delta. It is concluded that poorly developed laws, and weak institutions that result in weak implementation and enforcement protocols remain largely to blame for the problem of oil spills in the Niger Delta. It also discusses how the PIA can be strengthened to address persisting gaps in the design and implementation of oil spill responses in Nigeria.
 Keywords: Oil spill; Niger Delta; Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021; multinational oil companies; polluter-pays principle; oil pipeline sabotage

Development of an oil-absorbent web by the dry-laid method from polypropylene and chemically treated kapok

PurposeKapok was well-known for its oleophilic properties, but its mechanical properties and morphology impeded it from forming suitable absorbent materials. This study aims to demonstrate the process of creating an oil-absorbent web from a blend of treated kapok and polypropylene fibers.Design/methodology/approachKapok fibers were separated from dried fruits, then the wax was removed with an HCl solution at different concentrations. The morphological and structural changes of these fibers were investigated using scanning electron microscopy images. The blending ratios of kapok and polypropylene fibers were 60/40, 70/30 and 80/20, respectively. The fiber blends were fed to a laboratory carding machine to form a web and then consolidated using the heat press technique. The absorption behavior of the formed web was evaluated regarding oil absorption capacity and oil retention capacity according to ASTM 726.FindingsThe results showed that the HCl concentration of 1.0% (wt%) gave the highest wax removal efficiency without damaging the kapok fibers. This study found that oil absorbency is influenced by the fiber blending ratio, web tensile strength and elongation, porosity, oil type and environmental conditions. The oil-absorbency of the web can be re-used for at least 20 cycles.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only looked at three types of oils: diesel, kerosene and vegetable oils.Practical implicationsWhen the problem of oil spills in rivers and seas is growing and causing serious environmental and economic consequences, using physical methods to recover oil spills is the most effective solution.Originality/valueThis research adds to the possibility of using kapok fiber in the form of a web of non-woven fabric for practical purposes.

A solar-heated antibacterial sodium alginate aerogel for highly efficient cleanup of viscous oil spills

Hypothesis. Major oil spills highlight the need for environmentally responsible and cost-effective recovery technologies. However, challenges remain for heavy oil spill recovery because of its high viscosity and low fluidity. To achieve this goal, an ecofriendly bio-based aerogel with efficient photothermal conversion ability was developed as a novel absorbent to achieve the fast removal of heavy oil spill by reducing the oil viscosity.Experiments. From the renewable and abundant raw material sodium alginate (SA), hydrophobic and antibacterial SA/graphene oxide/ZIF-8 aerogel (SAGZM) was successfully fabricated via freezing-drying and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. A series of characterization and tests, including aerogel structure, selective wettability, photothermal conversion ability, crude oil removal capability, and antibacterial ability, have been investigated in detail. SAGZM aerogels have rich pore structure, high porosity, excellent mechanical properties, and better photothermal conversion efficiency.Findings. Under sunlight illumination, the recovery ability of SAGZM for heavy crude oil was investigated through infrared thermal imaging, oil permeability behavior analysis, and the continuous absorption for crude oil. In addition, these results are well supported by the theoretical liquid absorption coefficient. This study indicates that SAGZM is highly efficient in in situ regulating oil viscosity through its remarkably photothermal conversion capability. Importantly, SAGZM possesses an excellent antibacterial ability that is often neglected in the design of environmentally friendly materials in extending its service life. The findings of this work not only provide an eco-friendly bio-based aerogel material but also demonstrate that the photo-responsive SAGZM is efficient in heavy crude oil absorption. The proposed solar-heated SA-based aerogel provides a sustainable approach and material to solve the recovery problem of viscous crude oil spills.

Nontraditional oil sorbents: Hydrophilic sponges with hydrophobic skin layer for efficient oil spill remediation

Advances in the use of porous materials for oil-water separation offer a promising avenue for solving oil spill problems. Conventionally, to realize selective oil absorption, porous sorbents need to be fully hydrophobized with low-surface-energy chemicals. However, such exhaustive hydrophobization brings about problems of excessive chemical consumption, high cost and increased environmental hazards, hindering the practical applications of sorbents. Here, an innovative type of oil sorbent is developed via a facile liquid film-based dip coating technique. Unlike conventional fully-hydrophobized sorbents, only the outmost layer of our sorbent is modified with hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating while the inner part remains hydrophilic, thus achieving 80% reduction in low-surface-energy chemical consumption. The prepared sorbent allows highly selective oil absorption from oil-water mixture, as the hydrophobic skin layer blocks water entrance and the hydrophilic inner part drives oil absorption. More importantly, our sorbent significantly speeds up oil absorption, and compared with conventional hydrophobic sponges, the absorption time is reduced by 36% for absorption of the same mass of crude oil, attributed to the strong capillary absorption of its hydrophilic inner channels. This sorbent also shows larger specific absorption capacity than its fully hydrophobized counterpart. Our study provides a general strategy to develop cost-effective and environmental-benign sorbents with enhanced oil spill absorption performances.

