The Importance Of Oil Spills
Many people are familiar with tanker accidents, since they are highly publicized, and they release large volumes of oil into the ocean. Only a small percentage of global oil spills are related to tanker accidents due to explosions, hull failure, or running aground, however. These spills tend to be very harmful because of the sheer volume of oil released at once, and they pose a serious threat to marine animals and seabirds. Such disasters frequently bring attention to issues with safe oil handling, which can lead to reforms in petroleum regulation.
Oil spills in the water can also be caused by natural seepage. As tectonic plates shift, oil can be released from reserves trapped deep beneath the ocean floor. Natural seepage is sometimes accelerated
…show more content…
When droplets of hydrophobic oil are suspended in water, the very polar water molecules which attract each other very strongly, in a very short time squeeze out the nonpolar oil molecules, causing them to coalesce and float to the top. When an emulsifying agent like detergent is added, a suitable emulsion of alkyl benzene results with specific gravity of 0.856 (Whitten et al, 1985); the detergents are usually large chemical of sodium salt like sodium lauryl benzene sulfonate, with a polar head and non-polar tail, and if added to oil-water mixture in the pore and shaken vigorously, will form a fine emulsion, which is safely flushed out into drains or released into the environment (Whitten et al, …show more content…
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Sources of Oil Spillage
Spills can happen in the open seas, close to shores or in lakes, streams and rivers, land (AWMA, 2000).
3.2 Classifications of Oil Spill
Oil spills are classified according to a combination of factors notably magnitude, real or potential impact on the environment and the resources required of effective response. These classifications include (Emory University, 2014):
Minor Spill: this spill ranges from less than 25 bbls discharged on inland waters or less than 250 bbls discharged on land, coasted/offshore waters. Minor spills can be handled safely without the assistance of emergency response personnel.
Intermediate Spill: it ranges from 25 to 250 bbls discharged on inland waters, while that of spills discharged on land/coastal/offshore waters is 250 to 2500 bbls.
Major Spills: these are spills greater than 250 bbls discharged on inland waters or greater than 2500 bbls discharged on land, coastal/offshore waters.
3.4 The Computer Model for Determining Class of
The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline
859 Words | 4 PagesLike what is said above there is a risk for oil to get into the water and there is a lot of concern in the parts of the aquifers that are just below the Sand Hills and certain areas of the aquifer the water is near on at the surface Subpoint: Wildlife— There are two primary types of impacts that occur with a spill of crude oil Physical impacts— soil, sediments, plants, and animals can become coated with oil. When animals are covered in oil they can have difficulty feeding or obtaining oxygen toxicological impacts— crude oil may be toxic when ingested… “ingestion occurs typically when an oiled animal attempts to clean its fur or feathers
Water Olympics Lab Report
1086 Words | 5 PagesSurface tension is important to living things because in marine ecosystems, there might be some bacteria or particles that are on the surface of the water, that if they got into the water, they could hurt animals or break ecosystems. If an oilspill were to occur, those potentially harmful particles and substances will go into the wate, because the oil will disrupt the surface tension, causing the animals to be sick. At station five, the mixing of water and oil or detergent was tested. When adding the oil, the oil just sits on top of the water, and when you mix the two, the oil divides into smaller bubbles of it above the water. This shows that water cannot dissolve lipids, although it is coined as a “universal solvent”.
The Pros And Cons Of Fracking
1443 Words | 6 PagesThere are over one millions wells in the United States of American that have been fracked since the 1940’s (Brantley, 2013). “Fracking,” also well know as hydraulic fracturing, is a process that is used to extract natural gas from rocks. Wells are drilled vertically into the ground to a desired depth, and then they continue horizontally between shale rock that is believed to contain natural gas. Once the well is drilled, a mix of water, sand-like substances, and other chemicals are pumped into the well at extremely high pressures in order to fracture the shale rock which will release the gas trapped inside. Once the gas flows out of the rock and into the well, it will be drawn back up to the surface and then it is processed, refined, and shipped
The Pros And Cons Of Fracking
1135 Words | 5 PagesOne of the most heated debates in the political and environmental areas is the debate over hydraulic fracturing, or more its more colloquial term “fracking”. Fracking is the process by which normally inaccessible hydrocarbon deposits are made available. First a well is drilled down vertically, once the pipe has reached the shale it begins to bore horizontally for thousands more feet. Then, a combination of water, sand, and various chemicals are pushed out of the pipe at up to 9000 pounds per square inch. This frees the natural gas (a hydrocarbon) to then be pumped to the surface.
The Amazing Penguin Rescue Summary
131 Words | 1 PagesIn the magazine “The Amazing Penguin Rescue” Lauren Tarshis describes how a normal African penguin experiences the oil spill of June 2000. In the passage the author explains that a cargo ship called “Treasure” hit a reek and the boat split, in result of the wreck 1,300 tons of crude oil spread with in the waters of the African penguin’s largest breeding ground. Impact of the event is immediate effecting all bird, specifically African penguins spreading their feathers allowing the cold ocean waters to take action. The oil did not only affect the feathers of the penguin, the oil pursued to burn eyes and weigh down the penguins from swimming. Thankfully the writing goes on to explain how organizations helped save the penguins, proceeding to clean
The Pros And Cons Of Oil Fracking
1686 Words | 7 PagesOil fracking has caused a lot of controversy the last couple years. Many believe that it is causing more harm than good. The House Committee of Natural Recourses had an entire meeting discussing oil fracking on federal managed and Native Lands. It also uses an incredible amount of water and chemicals.
