Identification of Window of Opportunity for Chemical Dispersants on Gulf of Mexico Crude Oils

摘要

Chemical dispersants are becoming a more accepted oil spill countermeasure. As a result, there is an increased need to know when dispersants will likely be effective on different oil types to assist in the dispersant-use decision-making process. Individual oils can be tested for their dispersibility while fresh, weathered and emulsified but such testing is costly and not practicable for the large number of different oils being produced and handled in the United States (US) and elsewhere. The objective of this study was to develop best-fit correlations between readily available fresh oil properties and the window of opportunity for successful chemical dispersant use using data from Gulf of Mexico (GOM) crude oils. Very detailed fresh and weathered oil property information was acquired from Environment Canada's oil property database and processed to derive the oil parameters required by the SL Ross Oil Spill Model (SLROSM) to complete detailed oil spill behavior modeling for each oil as a function of spill type and environmental conditions.