A laboratory study of particulate and gaseous emissions from crude oil and crude oil-dispersant contaminated seawater due to breaking waves

Afshar-Mohajer, Nima; Li, Cheng; Rule, Ana M.; Katz, Joseph; Koehler, Kirsten

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.02.017

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Second, although a continuous range may be achieved by shifting the SMPS range to higher values, it will limit the smallest sampled particle size to 14 nm or larger. As mentioned earlier, in view of the high concentration of 10‐nm droplets measured above breaking waves (Afshar‐Mohajer et al, ) the present study aims at studying the effects of bubble bursting in oil‐dispersant‐contaminated slicks on particles as small as possible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They confirm that bursting of 550‐ to 870‐μm bubbles causes emission of organic particles and shows that premixing the oil with dispersant increases their total mass. Moreover, our preliminary tests near breaking waves impinging on oil and dispersant‐contaminated seawater (Afshar‐Mohajer et al, ), indicate that many of the particles aerosolized from the seawater when the oil slick is premixed with dispersant are small as 10 nm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Aerosolization of Crude Oil‐Dispersant Slicks Due to Bubble Bursting

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bubble bursting is a primary source of marine aerosols, yet little is known about particle emissions due to the bubble bursting in slicks containing oil‐dispersant mixtures. In this study, bubbles with mode sizes of 86 μm (denoted as small), 178 μm (medium), and 595 μm (large) are injected into a seawater column covered by slicks of crude oil, pure dispersant, and dispersant premixed with oil at a ratio of 1:25. The aerosol size distributions are monitored in the 0.5‐ to 20‐μm and 10‐ to 380‐nm ranges both in clean and ambient air environments. In ambient air, a tenfold increase in submicron particle concentration occurs when large bubbles burst on slicks of 500‐μm dispersant premixed with oil at a ratio of 1:25 oil or 50‐μm pure dispersant. Yet, in multiple tests performed at different ambient particle concentrations, the elevated size distributions persistently maintain the same shape as that of the ambient air. In contrast, smaller bubbles and tests not involving dispersants do not cause such an increase. Nanodroplets are also generated by large bubbles in particle‐free air, but their concentrations are much lower. All plumes generate micron‐sized aerosols, but trends vary. For the same contaminant, the microdroplet concentration decreases with increasing slick thickness. Particularly striking is a reduction of 2 orders of magnitude in the microdroplet concentration when medium and small bubbles burst on 500‐μm crude oil slicks. Chemical analysis of air and particulates collected from filters sampling the particles confirms the presence of airborne oil above the slicks.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Aerosolization of Crude Oil‐Dispersant Slicks Due to Bubble Bursting

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To determine aerosol particle size distribution, tests were conducted measuring seawater with crude oil slicks, crude oil and dispersant mixtures, and dispersant only (Afshar-Mohajer et al, 2018). Afshar-Mohajer et al (2018) studied aerosolization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and magnification of marine aerosol emissions after an oil spill.…”

Section: Dispersantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine aerosol particle size distribution, tests were conducted measuring seawater with crude oil slicks, crude oil and dispersant mixtures, and dispersant only (Afshar-Mohajer et al, 2018). Results revealed that seawater mixed with crude oil only showed similar distribution of submicron particle sizes to that of seawater free of contaminants, but addition of dispersants mixed with crude oil to seawater decreased VOC concentration by two to three times while increasing the concentration of nanoparticles across all nano sizes measured (Afshar-Mohajer et al, 2018). The authors noted that reduction in water surface tension is responsible for the increased concentration of aerosolized particles, explaining why dispersant-oil mixtures are found to have highest concentration of particulate matter (PM).…”

Section: Dispersantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil Spills and Human Health: Contributions of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) was established in 2010 with $500 million in funding provided by British Petroleum over a 10-year period to support research on the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and recovery. Contributions of the GoMRI program to date focused on human health are presented in more than 32 peer-reviewed papers published between 2011 and May 2019. Primary findings from review of these papers are (i) the large quantity of dispersants used in the oil cleanup have been associated with human health concerns, including through obesogenicity, toxicity, and illnesses from aerosolization of the agents; (ii) oil contamination has been associated with potential for increases in harmful algal blooms and numbers of pathogenic Vibrio bacteria in oil-impacted waters; and (iii) members of Gulf communities who are heavily reliant upon natural resources for their livelihoods were found to be vulnerable to high levels of life disruptions and institutional distrust. Positive correlations include a finding that a high level of community attachment was beneficial for recovery. Actions taken to improve disaster response and reduce stress-associated health effects could lessen negative impacts of similar disasters in the future. Furthermore, GoMRI has supported annual conferences beginning in 2013 at which informative human health-related presentations have been made. Based on this review, it is recommended that the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 be updated to include enhanced funding for oil spill impacts to human health.

show abstract

“…At the particle scale, the aerosolized oil droplets may exhibit various non-spherical shapes and instantaneous deformations, which can be different from those for the natural sea spray droplets. The difference may become more significant if dispersants are applied for oil spill remediation, which can reduce the oil surface tension to enhance droplet breakup [29,30]. These effects are not included in the current LES considering that the coarse grid resolution used in a typical LES of the MABL flow cannot provide sufficient information for directly determining the detailed droplet shapes.…”

Section: Les Model Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-Eddy Simulations of Oil Droplet Aerosol Transport in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Zhao

Pandya³

et al. 2019

Atmosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, a hybrid large-eddy simulation (LES) model is developed and applied to simulate the transport of oil droplet aerosols in wind over progressive water waves. The LES model employs a hybrid spectral and finite difference method for simulating the wind turbulence and a bounded finite-volume method for modeling the oil aerosol transport. Using a wave-following coordinate system and computational grid, the LES model captures the turbulent flow and oil aerosol fields in the region adjacent to the unsteady wave surface. A flat-surface case with prescribed roughness (representing a pure wind-sea) and a wavy-surface case with regular plane progressive 100 m long waves (representing long-crest long-wavelength ocean swells) are considered to illustrate the capability of the LES model and study the effects of long progressive waves on the transport of oil droplet aerosols with four different droplet diameters. The simulation results and statistical analysis reveal enhanced suspension of oil droplets in wind turbulence due to strong disturbance from the long progressive waves. The spatial distribution of the aerosol concentration also exhibits considerable streamwise variations that correlate with the phase of the long progressive waves.

show abstract

A laboratory study of particulate and gaseous emissions from crude oil and crude oil-dispersant contaminated seawater due to breaking waves

Cited by 40 publications

References 46 publications

Aerosolization of Crude Oil‐Dispersant Slicks Due to Bubble Bursting

Aerosolization of Crude Oil‐Dispersant Slicks Due to Bubble Bursting

Oil Spills and Human Health: Contributions of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

Large-Eddy Simulations of Oil Droplet Aerosol Transport in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About