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Technology
Assessment & Research (TA&R) Program
| Project Number |
563 |
| Date of Summary |
February 6, 2008 |
| Subject |
Understanding the Effects of Time and Energy on the Effectiveness of
Dispersants |
| Performing Activity |
SINTEF Materials and Chemistry |
| Principal Investigator |
Dr. Per Daling |
| Contracting Agency |
Minerals Management Service |
| Estimated Completion |
Completed |
| Description |
This international joint research project is designed to
gather data to support decision makers in the process of determining whether
dispersants should be used in low energy environments. This information will
be useful for dispersant decision making in ice cover (an ice field reduces
wave motion) or other calm conditions. Questions to be addressed are:
- Will the dispersant stay with the oil
until there is enough energy to disperse the slick?
- How much energy is needed to
disperse the slick after dispersants are applied?
- If energy is provided to facilitate
dispersion, will the droplets stay in the water column after mixing or
will they resurface?
This project currently has nine partners: ExxonMobil, Total, Statoil, US
MMS, OSRL, Alaska Clean Seas, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (Shell
operated), Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Texas General Land
Office. Participants can contribute funds directly or in-kind work. |
| Progress |
Presently we are working on Task 1 of this project, laboratory scale
dispersant effectiveness tests performed by SINTEF using IFP testing
procedures. In these tests we are evaluating four commercial dispersants by
applying them to four different oils (a napthenic oil, an asphaltenic oil, a
waxy oil and a paraffinic oil), letting them soak for several hours up to
several days, and then running the IFP test to measure dispersion
effectiveness. Additional tasks for this project include Tasks 2/3 --
develop a numerical model to predict the energy needed to shear dispersed
oil droplets from a slick and energy needed to keep a dispersed oil droplet
in the water column; Task 4 -- validate the numerical model using tank
tests. The completion of these additional tasks will depend on the
willingness of the partners to provide additional funding because Task 1
will completely consume our current budget. Dispersant testing was
completed at SINTEF and CEDRE using the IFP tests. The project Steering
Committee approved a change to Task 3 and extended the contact time of the
ice tests to 1.5 months.
The Steering Committee has approved the
final report. This project is complete. |
| Report |
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AA |
Effects of Time on the Effectiveness of Dispersants – Final Report, Resby,
J.L., Brandvik, P.J., Daling, P.S., Guyomarch, J., Eide, I., SINTEF, Cedre,
Statoil, 116 pp., December15, 2007. |
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