Pros And Cons Of Offshore Drilling
949 Words | 4 PagesOffshore Drilling Every year, in the United States alone, 565 million barrels or oil are extracted as a result of offshore drilling; totaling a startling amount of roughly 1.5 million barrels a day. Consequently, these threatening practices are negatively impacting marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, and fish. Although drilling offshore provides access to expensive resources such as oil, it heavily contributes to the extinction and endangerment of animals, and the disruption of marine ecosystems, thus these practices should be prohibited and viewed as unethical. To begin, new techniques of horizontal drilling allow for even greater amounts of oil to be extracted from a single well, producing problems in infrastructure on land.
The Oil Spill In Texas
290 Words | 2 PagesApproximately 206 million gallons of oil were reported to have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, in 2012, the General Land Office stated that there were 543 oil spills on the Texas coast. On average, that is more than
Ethical Issues In The Great Lakes
342 Words | 2 PagesThe scientific empirical evidence that oil spills are dangerous and a threat to
The Pros And Cons Of Arctic Oil Drilling
878 Words | 4 PagesWell, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), there’s a 75% chance of one or more large spills over the lifetime of development and production in the Chukchi Sea. And the agency admits that a very large oil spill could result in the death of large numbers of polar bears, bowhead whales, seals, and sea birds” (Protecting the Arctic). Oil spills have a devastating impact on the environment, oil gets into the fur of marine mammals and will take away their ability to insulate themselves. Arctic oil drilling should be stopped due to its threats to arctic
The Richfield Oil Disaster
730 Words | 3 PagesThere were many oil field accidents in Long Beach after oil was discovered on nearby Signal Hill in 1921, but the most tragic was the June 2, 1933, Richfield Oil Company disaster. An explosion at Twenty-Seventh Street and Lime Avenue killed nine, and injured thirty-five. It was a horrible catastrophe that began with a tremendous refinery blast that was felt in cities thirty miles away; even earthquake instruments in Pasadena registered the explosion. The fire that followed reached two homes, but the heroic efforts of 500 men, armed with shovels, prevented the oil that flowed from broken storage vats from igniting and spreading the fire further into residential areas. All in all fifty dwellings were damaged and a dozen other small buildings
BP Oil Spill Essay
991 Words | 4 Pages1. Introduction In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform spit nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest oil spill in history. The 1989 oil spill surpassed Exxon Valdez's oil spill in 1989 as the largest oil spill ever seen in US-controlled waters and the Ixtoc I oil spill of 1979 as the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater offshore rig, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 riggers and injuring 17 others.
Drops Of Water On A Penny Lab Report
626 Words | 3 PagesIn the “Drops of Water on a Penny” lab, I used the pipette to place 30 drops of regular water on the penny. As I was placing the drops of water on the penny, the water began to form a bubble on the penny, sticking together tightly so that it had risen above the penny. This occurred because of the high surface tension water has due to its hydrogen bonding. On the other penny with the soapy water, I was only able to place 24. Soap is a surfactant to water by interfering the hydrogen bonding and decreasing the surface tension so that the water does not stick to each as well as would have.
The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline
1259 Words | 6 PagesIt can kill and destroy whole ecosystems and kill multiple species of wildlife super fast. Oil leaks could also be very deadly to humans as well. If an oil leak happened in a water stream or supply it could infect our drinking water or have no water for hours or even days. Oil also contaminates food supply like fish and birds. It kills these animals by the animals ingesting or getting covered by oil which leads to organ failure and death.
Soap's Effect On The Surface Tension Of Water
864 Words | 4 PagesSoap’s Effect on The Surface Tension Of Water By: Lusinda Garcia Biology I - Pre-AP December 10, 2017 Introduction Surface tension is when the surface of a liquid that’s in contact with gas, acts like a thin elastic sheet. Water has a high level of surface tension, which means that when the molecules on the surface of water are not surrounded by similar molecules on all sides, they're being pulled by cohesion from other similar molecules deep inside. These molecules bind to each other strongly but stick to the other mediums weakly. It has been proven many times that soap decreases water’s surface tension; however, there is still a vast amount of people that believe soap increases the elasticity of water’s surface tension. Soap’s negative
More about The Importance Of Oil Spills
The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline
859 Words | 4 PagesWater Olympics Lab Report
1086 Words | 5 PagesThe Pros And Cons Of Fracking
1443 Words | 6 PagesThe Pros And Cons Of Fracking
1135 Words | 5 PagesThe Amazing Penguin Rescue Summary
131 Words | 1 PagesThe Pros And Cons Of Oil Fracking
1686 Words | 7 PagesPros And Cons Of Offshore Drilling
949 Words | 4 PagesThe Oil Spill In Texas
290 Words | 2 PagesEthical Issues In The Great Lakes
342 Words | 2 PagesThe Pros And Cons Of Arctic Oil Drilling
878 Words | 4 PagesThe Richfield Oil Disaster
730 Words | 3 PagesBP Oil Spill Essay
991 Words | 4 PagesDrops Of Water On A Penny Lab Report
626 Words | 3 PagesThe Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline
1259 Words | 6 PagesSoap's Effect On The Surface Tension Of Water
864 Words | 4 Pages