WORST OIL DISASTERS (OIL SPILLS):
Let us first have a
flash back of some of the worst environmental disasters related to oil, that
have pummelled our planet:
March 1967: The Torrey Canyon oil supertanker was
shipwrecked off the western coast of Cornwall, England, causing a major
environmental disaster. This was the first major oil spill at sea.
March 16, 1978: The Amoco Cadiz, an oil tanker owned by
the company Amoco (now emerged with BP) sank near the Northwest
coasts of France, resulting in the spilling of
68,684,000 US Gallons of crude oil (1,635,000 barrels). This is the
largest oil spill of its kind (spill from an oil tanker) in History!
June 3, 1979: The Ixtoc-I exploratory oil well suffered a blowout
resulting in the third largest oil spill and the second largest accidental
spill in history.
November 20, 1980: A Texaco oil rig drilled into a salt mine transforming
the Lake Peigneur, a freshwater lake before the accident, into a salt water
lake!
July
6, 1988: Piper Alpha disaster- An
explosion and the resulting fire on a North Sea oil production platform killed
167 men & the total insured loss was about US$ 3.4 billion. To date,
this is rated as the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms both of lives
lost and impact to industry.
March
24, 1989: The Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef dumping
an estimated 40.9 million lites, or 250,000 barrels of crude oil into the
sea. As many as 250,000 seabirds died, as
well as at least 2,800 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbour seals, 247 bald eagles, 22 orcas, and billions
of salmon and herring eggs were destroyed. The
effects of the spill continue to be felt 20 years later.
March
23, 2005: An explosion occurred at a British Petroleum refinery in Texas City, Texas. It is one of the largest
in the world, processing 433,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Over 100
were injured and 15 were confirmed dead.
April 20, 2010: an
explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig plummeted 5 million barrels of oil
in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and precipitating one of the worst
oil spills in history. The well was capped on July 15 but not permanently
sealed until September 19.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES DUE TO OIL SPILLS, LEAKAGES & CATASTROPHIC
BLOW-OUTS:
Oil and gas extraction and transportation can cause severe impact on the
ecosystem during routine maintenance and production operations. Gas is flared
with consequent emissions, large quantity of water is withdrawn due to
contamination, drinking water is polluted with additives and solid waste &
other toxic volatile fluids are deliberately dumped in the oceans. This affects
air and water quality and can form vast plumes below the surface. Birds
typically ingest oil that covers their feathers, causing kidney damage,
altered liver function,
and digestive tract irritation. This
results in the decrease of fauna population, thus affecting the food chain in
the ecosystem.
CONTROLLING OIL SPILLS -
NEED OF THE TIME
There are several conditions that enhance an oil spill. These include temperature,
water currents, wind speed and surface-sea conditions. However, it is essential
that oil spills be contained and their impact be minimized. Ensuring that the
equipment is checked and tested before final use and safe & careful
handling of materials & equipments should be made mandatory. Taking safety
& precautionary measures for the personnel should be placed at the top most
position of the priority list.
DON’T PANIC – THE INDUSTRY
IS WORKING ON IT!!
Though the industry is trying its level best to minimize the
catastrophic damage done by oil spills all around the world, it cannot nullify
them completely. Though accidental errors are always there, measures are being
taken to reduce their impact on environment. Consistent public-private
partnership is required and flexible federal laws need to be promulgated.
Technology and innovation has already made this job easier and the recovery of
spilled fluids has been made more efficient.
MECHANICAL RECOVERY &
CONTAINMENT EQUIPMENT:
These are the equipments that contain the spilled oil, capture it and
then transmit it to the wells or tanks for storage where the spilled fluids are
properly dispersed or degraded. Besides controlling the leakage they reduce the
possibility of polluting the shorelines.
BOOMS:
These are flat or round floatation devices, that converge oil channels
accumulating them into thick surface layers for easier recovery.
BARRIERS:
These are a temporary measure to hold oil at place until more
sophisticated equipment arrives. Barriers are made of plastic, wood, old oil
drums, tires or fire-hoses. Barriers are built by bulldozers, by pushing a wall
of sand toward the sensitive shore-line.
SKIMMERS:
These self-propelled, efficient devices that depend on shore
conditions. Skimmers trap oil in a disc or an enclosure and squeeze it into a
recovery tank. However they are prone to clogging and jamming by floating
debris.
SORBENTS:
Oil
absorbent materials or fabrics (sorbents) recover liquids by absorption and
adsorption. Sorbents need to be both oleophilic (oil attracting) and
hydrophobic (water-repellent) to combat oil spills. They should not be heavy,
else they might sink.
DISPERSANTS:
Dispersants are biological or chemical dispersing agents sprayed on
the affected area to break oil into simpler smaller particles so it can be
easily degraded or accumulated at the beach as visible oil. However, they can’t
be sprayed on densely populated areas and their long-term use is not
recommended. Their effectiveness is affected by temperature, humidity and water
salinity.
IN-SITU BURNING OF OIL:
In-situ burning is the combustion of a spilled product at the site of
the spill. It offers a simple, rapid, efficient and inexpensive means of
reducing the net impact of an oil spill. It exposes safety and health hazards
to the response team who may be exposed to higher levels of toxic gases. Major
in-situ pollutants are SO2, CO, NO2, PAHs (polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons) and particulates (soot, fog, dust and mists).
NANOSPONGES:
Nanosponges
are made of tiny metal nanowire mesh that can be used like a sponge to soak up
any oil in water.
These
nanowires are 20 nanometers in diameter and made up of potassium manganese
oxide which is a paper-like material that can sit on top of water, without
getting wet, while absorbing 20 times its weight, in oil.
MICROBES
Ultra-Microbes(tm), have been approved by the EPA and added to the
list of approved products for applications involving oil spills. Having been
tested extensively by an Italian university and found to be harmless to plant
and animal life and safe for the environment, the Ultra-Microbes(tm) are added
to containers of sea water and mixed. This mixture is then be sprayed onto the
ocean surface to immediately start remediating the oil. The microbes quickly
digest the oil as a food source and break it down into carbon, CO2 and a white
protein that is basically fish and plant food. The oil becomes non-hazardous,
and when all oil is digested the microbes die.
WRITTEN BY: SYED ALI MEHDI,
AYESHA ZAKI.
REFERENCES:
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