Sunken Oil Research Articles

Weird Ghosts of the Anthropocene: The Spectral Encounter in New Weird Fiction as a Conceptual Metaphor for Ecocritical Theory

In The Great Derangement, Amitav Ghosh links the reluctance of contemporary fiction to tackle the environmental crisis to the inadequacy of realism, with which Western “high” literature has been associated since the rise of the modern novel, to describe the “hyperobject” quality (Clark 140) of the Anthropocene. This paper argues that the genre labeled as New Weird, which strives to portray the Unheimlich, the eerie, or precisely the weird in our familiar reality, offers an answer to this aesthetic challenge, having found an especially powerful literary device in spectral encounters. In the works of New Weird author China Miéville, environmental concerns are often embodied by the encounter of human protagonists with the ghostly apparitions of non-human entities, from icebergs floating in the sky over London to a sunken oil platform re-emerging from the sea. A close reading of three stories from his collection Three Moments of an Explosion, “Polynia”, “Covehithe” and “Estate”, will show how Miéville’s portrayal of people’s behavior in encountering ‘weird’ spectral presences bear a specific ecological significance. This significance, which is common to many different authors of New Weird fiction, reverberates in the use of spectrality as a conceptual metaphor in contemporary ecocritical theory, thus corroborating the claim of this genre as the most productive for our historical times.

Automatic Identification of Sunken Oil in Homogeneous Information Perturbed Environment through Fusion Image Enhancement with Convolutional Neural Network

With the development of the marine oil industry, leakage accidents are one of the most serious problems threatening maritime and national security. The spilt crude oil can float and sink in the water column, posing a serious long-term threat to the marine environment. High-frequency sonar detection is currently the most efficient method for identifying sunken oil. However, due to the complicated environment of the deep seabed and the interference of the sunken oil signals with homogeneous information, sonar detection data are usually difficult to interpret, resulting in low efficiency and a high failure rate. Previous works have focused on features designed by experts according to the detection environments and the identification of sunken oil targets regardless of the feature extraction step. To automatically identify sunken oil targets without a prior knowledge of the complex seabed conditions during the image acquisition process for sonar detection, a systematic framework is contrived for identifying sunken oil targets that combines image enhancement with a convolutional neural network (CNN) classifier for the final decision on sunken oil targets examined in this work. Case studies are conducted using datasets obtained from a sunken oil release experiment in an outdoor water basin. The experimental results show that (i) the method can effectively distinguish between the sunken oil target, the background, and the interference target; (ii) it achieved an identification accuracy of 83.33%, outperforming feature-based recognition systems, including SVM; and (iii) it provides important information about sunken oil such as the location of the leak, which is useful for decision-making in emergency response to oil spills at sea. This line of research offers a more robust and, above all, more objective option for the difficult task of automatically identifying sunken oils under complex seabed conditions.

Forms of Life

Abstract This essay discusses “Forms of Life” in two senses: first, infrastructure as a social process that fosters particular forms of collective life and second, the agency/vitality imputed to infrastructure. The essay considers an unremarked ambivalence in energy humanities about infrastructure: the extant infrastructure of fossil fuels poses an obstacle to energy transition, while the act of making infrastructure visible and “following the pipeline” is regarded by incisive petrocritics as necessary but insufficient. What do cooling towers, electric pylons, or railways make happen (or keep from happening), socially and narratively, when they “work” or when they're hacked? In other words, is there a narrative grammar of infrastructure? How much has to happen for nothing to happen? And how do cultural texts differ from built environments in thinking infrastructure as a form of life? China Miéville's story “Covehithe” mobilizes the literary imagination to depict sunken oil platforms as revenant and reproductive organisms that pose new questions about relationships among humans, nature, and technology, and about the care, responsibility, and politics such forms of life demand. This weird tale doubles as documentation of dead infrastructure: its platform characters are actual rigs that litter sea beds around the world. What imaginative or conceptual forms, then, can help us grasp infrastructure's forms of life? This question is particularly urgent with regard to fossil infrastructure, which here names not only infrastructure that processes, circulates, or depends on fossil fuels but also infrastructure that is archaic, obsolete, and otherwise tethered to the past, standing as an obstacle to transition.

