SPILLS OF NONFLOATING OIL: EVALUATION OF RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES

摘要

A study was conducted of the current state of technology for non-floating heavy oil response operations for the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center. The study included characterization of heavy oils that did not float and documentation of lessons learned during recent heavy, submerged oil spills, specifically the M/V Athos 1 and TIB DBL-152. A summary is provided of the current state of practice for the following response methods: detection of oil suspended in the water column (stationary sorbent systems, trawled detection systems, and field fluorometry); detection of oil on the bottom (visual surveys, diver observations/video, remotely operated videocamera, sorbent drops, sediment cores, bottom trawl nets, chain dragslv-sors, and acoustic systems); containment of suspended oil/protection of water intakes, containment of submerged oil on the bottom; and recovery of submerged oil on the bottom (diver-directed pumping, remotely operated vehicle pumping systems, dredges, and decanting systems). Tables are provided as summaries of advantages and disadvantages of the response technologies used at the two case study oil spills.