Oil Spill Governance: Evidence from Bintan Island, Indonesia

Issues of oil spills in various locations worldwide have been widely published in several studies. However, studies on policy management and strategies for handling cases related to oil spills are still limited. As one of the largest oil-producing countries with international shipping traffic, Indonesia is vulnerable to oil spills. Therefore, by drawing upon evidence from Bintan Island, this study aims to provide recommendations for stakeholders concerning governance and policy to address the oil spill case, which has had adverse social, economic, and environmental impacts. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, observation, actual online news, and official government reports using a case study approach. The result indicates that the local government is slow in responding to Bintan Island’s reoccurring yearly oil spillage. Policy responses are still focused on repressive and conventional methods. Hence, preventive and multi-stakeholder governance is required to handle oil spills. Furthermore, this study provides an overview of the oil spill problem and its management strategy in developing countries, especially Indonesia.

Novel dispersant based on the synergy of nickel hydroxide and sulfonated lignin for applications in oil spill remediation

Chemical dispersants are a controversial solution for oil spill remediation, and the potential toxicity of chemical surfactants to the marine ecology has prompted much research for eco-friendly dispersants with superior dispersing ability. Herein, an efficient Pickering emulsifier was prepared on the basis of the synergistic effect of sulfonated lignin (SL) and nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) micron particles. The interaction of SL and Ni(OH)2 particles was characterized by the contact angle, shear viscosity and Zeta potential measurements. Confocal fluorescence microscopy and optical microscopy images revealed the oil droplet structure. The average emulsion droplet size and emulsification index were investigated. These results indicate that the addition of SL has a synergistic stabilizing effect in high salinity seawater. Here, Ni(OH)2 particles alone are not an efficient emulsifier in seawater because of the strong flocculation caused by high salinity. The adsorption of Ni(OH)2 particles by SL changed their contact angle and benefitted their adsorption at the oil-seawater interface, providing a solid barrier to avoid droplet coalescence, and the stable O/W emulsion exhibited great stability, smaller droplet size and larger oil-water interface area, which facilitated the subsequent natural degradation of crude oil. Therefore, this may be an environmentally friendly and harmless new method for SL and Ni(OH)2 particles to deal with marine oil spill problems.

Rapidfabrication of superhydrophobic cotton fabric based on metal-phenolic networksforoil-waterseparation

Facing the increasingly serious problem of marine oil spill pollution, a method for preparing superhydrophobic cotton fabric based on metal-phenolic networks(MPNs)was proposed for oil-water separation, aiming to alleviate the problem of marine oil spills. In this work, Fe III and gallic acid(GA) were used to form a Fe@GA MPNs film, which was deposited on the surface of cotton fabrics, and the rough structures were constructed on the surface of cotton fabrics through the MPNs film. Then quinones in the phenolic structure were used to grafted with octadecylamine through Schiff-base reaction to finally prepare Fe@GA-ODA cotton fabric. The prepared cotton fabric had excellent superhydrophobicity with 163.6°of water contact angle and 5.1°of scrolling angle, which showed good physical and chemical stability and oil-water separation efficiency. The adsorption bag prepared by modified cotton fabric coated with PU sponge exhibited excellent oil adsorption performance, and finally achieved the effect of adsorbing floating oil. The preparation method of the superhydrophobic cotton fabric is environmentally friendly, simple, efficient and low-cost, and has a development prospect in the direction of marine oil spill cleaning.

Effects of Na2SO4 and Na3PO4 on the surface and thermodynamic properties of an anionic surfactant: bis-(2- ethyl hexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) in aqueous solutions

From tensiometric measurements, critical micelle concentration (CMC), maximum surface excess concentration, minimum area per molecule at the air-liquid interface and thermodynamic parameters of micellization have been determined for an anionic surfactant: bis-(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) in aqueous medium. Effects on the above physico-chemical properties due to added electrolytes: Na2SO4 and Na3PO4 over a wide range of the surfactant concentrations and at 288.15, 293.15 and 298.15 K have been described in the light of intermolecular interactions. The CMC of AOT is lowered and the micellar stability is improved upon mixing the above electrolytes in aqueous surfactant solution and the same become more pronounced when divalent SO42- are replaced by trivalent PO43-. These observations may be beneficial for improving efficiency of AOT as a detergent, managing oil spill problem, in froth-flotation process for concentrating ores and for efficient recovery of petroleum in the tertiary process.