A mesoscale assessment of sinking oil during dispersant treatment

A mesoscale assessment of sinking oil during dispersant treatment

Sunken oil detection and classification using MBES backscatter data

Sunken oil detection and classification using MBES backscatter data

Experimental investigations on the vertical distribution and properties of oil-mineral aggregates (OMAs) formed by different clay minerals

Experimental investigations on the vertical distribution and properties of oil-mineral aggregates (OMAs) formed by different clay minerals

A Response Guide for Sunken Oil Mats (SOMs): Formation, Behavior, Detection, and Recovery

Based on past spills, the conditions under which floating oil mixes with enough sand to form sunken oil mats (SOMs) are identified. SOMs form mostly during spills of heavy crudes or heavy fuel oils, but also highly weathered and viscous crude oils. They usually form when oil and sand are both suspended in the water column by breaking waves or by the erosion of heavily oiled sand from the beach. The oil–sand mixture needs an area in the nearshore where it can accumulate into mats, such as in troughs or inside lagoons, where wave energy is reduced. SOMs can be oily (>40% oil) or sandy (<<40% oil), with oily SOMs posing risks of the oil separating from the sand and refloating. Methods are described for SOMs detection and recovery based on their location, in either the surf zone or the open-water environment seaward of the surf zone. A matrix provides guidance on methods based on effectiveness and environmental impacts for different site conditions.

Effects of Oil and Sediment Properties and Mixing States on the Formation and Settling of Oil‐Particle Aggregates

Abstract Understanding the interaction of oil droplets with suspended particulate matter is important not only for sunken oil modeling but also for emergency response. In this study, the effects of mixing time and energy, oil type, and sediment concentration and size on the oil content, morphology, and density of oil‐particle aggregates (OPAs) were investigated through a series of wave tank experiments and sedimentation tests. The results showed that loads of oil and particles in OPAs are high under high mixing energy. Under turbulent hydrodynamics, moderately viscous oils form OPAs more easily and sink rapidly to the seabed. Moreover, an increase in the density and oil capacity of OPAs is observed at a higher sediment concentration. More oil is captured by finer sediments. However, the corresponding oil‐sediment aggregates generally show lower density compared with those formed by larger sediments. The oil‐seawater interfacial tension (IFTow) diminishes with the addition of sediments, further promoting oil dispersion. The increasing duration and mixing energy produce more flake OPAs and multiple‐droplet OPAs. Oil droplets tend to be surrounded by several small particles but attach to the surface of large particles. Regardless of oil type and sediment concentration, the structure of OPAs does not change significantly.

Flume Experiments to Assess the Effect of Bottom Roughness, Temperature, Water Velocity and Oil Condition on Critical Shear Stress Estimates of Heavy Fuel Oil

Non-floating oil is challenging to detect, track, and recover due to limited visibility inhibiting verification of the oil's location and subsurface movement. Oil that sinks to the bottom (i.e., sunken oil) can form large mats or small agglomerates on the bottom, mix into sediments, or remobilize into the water column and move with currents potentially impacting shorelines, benthic and pelagic organisms, intakes for drinking water, and power plants. Trajectory models exist that predict movement of floating and submerged oil; however, many models cannot accurately address sunken oil movement because the bed shear stress (BSS) necessary to mobilize oil (i.e., critical shear stress (CSS)), neglects the effects of bottom roughness and assumes an immobile bed. The goal of this research is to provide responders and modelers with more precise CSS estimates that include the effect of bottom roughness and incorporate results into a response tool to predict sunken oil movement. The transport of oil depends upon in-situ environmental conditions and oil properties. This research used the Coastal Response Research Center's (CRRC) 2180-liter straight flume to test the effects of water velocity, water temperature, oil mass, and bottom friction on fresh and weathered No. 6 Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) on an immobile boundary. The flume's test section provided a uniform, one-dimensional flow field measured in 3D by an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV), a Nortek AS (Norway) Vectrino II Profiling Velocimeter. The fresh or weathered (%Ev=5) HFO was mixed with kaolinite clay as a sinking agent, and 100 grams of the mixture was injected into static water via subsurface injection. The water velocity was incrementally increased in a stepwise manner by 0.07 m/s intervals and held for 15 minutes at each velocity. This occurred until: (1) oil had stopped eroding or was completely eroded from the substrate, or (2) the maximum velocity of 1.04 m/s was reached. Bottom roughness was evaluated using the velocity profile and bed shear stress (BSS) was calculated using multiple methods applicable to lab and field conditions. The oil's behavior was documented by downward- and side-facing GoPro cameras and reviewed to estimate mass loss per velocity interval, the distance the oil migrated along the bottom, and the corresponding CSS. In the case of an oil spill, responders can compare CSS estimates, determined through this research, with in-situ BSS estimates predicting under what conditions the sunken oil will become mobile.

