Crude oil spills. Disappearance of aromatic and aliphatic components from small sea-surface slicks

Harrison, W.; Winnik, Mitchell A.; Kwong, Paul T. Y.; Mackay, Donald

doi:10.1021/es60101a006

Cited by 69 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…evaporated. Harrison et al, (1975) reported that the majority of compounds boiling below 220 C (<C12) evaporated from South Louisiana crude oil within three to eight hours. The cleanup was performed with manual labor using absorbent pads and small portable pumps to transfer the oil into buckets and barrels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a crude oil spill on water quality and macrobenthos of a southeast Texas stream

Harrel

1985

Hydrobiologia

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On December 6, 198 1 an oil spill of 160 barrels (25 440 liters) occurred in a small southeast Texas stream. Water quality changes, other than the presence of oil, were not evident until six months later when water temperature increased and stream flow ceased. This resulted in decreased dissolved oxygen and increased carbon dioxide concentrations. Responses of the benthic macroinvertebrate community included an increase in density of oligochaetes, decrease in numbers and taxa of chironomids, with eventual complete elimination, and low community diversity (d). Decrease in oil concentration resulted in reversal of these responses. No clean water taxa were collected and complete recovery had not occurred 26 months after the spill when the study was terminated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a crude oil spill on water quality and macrobenthos of a southeast Texas stream

Harrel

1985

Hydrobiologia

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“…Numerous studies have examined factors that influence the compositional evolution of oil spilled at the sea surface (6)(7)(8)(9)(10), where evaporation and dissolution may simultaneously remove hydrocarbons from the floating oil. Because these competing processes complicate efforts to differentiate aqueous dissolution from other loss processes, few studies have attempted to quantify aqueous dissolution of hydrocarbons to the water column (11).…”

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confidence: 99%

Composition and fate of gas and oil released to the water column during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Reddy

Arey

Seewald

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

613

504

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Quantitative information regarding the endmember composition of the gas and oil that flowed from the Macondo well during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is essential for determining the oil flow rate, total oil volume released, and trajectories and fates of hydrocarbon components in the marine environment. Using isobaric gas-tight samplers, we collected discrete samples directly above the Macondo well on June 21, 2010, and analyzed the gas and oil. We found that the fluids flowing from the Macondo well had a gas-to-oil ratio of 1,600 standard cubic feet per petroleum barrel. Based on the measured endmember gas-to-oil ratio and the Federally estimated net liquid oil release of 4.1 million barrels, the total amount of C 1 -C 5 hydrocarbons released to the water column was 1.7 × 10 11 g. The endmember gas and oil compositions then enabled us to study the fractionation of petroleum hydrocarbons in discrete water samples collected in June 2010 within a southwest trending hydrocarbon-enriched plume of neutrally buoyant water at a water depth of 1,100 m. The most abundant petroleum hydrocarbons larger than C 1 -C 5 were benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and total xylenes at concentrations up to 78 μg L −1 . Comparison of the endmember gas and oil composition with the composition of water column samples showed that the plume was preferentially enriched with water-soluble components, indicating that aqueous dissolution played a major role in plume formation, whereas the fates of relatively insoluble petroleum components were initially controlled by other processes.Gulf of Mexico | subsurface plumes D uring the 3 mo following April 20, 2010, the Macondo well emitted several million barrels of gas and oil at the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Relative to oil spills occurring at the sea surface, petroleum hydrocarbons experienced a unique set of processes following their release at 1.5-km depth (1-4). This spill demonstrates the importance of interwoven chemical, physical, and biological processes in regulating the transport and fate of hydrocarbons in the deep marine environment. Compositional information for petroleum (gas and oil) released by the well at the seafloor is essential for evaluating the fates of hydrocarbons in the sea. Moreover, such information provides direct constraints on estimates of the total mass of individual hydrocarbons released to the environment and the flow rates at the site of the spill (5). Gases are of particular interest because the gas fraction represents a large component of the carbon released, and it was biodegraded rapidly in the water column (3, 4). Compositional data for released oil is also necessary for forensic analyses when distinguishing Macondo well oil from hydrocarbons released from other sources in the Gulf of Mexico.Numerous studies have examined factors that influence the compositional evolution of oil spilled at the sea surface (6-10), where evaporation and dissolution may simultaneously remove hydrocarbons fr...

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“…The other process, dispersion (or oil-in-water emulsification), which describes particles of oil being sheared from the oil slick by the mechanical wave force, is much more significant, as discussed in a later section. It has been commonly accepted (Harrison et al 1975;Cohen et al 1980) that dissolution is considerably slower than evaporation, and that it will have a negligible effect on slick composition. In addition, the more soluble components in crude oil such as benzene and toluene also tend to be more volatile.…”

Section: Physicochemical Weathering Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the behaviour of oil spills in natural waters

Luk¹,

Kuan²

1993

Can. J. Civ. Eng.

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This paper is a state-of-the-art review of the formulations for the different processes responsible for the transport and mixing of petroleum oil spilled in natural waters. Processes accounting for the transfer and loss of the surface oil, such as initial spreading, evaporation, dissolution, emulsification, dispersion, photo-oxidation, and sedimentation, are included. Based on the findings, a dynamic mathematical model describing the fate of spilled oil was developed. To reflect field observations, the surface oil composition in the model is allowed to vary with time as a result of weathering. Initial results for model testing are presented.Key words: oil spill, mathematical model, fate model, weathering processes.Cet article presente un examen avant-gardiste des formules relatives aux diffkrents procedes responsables du deplacement et du melange du petrole d6vers.i dans les eaux naturelles. Les procedes responsables du transfert et de la perte du petrole superficiel comme la propagation initiale, l'tvaporation, la dissolution, l'Cmulsification, la dispersion, la photooxydation et la sedimentation sont inclus. Un modele mathematique dynamique integrant les resultats de cet examen a kte dkveloppe afin de decrire le sort du petrole deverse. Pour reflkter les observations faites sur le terrain, le modele a tenu compte de la variation de la composition du petrole superficiel en fonction du temps causee par la degradation. Les rksultats initiaux des essais de modelisation sont prksentes.Mots elks : deversement de petrole, modele mathematique, modele du sort, procedes de degradation.[Traduit par la redaction] Can. J. Civ. Eng. 20, 210-219 (1993)

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Crude oil spills. Disappearance of aromatic and aliphatic components from small sea-surface slicks

Cited by 69 publications

References 6 publications

Effects of a crude oil spill on water quality and macrobenthos of a southeast Texas stream

Effects of a crude oil spill on water quality and macrobenthos of a southeast Texas stream

Composition and fate of gas and oil released to the water column during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Modelling the behaviour of oil spills in natural waters

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