An enhanced multiphase ISPH-based method for accurate modeling of oil spill

ABSTRACT Accurate prediction of oil dispersion has been challenging due to its highly deformed/dispersed interface as well as small-scale oil-water mixing. In this paper, a refined Incompressible SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics)-based method is proposed for simulations of oil spill problems. In the proposed method, the presence of oil is taken into consideration with concentration function and physical properties of computational points (particles), i.e. density and viscosity, are varied based on the concentration of oil. The proposed method incorporates a LES-based turbulence model, namely SPS (Sub-Particle-Scale) turbulence model, in order to capture small-scale turbulence effects. Diffusion equation is further implemented so as to reproduce the sub-particle-scale oil-water mixing effects. Interfacial surface tension is considered through potential-based modeling with consideration of the highly deformed/dispersed interface. A set of previously proposed refined schemes are also applied for accurate/robust simulations. The stability and accuracy of proposed ISPH-based method are investigated by conducting benchmark tests.

Oil spill problems from the aspects of the Claim, Performance and Insurance Functions

This article discusses oil spills from the aspects of the claim, performance and insurance functions of the results of tracing oil spills at sea depending on many factors, including the physical, chemical and toxicity characteristics of oil, as well as its distribution which is influenced by the dynamics of seawater: tides, wind, waves and currents. The impact of insoluble oil compounds in water will float and cause seawater to turn black. Several components of oil sink and accumulate in sediments as pollutant deposits in sand and rocks on the beach. Claim settlement in Marine Hull and Machinery is the same as general loss insurance. The rights of the insured that must be fulfilled by the insurer, if it has met the terms and conditions determined by the insurer and stated in the policy. Members receive protection & indemnity for this guarantee so that members are protected and receive compensation from associations that are not covered or insufficiently covered by insurance.

Oil Spill Four-Class Classification Using UAVSAR Polarimetric Data

Oil pollution of oceans from various sources is a devastating environmental problem and immediate detection of oil spills is crucial. Remote sensing techniques have provided an unprecedented opportunity for early oil spill detection and classification with an easy, quick, and cheap approach. Moreover, Fully Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data with unique capabilities and informative features is an immense data source for oil spill detection on large scales. The objective of the present study is to utilize PolSAR data not only for oil spill detection, but also to classify the detected oil spill in the ocean into four classes: thick oil, thin oil, oil/water mixture, and clear water. In this study, numerous polarimetric decomposition parameters and texture features are extracted from the PolSAR image. A two-phase feature selection method, manually selection based on oil and water surface backscattering behavior and an optimization algorithm, has been employed on the extracted features to select the optimum feature set. The selected feature set has been used to classify the PolSAR image into oil and water classes. Moreover, the high sensitivity and discriminative power of the validation PolSAR dataset, UAVSAR L-band quad-pol data, is exploited by classifying the image into four classes. Remarkable acquired classification accuracies of 90.21% and 85.41% and Kappa coefficient of 0.8052 and 0.7905 for two-class and four-class classifications, respectively, demonstrate the robustness and high potential of the proposed methodology for oil spill detection and classification.

Probabilistic risk assessment of oil spill from offshore oil wells in Persian Gulf

Oil spills in the marine environment can have serious environmental, social and economic impacts. These impacts may be of transnational nature, and this makes the oil spill problem an international issue. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a common structured methodology for oil spill risk assessment. In this research, a general framework is presented for probabilistic risk assessment of oil spill from offshore oil wells. A case study is also performed in Persian Gulf to quantify the risk posed by 357 offshore wells to the near-shore receptors. First, thousands of hypothetical spill scenarios of different volumes are defined and simulated using a Lagrangian particle tracking model. Then, the result of the simulations is statistically processed to generate the risk networks and risk maps. The result of this research shed light on the importance of the pattern of environmental forcing elements and the frequency of spills in oil spill risk assessment.

Oil Spill Detection in Synthetic Aperture Radar Images Using Lipschitz-Regularity and Multiscale Techniques

This research adapts an effective change detection approach originally applied to mapping fire scar from a stationary synthetic aperture radar (SAR) scene to the problem of oil spills from SAR data. The method presented here combines several advanced image processing techniques to mitigate some of the common performance limitations of SAR-based oil spill detection. Principally among these limitations are the following. First, the radar cross section of the areas affected by an oil spill strongly depends on wind and wave effects, and is, therefore, highly variable. Second, the radar cross section of oil covered water is often indistinguishable from other dark ocean features such as low wind areas, which leads to errors and uncertainties in oil spill detection. In this paper, we introduce a multi-image analysis, the Lipschitz regularity (LR), and wavelet transforms as a combined approach to mitigate these performance limitations. We show that the LR parameter is much less sensitive to variations of wind and waves in an oil spill SAR imagery, lending itself well for normalizing and suppressing ocean background using image ratio processing. We combine LR processing with a multiscale technique based on the wavelet transform to additionally achieve high-quality noise suppression. To describe the performance of this approach under controlled conditions, we applied our method to simulated SAR data of wind-driven oceans with oil spills and low wind areas. We also applied our method to several real-world oil spill data acquired during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.