Snare Performance for Sunken and Submerged Oil Detection and Monitoring

ABSTRACT - 687127 Most oil spill response strategies, tactics, and equipment are designed to address floating oil. Previous research and historic events have shown that spilled oil can suspend (i.e., submerged oil) or sink (i.e., sunken oil) as a function of the oil's density relative to that of the receiving waters. Processes such as wave action or current velocity, sediment entrainment, and oil weathering (e.g., evaporation) may change the buoyancy of floating oils causing them to submerge or sink. Non-floating oil is more difficult and expensive to detect and poses significant challenges for containment and cleanup. Many existing detection techniques for non-floating oils rely on oleophilic sorbents, such as snare, which are weighted depending upon the oil's location in the water column and then towed behind a vessel in designated transects. Currently, there is no quantitative method to relate the amount of oil collected by snare to the amount of oil encountered during towing. In addition, the dynamics and interactions of towed snare and oil remain largely unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, various components of snare performance have been evaluated since 2016 by the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The research has evaluated: (1) the impacts of temperature, salinity, oil type, and tow velocity on adsorption and desorption of oil to snare, (2) snare dynamics and position in the water column as a function of tow velocity, (3) the impacts of material type and potential alternatives to snare (e.g., mosquito and fishing nets, plastic debris) for lesser developed countries (LDCs), and (4) the interaction of snare with sunken and submerged oil. The results determined: (1) adsorption of oil to snare was best for less viscous oils (No. 6 Fuel Oil) and lower water temperatures (5°C) and desorption was greatest at low temperatures (6°C) and low current velocities (< 1 knot), while salinity had no significant effect. (2) Tow depth for snare arrays decreased with increased velocity unless a vane was used. (3) Optimal spacing of snare on a chain is a function of tow and current velocity, and drag forces on the tow chain. (4) Snare alternatives with greatest potential for sunken oil detection in LDCs were nylon mosquito netting and plastic bags. The findings from this research improves understanding of the behavior of snare and how it interacts with sunken and submerged oil and can improve towing techniques used by oil spill responders, leading to more effective detection.

Bayesian sunken oil tracking with SOSim v2: Inference from field and bathymetric data

Bayesian sunken oil tracking with SOSim v2: Inference from field and bathymetric data

Numerical Study on Heating Process of High Viscosity Crude Oil in Oil Tank of Sunken Ship

This article assumes that the crude oil in the oil tank of the sunken ship is completely solidified, has high viscosity, and loses fluidity before heating. Based on ANSYS software, a three-dimensional numerical model of the sunken oil tank was constructed, and the numerical study of the heating process of high-viscosity crude oil in the sunken oil tank was carried out. According to the theory of heat transfer, the changes in the solid-liquid interface and the flow characteristics of the oil during the heating process of high-viscosity crude oil are analyzed to obtain the heat transfer characteristics during the heating process. Studies have shown that the heat transfer method at the initial stage of heating is mainly heat conduction, as the highly viscous crude oil continues to melt, the influence of natural convection gradually strengthens. This research can provide relevant theoretical basis for the underwater oil pumping work of salvaging sunken ships.

