Mitigating oil spills in the water column

The scale and scope of uncontrolled oil spills can be devastating. Diverse marine environments and fragile ecologies are some of the most susceptible to the many ill effects, while the economic costs can be crippling. A notoriously difficult challenge with no known technological solution is the succ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science water research & technology 2018-01, Vol.4 (1), p.4-47
Main Authors: Barry, Edward, Libera, Joseph A, Mane, Anil U, Avila, Jason R, DeVitis, David, Van Dyke, Keith, Elam, Jeffrey W, Darling, Seth B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical modification
Crude oil
Dispersion
Economic impact
Environmental management
Environmental science
Foams
Marine ecology
Marine environment
Mitigation
Oil removal
Oil spills
Petroleum
Petroleum products
Plastic foam
Pollutants
Pollution control
Polymers
Removal
Renewable energy
Renewable resources
Resource management
Sorbents
Water column
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Summary:The scale and scope of uncontrolled oil spills can be devastating. Diverse marine environments and fragile ecologies are some of the most susceptible to the many ill effects, while the economic costs can be crippling. A notoriously difficult challenge with no known technological solution is the successful removal of oil dispersed in the water column. Here, we address this problem through cheap and reusable oil sorbents based on the chemical modification of polymer foams. Interfacial chemistry was optimized and subsequently tested in a simulated marine environment at the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility, Ohmsett. We find favorable performance for surface oil mitigation and, for the first time, demonstrate the advanced sorbent's efficiency and efficacy at pilot scale in extraction of crude oil and refined petroleum products dispersed in the water column. This is a potentially disruptive technology, opening a new field of environmental science focused on sub-surface pollutant sequestration. The scale and scope of uncontrolled oil spills can be devastating.
ISSN:2053-1400
2053-1419
DOI:10.1039/c7ew00265c