Application of the SOSim v2 Model to Spills of Sunken Oil in Rivers

Sunken oil transport processes in rivers differ from those in oceans, and currently available models may not be generally applicable to sunken oil in river settings. The open-source Subsurface Oil Simulator (SOSim) model has been expanded to handle spills of sunken oil in navigable rivers, utilizing Bayesian inference to integrate field concentration data with bathymetric data to predict the location and movement of sunken oil. A novel prior likelihood function incorporates bathymetric input, with sampling grid and default parameters adapted appropriately for rivers. SOSim v2 was demonstrated versus field observations taken following the M/T (Motor Tanker) Athos I oil spill. The model was also modified to operate in 1-D, to assess the longitudinal distribution of sunken oil in a non-navigable river using available poling data collected following the Enbridge Kalamazoo River oil spill in 2010. Results of both case studies were consistent with observed data and local bathymetry in 2-D and 1-D, and the model is suggested as a complement to deterministic models for oil spill emergency response in rivers.

Sunken oil tanker threatens marine life

More than 100,000 metric tons of oil carried by an Iranian tanker that sank on Jan. 14 in the East China Sea could endanger nearby fisheries and marine life immediately and for years to come, researchers say. But with many details of the wreck still unknown, it is too early to predict the effects with any certainty. The tanker Sanchi was carrying 136,000 metric tons of ultralight crude oil called condensate when it collided with a Chinese cargo ship on Jan. 6. The Sanchi burned until it sank eight days later in 115 meters of water. All 32 crew members of the tanker are presumed dead.Condensate is a volatile type of oil similar to gasoline that is used to make jet fuel and other products. It is highly toxic to marine life. To transport the condensate payload, the Sanchi was likely running on bunker fuel: a heavy, tarlike, viscous substance

T/B APEX 3508: Best Practices for Detection and Recovery of Sunken Oil

ABSTRACT On September 2, 2015, two towing vessels collided on the Lower Mississippi River at Mile 937, near Columbus, Kentucky, resulting in the complete breach of the #3 starboard cargo tank on the T/B APEX 3508 and the release of 120,588 gallons of clarified slurry oil (CSO; Group V oil; Specific Gravity: 1.14) into the navigable waterway. The incident was classified as a Major Inland Spill in accordance with the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Contingency Plan and a Major Marine Casualty that was jointly investigated by the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. Over flights conducted as far as 20 miles downriver indicated only light, sporadic sheening for 1–2 days. On-water and shoreline assessments conducted up to six miles downriver revealed no visible signs of surface oiling. Based on its properties, the vast majority of the CSO was presumed to have sunk, but its precise disposition and location was not confirmed. Using side scan sonar (SSS) technology, two distinct subsurface anomalies with an approximate combined area of 9,200 m2 were identified on the river bed in the vicinity of the incident. The anomalies were confirmed as oil by divers and direct sampling, and were then divided into 25 m grids for identification and tracking. The Unified Command evaluated best available technologies and determined that GPS guided environmental dredging would be the safest, most effective and efficient of the recovery options. The established cleanup endpoint was a maximum of 10% sporadic oil distribution in each grid. Two endangered mussel species were identified as potentially inhabiting the affected area. A diver survey was conducted in the area and concluded that bottom habitat was not likely to support the listed species. Further consultations with the resource manager indicated that proposed recovery operations posed low risk to the species. Recovery operations commenced on September 15, 2015 and concluded on September 25, 2015. Endpoint verification was conducted via SSS. In total, response operations lasted 23 days (eight operational periods), involved over 120 responders and 75 specialized response assets, and cost approximately $5 million. Approximately 2,524 m3 of dredged material (liquid and solids) were removed. After decanting, approximately 1,730 m3of oiled solids representing approximately 50 to 75% of the spilled product was recovered. This case serves as a benchmark for sunken oil detection and recovery operations, and identified many best practices that should be considered on future cases with similar spill conditions.

Recovery of a Toxic Cargo from a Sunken Tank Barge: Lessons Learned and Policy Implications

Abstract: In December 2015, operations were successfully completed in the recovery of a highly toxic cargo from the sunken tank barge ARGO in Lake Erie. The ARGO, constructed in 1911, sank in 1937 with a cargo of benzol that contained a high percentage of the carcinogen benzene. The ARGO was previously listed as the highest environmental risk in the Great Lakes by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) study. To recover the cargo, salvors designed a diver directed hot-tapping and pumping system to pump the remaining high benzene cargo from the sunken barge at a depth of approximately 50-feet below the lake’s surface. The cargo off-load system included pumping the cargo to a series of storage tanks onboard a barge equipped with designed-for-purpose inert gas and vapor recovery systems to ensure the safety of the public and responders. Working in a Unified Command that included the Coast Guard, U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the salvage crew achieved all operational objectives – from safely conducting around-the-clock cold-water contaminated water diving operations to collecting environmental and barge hull samples for further analysis. The ARGO case study will provide lessons learned to assist future responders in safely performing subsea oil removal operations. Additionally, the case study will frame the discussion of current submerged oil recovery regulations and guidance, including the 2016 American Petroleum Institute (API) sunken oil detection and recovery guidance and the U.S. Coast Guard’s guidance on the classification of Oil Spill Removal Organizations (OSRO) that perform non-floating oil detection and recovery operations.

OIL BEHAVIOUR AND THE RESPONSE TO A SUNKEN OIL SPILL OF SLURRY IN QUINTERO BAY, CHILE

ABSTRACT Slurry oils are one of the few groups of oils that have a density greater than full salinity seawater. Slurry spills at sea are rare, but when they do occur, the response can be difficult, with low final recovery rates. Oil spill response planning and recovery techniques have been refined over many years and the research and development of most methods has been underpinned by the principle that oil floats on water. This recent case study provides an example of the behavior of a slurry spill and the subsequent response operations. A leak of an API gravity 4° slurry occurred from a submarine pipeline in Quintero Bay, Chile, on 14th May 2016. The oil sank to the adjacent sea bed and covered an area of approximately 10,000 m2 in water depths of 18–22 m. The initial response involved over 20 dry-suit divers with surface air to recover the oil with vacuum hoses. These were then supplemented by four diver-operated vacuum dredges. Fortunately weak bottom currents did not redistribute the oil; nevertheless “sea bed booms” were deployed around the perimeter to prevent migration. These “booms” were initially a screen mesh that was later supplemented by sturdier metal frame screens deployed around the zone of the sunken oil in a zigzag configuration. Baseline benthic sediment samples were collected from the adjacent unaffected area and subsequently from the treatment area after completion of operations. A benthic SCUBA SCAT survey using a track-line positioning system was conducted to systematically document the distribution of the oil and post-treatment systematic ROV survey ensured that the end-point oiling conditions had been achieved.

A predictive Bayesian data-derived multi-modal Gaussian model of sunken oil mass

A predictive Bayesian data-derived multi-modal Gaussian model of sunken oil mass

Study of the Characteristics of Floating and Sunken Oil in Seawater Exposed to Long Term Weathering

How the oil spill compositions change in the weathering process is an important topic for marine environment protection. In this study, long-term weathering simulation tests were conducted for 2 kinds of crude oils from the platforms of different blocks in Bohai Sea and 2 kinds of heavy marine fuel oils. Both floating oils and oils sunken in the seawater were analyzed. Gas chromatography (GC) results showed that light components (<C17) within floating oils underwent complete weathering, while sunken oils can maintain a little (such as C16). Fluorescence spectra revealed that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons experienced the same degree of weathering in floating and sunken oils, and fuel oils lost their fluorescent characteristics in contrast with the crude oils. The vanadium content in fuel oils decreased significantly after weathering, but still about one order of magnitude higher than those in the crude oils. A method is proposed here for judging whether the oil sampled has sunken to the sea floor before floating up as the basis for further identification of its sources.

Critical Shear Stresses of Sunken Oils

As observed in several recent cases (e.g., DBL-152, Enbridge-Kalamazoo), under certain circumstances, spilled oil can sink to the bottom of a water body. Once on the bottom, the oil can move or even remobilize into the water column. The critical shear stress (CSS) is used to accurately predict the movement of sunken oil along and off the bottom. Unfortunately, shear stress has only been measured for one sunken oil (Hibernian Crude API = 34). The Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has an annular flume equipped with high-definition cameras and an acoustic velocimeter that can be used to estimate CSS by measuring the instantaneous, three-dimensional water current velocities at which sunken oils move and erode as visible oil droplets. The results reported are for an Alberta bitumen, tested at temperatures between 5° and 28°C in freshwater.